Hey guys, my 3 year old lab has been a scavenger since I got him at 5 months. I try and keep him entertained on walks but he always bee lines for the bushes and won't come back to me. Think I'll have to resort to lead training again. But do you have any great things you do on walks? Would love to hear from you x
Does he like balls? If so, hide a couple when he's not looking and call him back to hunt for them. Also, you can make him work for his meals by taking these with you on his walks.
Start with him near you, then throw a treat away from you and let him go to get it. As soon as he comes near you throw another treat - so that it is the return to you that triggers another treat being thrown. You'll probably need to start with just throwing the treat a very short distance(perhaps just a couple of yards) until he gets the hang of it (and even lure him back the first few times by showing him the next treat). Eventually you will be able to throw the treat a long distance and into long grass or bushes. My dog loves this game and will hunt out a piece of kibble thrown as far as I can. It's a double reward of food and hunting-for-food. And the dog has to return to you to get a repetition. Eventually you can be more fussy about that too - my dog knows she has to return to heel position (and sometimes has to do a short distance at heel) in order to trigger me into throwing another treat. But to start with just make it returning to within a couple of feet of you.
