Hi there Murphy is just over one year old, and is a super dog who is excellent in the house, with people, children etc - he has never even chewed anything in the house and is generally a really well behaved, pretty chilled dog. I have one on-going issue with him though and was seeing if anyone had any training advice. I let him off his lead at 12 weeks old, and has been off it on walks since. His recall is really good - he will respond to his name or to a gundog whistle. In fact I would say his recall is perfect....UNTIL we see the dreaded dog running on the horizon!! If he sees a dog before me he will lay down for a couple of seconds (which apparently is good manners, although he looks more like a border collie) then he goes in CHARGE! if I see the other dog first, I recall him and put him on his lead and the issue is avoided, but if he is off and a dog appears he instantly switches off from me (Ive tried treats, squeaky ball, whistle in this situation)..its like he goes into a different mode! when he meets other dogs he is super friendly, not too boisterous and plays lovely if they want to, comes away from those that arent bothered and actually he will come back when called even if he is playing - I just want to stop im charging towards other dogs as I am certain he will meet the wrong one one day! Any ideas would be gratefully received please! Thanks
I'll be very interested in any responses here too ! Sorry I can't actually help other than moral support x
Hi , have you got Pippas book Total Recall ? If not, then I truly recommend you ordering it ( Amazon) . It will take you through the process of proofing, which is when you teach your dog to pay attention under every circumstance . Its one of the more common problems we have to face as our lovely Labs are such gregarious creatures who assume , sometimes wrongly , that everyone will love them, human and animal . I would recommend you start by taking the recall right back to basics at home , then maybe asking a friend with a dog to be the stooge and test him out in a safe place . He is only a youngster with natural sociability , but you are right to try and curb his enthusiasm , please try the book, it will help a lot
You need to work on him not feeling like he can run over to every dog he meets. This is really hard off-lead to start off with. You can work on-lead by C&Ting when he looks away from the other dog, at a distance, and gradually building closer. It might be easier to do this with stooge dogs or in a training class environment. It's important for many reasons that he's not allowed to charge over to other dogs (even though it's completely normal behaviour for a Lab) - the other dog could be old or injured, scared of dogs, aggressive... the owner of the other dog could be carrying an injury themselves, there may be a road between you and the other dog. The list goes on! So, training a behaviour where they don't just run over until given a cue to "say hello" is very important, and it's good you want to address it. Total Recall is a great book to work through, and definitely decrease his expectancy to play with every other dog, even if this means keeping him on lead a bit more than you have been doing. You could also use a long line to help you, but I'd recommend having a trainer show you how to use this properly, as they can be dangerous to use (for you, your dog and others) if you don't do it properly.
Thanks for that, I dont have the book so will order it now. I do feel like a bit of back to basics is what I need to do. Annoying when he is flooded with dogs (i.e. he is on his lead, and there are lots and lots of dogs about) he is fine and atually not that bothered about them - it is the isolated one that appears on the horizon! thanks for the replies, I will get the book and get cracking with him!
Going back to basics at times is always a good step, it's surprising easy it is to let behaviours slip. Progress is rapid though as you have all the elements there, they just need a polish
I keep a tennis ball.in my pocket st all times if Jax is on a lead for this reason 98% of the time he stops dead in his tracks with a command 2% he goes deaf on me . 2 things I've found stop Jax one is calling his name aND showing him a ball or calling his name and throwing the ball say he's running 12 o'clock to me straight to another dog I pull out ball and Say Jax get ur ball. That 2 seconds he looks at me I throw the ball to say 3 o'clock and he always gets the ball and brings it back rather than Continue running . Now he did break loose a month ago and charged the neighbors dog . I had no tennis ball.and was giving chase sceaming at him. Don't do that if you give chase they only run more . Instead fall to the ground and act hurt . Your dog will think you are hurt and usually will stop and run to check on you.
I had a 30 or 35 ft training lead it's basically a nylon leash but it's 30-35 ft. I'm 6'2 230 retired military ,I'm a big guy and I like to stay in shape . That being said Jax is 62-63 lbs at 7 months at 5 months you can figure his size and strength then . Rather than. Have him in the fence I had him on training lead. He saw a squirrel or a cat and decided to take off . He got a 30-35 running go I had the other end of this lead it was all I could do to hold that lead as well as keep him on it ,they are strong dogs . My wife had that long lead and had it wrapped on her arm, Jax pulled her across the yard .those things can hurt you if you aren't careful I'd say to anyone use with caution especially if you have a dog that could pick up a scent of some game and take off .
Exactly the same problem with Finn, no harm meant but could be difficult or even dangerous. Will keep trying, have signed up to a training course to try and help the situation. Good luck with Murphy.
