Good job and keep going, sounds like Monty really responds well to training and using his brain. Wonderful when they suddenly click "oh, that's what you want? OK!!" Hopefully you can find some other dogs locally to meet up with, as it is extremely important that he learns how to behave socially, and to come back to you despite distractions.
Ah, you seem to be full of joy with him, it's lovely to read. And great that your training is getting back on track, that's great. When is your next training session/day? Yes, do try to deal with that. Even if the other dog is perfectly pleasant, it's bloomin' annoying to have a young spaniel barging in and ruining what you are doing with your dog! There are several spaniels like this (let alone Labradors) on the Common and they drive me mad. Not too mad, because Charlie used to be a horror for this himself when he was younger, so I smile. Still very annoying though. I went to all sorts of places to work around other dogs. Spent most of the summer of 2014 doing it...
Houston, we have a problem! As mentioned previously, we haven't done much hunting practice (I.e. Keeping him close) since we were (stupidly!) riding the wave of glory from the good session and the grass in the farmer's fields just got too long for him to manage. During the week, the farmer cut the closest field, the one we use most of the time. Yesterday, I took the opportunity to get back into the hunting saddle and off we trotted. It's 100m walk and we did it all on lead and to heel nicely. We arrive at the field where the grass has been cut and is in neat, flat rows ready for bailing. I can tell Monty is EXTREMELY excited. We start with a bit of steadiness, lefts, rights and go back and he is fine. Not great. His delivery is worse than usual and he is runnignaround with the dummy clearly distracted. We try a bit of hunting - "get on" and he is rubbish. OK, he's not been out all day and we've not done any practice. We do a little and call it a day, thinking "must work on this!" Fast forward to this morning. Today is designated hunting day - the cleaners are in and I get turfed out of the house. Perfect. Off we trot up the field. Into the field we go, over the stye. "Sit" good, he's nice and steady. "get on" (right arm out). Monty starts right, spots a swallow flying low and chases it. And chases it. And chases it. To the end of the field (circa 4 acres). Into the adjoining field. I recall and he comes eventually (because he'd gone so far he'd lost sight of me no doubt). I pop him back on the lead and take him back home. No point carrying on, he'll just learn bad habits. Back at home he goes in the kitchen and has a little sleep while I do some work. It's not his lunchtime so I decide to take him out, before he eats. This time I'm prepared and have my not-so-secret weapon - fish paste. That'll make him stay close. We get to the field after the most perfectest heel walking ever. Praise the fish muck! I decide to pass through the cut field as I'm wondering if all the new scents are too much for him. We go to the half which hasn't been cut yet. The grass is long and that usually slows him down and keeps him more manageable. In the long grass he seems fairly steady. I remind him we have fish paste. "Get on" (hunting command) he tears off to the right, back into the cut grass and belts down the field. Off he goes. I opt for the age old, turn back and walk away and he does eventually come. I pop him back on the lead and take him home. This isn't good. I though it was the cut grass and maybe it is, but that wonderful dog I described previously seems to have disappeared yesterday - incidentally his 6-month birthday! How do you suggest I deal with this? I thought fish paste would have been the bestest thing ever and would've kept him close, but clearly it's not good enough, I'm not interesting enough or the stalls in the cut field are too much. Or more likely a combination of all the above? Help?! EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - in two months our hunting has gone from "best in class" to "Fenton"! How do I resolve??!!
I have no idea about training spanners, but if this was happening with either of mine, I would be going right back to basics. Start again, as if he was brand new and had had no training. Keep everything ridiculously easy for him. With the field having just been cut, there are going to be loads of distractions for him, and with him getting older, his environment is simply far more stimulating and interesting than you are, even though, to you, that hasn't changed at all, to him it's suddenly massively more appealing.
UPDATE: I took him back to the field with the cut grass. Again armed with the fish paste I wanted to just walk him round on the lead. His heel walking on the lead was the most perfect it's ever been... Up to the field. As soon as we got to the field, his tail was wagging ten to the dozen, he was panting and his head was constantly down sniffing. He was not interested in the slightest in any treats I offered. I left pretty quickly.
Thanks snowbunny. What basics do you mean/suggest. Back in our own, mowed field, he is completely normal. But it all goes out the window in our usual training field.
Whatever he finds super easy. I don't know what basics you train him, but I would start with super simple - a sit, a hand target, a ten-second stay etc. So lowering your expectations to those you had when you first had him. Set him up for success. Another thing I do at the start of each training session is spend some time getting the dog's attention on me. So, I let them off the lead - they always stay in a sit and wait for me to click them doing this. So, a click and I throw the treat away from me. I then wait and click them when they come back to me. In normal situations, this is within a couple of seconds; in arousing places, it may take thirty seconds to realise I'm standing there still. So, about five times, I simply click for attention to me, each time throwing the treat away. Then I do the same, but ask for some simple behaviours as well, so a sit or a hand target etc. Each time throwing the treat away from me, so they have to seek me out. After ten treats, I'll clip the lead back on and tell them "game over" and stand on the lead, not making any eye contact, for a minute or so. Then I rinse and repeat. I do this two or three times at the beginning of each training session, until I feel the dog is completely in tune with me and ready to work.
I tend do do something similar. We walk through our own field to the farmer's field. I use our nicely mowed field for basic steadiness - sit, not running for thrown dummies and then simple left/right/back and blind casts. Like you I make sure he's properly focussed before moving on. Then it's all going out the window when we get to the freshly cut field! I can get him slightly steady in the farmer's field, but not great. He's just extremely distracted. Going to try a different, uncut field to see what difference it makes.
Ok, first of all, don't go back to that particular field! If I have a major set back like a chase in one particular area I avoid that place for the foreseeable future until the dog has forgotten about the incident. Dogs have a very good memory for that sort of thing, so be prepared to make that field out of bounds for quite some time. Secondly, it was a big mistake to use a field with neat mown straight lines for hunting training. Even very experienced older dogs would find it difficult unless you use the lines horizontally, which might not suit the wind direction for a young dog. If you are casting a dog off to hunt with vertical lines in front of you the dog is bound to take a straight line away from you, which is a bit of a nightmare. Stick to nice long grass which is absolutely ideal for puppies to learn to quarter.
Ok, thanks for the advice. I'll avoid the field for the foreseeable. We actually had a lot of progress late yesterday afternoon. We went to a field he's not been to before. A long walk to the field through country paths and the field itself has nice long grass. The walk down started badly and he was running off losing attention. I did however let him know I wasn't happy and we started to make better progress. It's clearly that we've not been doing enough of it, having concentrated on other things. But from what you say, the cut field wasn't helping either. I think we're heading back on track again. I just need to remind him what he's supposed to be doing - and I'm aware it's all down to me. I'm quickly realising how you need to keep up with all aspects of the training and not let parts slip. It's tough as obviously as you progress, there is more to keep on top of. It feels like weighing scales - one side rises as it improves whilst the parts you neglect drop accordingly!
