We took Max (9 months) on his normal off lead walk to a local forest this morning. We've going there since October and although we've seen signs that horses use the main path we've never actually met any. We've only gone on weekdays and avoided weekends as Max's recall is still a work in progress and I had no idea how he would react. Within 5 minutes of starting off this morning a horse appeared around a blind corner. Before I could react, Max ran up, circled the horse and barked. I recalled him with "come" and he ignored me. I immediately whistled him and thank goodness he came back. I apologised profusely to the rider and we carried on. 20 minutes later we came around another corner and there were two horses in front of us. Max charged towards them but thank goodness came back for the whistle before he reached them. So, I'm trying to think of it as a positive because he did recall but now feel we can't return to the forest because his immediate reaction is to run towards horses and I don't feel I fully trust his recall yet. He could have been kicked or the horses could have thrown their riders. So I'm sad that we can't do this lovely walk for a little while. My other thought is that we could try a harness and longline as we will need one anyway for our summer holiday on the beaches of North Pembrokeshire!!
Re: A good day....I think! That's really fantastic that he recalled to the whistle in the face of something as huge, novel and exciting as a horse! You have obviously done a great job with your training there. Personally, I'd be thrilled You are right to be cautious as well though, since you might come across a horse that is not calm with dogs. It'd be good to continue to give Max exposure to horses so you can rehearse your recall and give him lots of treats - but I would do it on lead in the horsey area so you have the safety angle covered while he is consolidating his skills in ignoring horses On lead you can still practise recalling away from horses and walking calmly past.
Re: A good day....I think! I agree completely with Rachael on all counts ....very well done in the face of a most exciting distraction x
Re: A good day....I think! Thank you for your positive comments. I think recall training is so much harder than I thought it would be when we decided to get our first dog! I know we'll get there in the end but all we ever seem to meet are older, calmer dogs when we are out. Where are all the puppies?!!
Re: A good day....I think! Hi Tomal I know exactly what you mean. We've suddenly got quad bikers (illegally) using our favourite off-lead walk. It's so frustrating as obviously I can't let Bonnie off the lead. I suppose the positive thing (for us) is that you can hear them and they seem to be only there at weekends. BUT it is frustrating if you're in work-in-progress mode and you thought you'd found a safe spot to proof. That's precisely how I feel, so I empathise with you. Well done to Max for responding so well! Bonnie had a similar experience with a horse which was stood next to the road near my brother's house. I had just let her off the lead, thinking she'd go straight in the house when she saw the horse. She went fairly close and then stopped to consider the situation, I used her recall word like mad and was in a blind panic. I'll never forget the kind, patient look on the rider's face and when I apologised she was so nice about it. So... well done to you for staying calm as well!! We've come across a few pups on our travels (about 6-9 months say) and none of them have got their dog off the lead yet. So maybe the fact we're interacting on this forum and reading advice means we're more confident to try off-lead training...? Oh, and just as we were coming back from our walk today I was thinking exactly that - recall training is much harder than I thought it would be.... sort of glad it's not just us! ???
Re: A good day....I think! Hi Bonnie, Thank you for your comments. I agree that the only puppies we seem to meet are on lead. They're often desperate to play with Max and then we get all tangled up in extendable leads as the owner will let them play but not take them off lead!! I read your comments on the other thread about looking for the positives and I am determined to find 3 things each day that I am happy with that Max has done and stop focussing on the couple of things that may have given me a lot of stress. Finding his second dead rat yesterday was a bit stressful but we decided to focus on the fact he recalled on the whistle and dropped it quite quickly whereas he kept the first one (a few weeks ago) for 10 minutes!!
Re: A good day....I think! Oh my! I think Max is doing very well but I think you're amazing! I have only just recently realised my [size=8pt]very[/size] very [size=12pt]very [/size] silly lack of judgement. You see, I have a phobia of dead animals.... ??? ??? ??? Can't believe I didn't put that together with the decision to welcome a retriever into my life! I would be freaking out and up a tree if Bonnie had a rat. So, I take my hat off to ya! (I'm making a joke but I actually do think I'm going to have to get some CBT at some point because we are going to find dead animals one day and mummy up a tree screaming isn't exhibiting great leadership now is it!? )
Re: A good day....I think! "One day" might be sooner than you think. I laughed at first with all the stories of dead things people's older dogs had eaten or rolled in. I've not seen many dead things whilst out walking without a dog, so why should I with a dog. Ah. Since the snow has started melting, we've had two dead birds and a very dead .... something. CBT sounds like a plan - and the sooner, the better
Re: A good day....I think! I hate dead animals too, so don't feel that you're the only one. I held Max's collar and threw treats on the ground (wasn't going to hand feed him after what had just been in his mouth!!) while my son picked up the rat on the end of a stick and flung it into the bushes! Max has also started rolling in things (dead things and some type of poo) in the last few months. I'd read about it but had seen no signs of him doing it. Thought we'd got a Labrador that didn't roll. Silly me
Re: A good day....I think! I think I am extremely lucky (so far!). Harley has tuned her nose up at dead birds she she seen after having a sniff, and has never rolled in any kind of poo she has eaten cow and sheep poo a few times when she was younger though
Re: A good day....I think! [quote author=snowbunny link=topic=10429.msg154112#msg154112 date=1428073742] "One day" might be sooner than you think. I laughed at first with all the stories of dead things people's older dogs had eaten or rolled in. I've not seen many dead things whilst out walking without a dog, so why should I with a dog. Ah. Since the snow has started melting, we've had two dead birds and a very dead .... something. CBT sounds like a plan - and the sooner, the better [/quote] Hmmm, yes, you are undoubtedly right. Oh crikey. :-\ It does scare me. Tomal, can I borrow your son and that stick please!? Naya, you are lucky!
