Ruby has killed a few rabbits in her life but once she has shaken them dead she drops and moves on. Bella hadn't actually killed anything until a few weeks ago when a rabbit stupidly got into the garden, although I think it had actually died from shock. After being missing in the garden for about 45 mins she was found under a big shrub with the dead rabbit in front of her. She would not come to me for food, happy voice "what have you got?" or cross voice "get here now or else!". In then end my daughter crawled under the hedge with a slip lead and led her away. Anyway my question is, how do you get your dog to leave the prey and come back to you? It worries me that the same might happen on a walk and she might just stay guarding the prey. Apart from an occasional bark, she tends to go quiet and doesn't move. She has no interest in eating it and doesn't carry it around in her mouth. If she got something in some woods and stayed guarding it, how would I get her to come back if I couldn't see her or get to her ? I don't have the same problem with her giving up anything else. She will pick up stuff around the house and give it to me no problem. She gives up toys and balls easily too, and I can take bones/chews off her. She always gets praised for giving up stuff and treated when appropriate too. However I realise that a rabbit is the ultimate gold prize so it's not quite the same. Any thoughts ? Chloe
Re: Best way to get dog to give up prey The jump from giving up a ball to a freshly dead rabbit is pretty big. My dog goes mad for his rabbit skin dummy. Do you think teaching her to give you a rabbit skin dummy in a controlled environment might prove an intermediate step?
Re: Best way to get dog to give up prey Hi Chloe, Would it be worth seeing if there is the same reaction with a dummy lined with rabbit fur? At least that way you then have something that you can work with to train the desired behaviour rather than waiting for chance encounters with rabbits. How strong is her Drop it / Dead / Release command? Could you start by getting a reliable response with you holding the rabbit dummy and saying Drop it , and then an immediate Take it (so she doesn't think of dropping it as a bad thing). Gradually build up the gap between the commands and then start building some distance. Disclaimer: First time dog owner and dog is only 11 months old so I may be completely off track with the above
Re: Best way to get dog to give up prey What do you want her to do Chloe? Drop the dead thing and leave it on the ground, or bring it to you and hand it over. These are two different things aren't they. So I think it is important to decide first, what you are teaching her to do.
Re: Best way to get dog to give up prey Tbh the answer I want to give is probably not the one that I should be giving!! I am not great with dead creatures so would prefer her to just leave it and come away, however I appreciate that this goes against the whole concept of gundog training :-\ Retrieving and bringing it back to hand is not her strong point anyway and she does tend to drop at a distance. I realise you are probably going to the say I need to toughen up !! Chloe
Re: Best way to get dog to give up prey Oh Chloe , I feel your pain , as one who was " offered " a revolting manky long dead bunny not too long ago , not keen on dead things myself either but felt it would be awfully bad mannered not to accept the gift
Re: Best way to get dog to give up prey Not at all!!! I don't really want a manky rabbit delivered to hand either ;D
Re: Best way to get dog to give up prey [quote author=bbrown link=topic=7224.msg99672#msg99672 date=1407268628] Not at all!!! I don't really want a manky rabbit delivered to hand either ;D [/quote] Me neither, but if I leave it on the ground Lilly will go back for it. I found a poo bag glove appropriate until I got to the nearest bin :-\
