oh good idea! A deer park and long line could work, if I am constantly vigilant...and some rabbit pen training would be amazing, I will look into it. So I guess these methods are rather to stop chasing to begin with, rather than proofing recall away from a chase? Which does seem the more sensible option I suppose!
Well, you need to do both, I suppose (or, at least, as Heidrun says, be able to use a stop whistle from a chase), but remember with training you need to start at the easiest level, which means guaranteed critters in a manageable environment so you can start at a distance and work closer, introducing movement when ready. If your dog can't cope with that, there's no chance of him coping with a runner.
Fantastic! Did the ping pong for the first time with Cassie this afternoon, and what a great game, not Cumberland for her though but big breakfast sausages from our local butcher. It was so good to see her enthusiasticly running back, I know for the sausages not for me! But I do love seeing her happy, and I can't wait to do it again.
Thank you for this advice, warm sausage in a little thermos type thing designed for taking walking etc just the thing, and just before her tea time. She was hopeful while they were in the oven! A good training day today - sardine based this morning and sausages this afternoon, and some looselead practice aswell. Now we can relax by the woodburner, perfection for Cassie!
Glad it worked for you Selina. I do sometimes get strange looks from other dog handlers when I pull the thermos or a cat food tin out.
Should I incorporate this to the ping pong recall - she isn't reliably bringing the dummy to me at all, so should I arm myself with sausages ? or play with the 2nd dummy to encourage her back? Perhaps I'd better start a gundog thread.
I'd keep them as separate games. If she's not reliable in bringing it back, I'd work on that first in a hallway. Just sit on the floor, and chuck a toy a little way for her to chase. Don't badger her, but if she comes back towards you, even if to go past you, give her a lot of fuss and a good game. Don't take the toy off her, maybe have a game of tug. Then you can try having another toy of the same value, and tossing that when she returns to you (having built up a history of her coming back to you for a game). It's really important that you don't take the toy off her, or try to get her to give it up at this point. She should be associating bringing it to you with even more fun. I'll try to post some video later of me doing this with Luna.
