Re: A Little Off Lead I think that sounds great, he gets his off lead, you let him off when you're comfortable and he stays on his lead otherwise. Sounds like a great balance to me with wins for all of you You have done wonders! ;D
Re: A Little Off Lead It sounds great to me. I think the danger with this kind of "free running", so I've read, is about control of rewards. So if Charlie flushed a bird, found a rabbit, or whatever, he'd be massively rewarded for running at a distance from you (and possibly some distance away) before you could do anything about it. I don't say that to be discouraging, just to answer the question you asked. I'm thrilled for you that Charlie is off lead and having a ball!
Re: A Little Off Lead I think it's brill. ;D I think letting him off lead, have a run, back on lead, then off again is a very good way to do it. That way he doesn't associate being put on lead with the end of fun run which is a problem which can arise when letting dogs off lead so they end up not wanting to come back. Charlie comes back because it's not the end of fun. It's great that he watches you as well. ;D
Re: A Little Off Lead I think it is perfect, the pointer side of him does need to run and then it looks once he has burnt off steam, the Lab side comes to the fore. The stop whistle should iron out the problem as JulieT thought, if he flushed a bird or rabbit. Well done.
Re: A Little Off Lead It sounds fantastic to me too. 8) Our Charlie - able to run and get rid of some of his excess energy - and you able to trust him to comeback!! I almost have tears in my eyes reading this. What a great result. WELL DONE you!!
Re: A Little Off Lead I think what you have accomplished is fantastic if it's working, I would keep doing it. Well done x
Re: A Little Off Lead Look at him Helen,being all like a 'real' dog well done,you've done a marvelous job training him x
Re: A Little Off Lead Aww thanks everyone I will pass your replies onto David and he does train too Stacia, I appreciate your help as you have owned GSPs and totally get it. I would love Charlie to stop to the whistle but I must say this is extremley slow progress and we are not getting anywhere with it only on our own property, but we will keep going and one day ... : Julie, I understand exactly what you mean about the 'free running' and Charlie does flush Pheasants, as I am sure many, many dogs do but he comes back which he didn't do before and would be in the next County in the blink of an eye so for us this is a massive improvement and we just hope he continues to do so well and with maturity we hope comes calmness too and constant training this will improve : I do think all dogs self reward one way or another whether it's ignoring it's owner to run upto another person, dog, piece of paper, a leaf, rolling in dead birds etc. For us we don't want an 'automated' dog, because we are a family and keeping 2 dogs automated would take the joy out of family walks for us, there would be little interaction between us and our dogs so it's not for us. I only see the sense in this kind of training if your dog is a working dog and I totally respect that but that's just my personal opinion, what works for us won't work for everyone Kate, is absolutely right in what she says, when you take on a rescue it appears you can only go so far and have to settle at some point, manage or give up. To see Charlie having some freedom is something I can't explain in words, but it completely chokes me up and to see him return wow fills me with complete and utter joy I think the one big improvement is he wants to know where we are and that's helped enormously. I also think that consistent, positive reward based training, patience in spades and lots of love have got Charlie to this point, and not forgetting you guys, you are all amazing with all the help we have had and still need, so long may it continue, he will slip up but all dogs do. Thank you all for your lovely encouraging comments we really appreciate it xxxx
Re: A Little Off Lead Late to this thread but just wanted to add my congratulations. Well done Helen - you've certainly put in the effort, now you can bask in the rewards 8)
Re: A Little Off Lead [quote author=UncleBob link=topic=5773.msg94257#msg94257 date=1405065023] Late to this thread but just wanted to add my congratulations. Well done Helen - you've certainly put in the effort, now you can bask in the rewards 8) [/quote] Thanks UncleBob, I don't think we will ever be able to bask x
Re: A Little Off Lead It is fantastic to read the progress Charlie has made, I am sure 'way back then' you would never have believed he would flush a pheasant and return to you ;D The stop whistle will come, practice will one day make it that he has an automatic response before he has had time to think!
Re: A Little Off Lead He is doing so well, has come such a long way, your conviction and patience is inspiring
Re: A Little Off Lead Wonderful to read through Helen , dedication is shining through , very very well done, to all of you x
Re: A Little Off Lead [quote author=Stacia link=topic=5773.msg94275#msg94275 date=1405068088] It is fantastic to read the progress Charlie has made, I am sure 'way back then' you would never have believed he would flush a pheasant and return to you ;D The stop whistle will come, practice will one day make it that he has an automatic response before he has had time to think! [/quote] You are absolutely right Stacia I think like everything with Charlie it just takes a long time for the penny to drop and I am sure this will happen with the stop whistle too x Thanks for your lovely words Kate and Kate xxx
Re: A Little Off Lead Afternoon, just thought I would give you a little update on Charlie's off lead adventures. David, Hattie, Charlie and I went on a 2 1/2 hour walk starting in the woods, Charlie was so good off lead never wandering too far, looking back at us and coming back without a recall, we moved into a newly harvested field and he did have a 10 minute Swift chase, round and round in circles : came back went on lead. We continued along side the woods on a pathway and Charlie walked off lead to HEEL well nose between knees actually ;D but he did not take off and did this for a good 5 minutes but that could be because he was tired after the Swift chase : He walked beautifully on a slack lead for pretty much the whole walk which isn't bad as we haven't done this walk for about a year. Have to admit still worried about recalling him at a distance, as we don't want to destroy it after working on it for so long ??? All in all not too bad :-\ Thanks xx
Re: A Little Off Lead [quote author=charlie link=topic=5773.msg106005#msg106005 date=1409490386] All in all not too bad :-\ Thanks xx [/quote] All in all FANTASTIC I think you mean. ;D Just think Helen once upon a time you wouldn't have believed all that could happen on a walk the distance will come just keep going . ;D Perfect. ;D
Re: A Little Off Lead Er hang on Helen,isn't that just the exact way of walking you wanted to be able to do Hattie and Charlie!how wonderful ,I feel a little tear coming on! Xxx
