I have been walking Indie with a training line for a few weeks now. It is pretty miserable as our walks are in the dark, and I find it stressful keeping her attention constantly. But I felt we were making some progress - she was generally keeping close, we could work on her whistle recall and she even could do a few short sit-stays and retrieves for me. But this morning we had an awful walk! We were in the same boring field we are always in, but she was not listening to me, straining at the end of the training line in all directions. Anyway, suddenly I discovered why she had been distracted - she stumbled over a massive pheasant, who luckily got away. Of course she completely lost her mind over this - running about like a mad thing in the bushes, half-way jumped over a fence, all attached to the training line which was wrapped around about 12 trees and a pile of barbed wire with me clinging onto the end. I was desperately trying to stop her over the fence, trying to untangle her line, get her on my short lead, stop her killing herself on barbed wire... And I looked down at her foaming at the mouth straining over the fence and I looked at my whistle and my sardine dispenser lying in the mud and I felt so incompetent And then a judgemental-looking woman came past with a pug wearing a pink jumper, and I wished for a moment that I owned a pug in a pink jumper and not a crazed deaf pointer-labrador dragging me through a hawthorn bush and I can't even avoid this situation in the future as this is the least distracting field we have - and I can't screen for pheasants as I can't smell them! someone tell me it will get better and that I shouldn't give it all up and get a pug in a jumper... although I think she could tell I was upset when we got back so she broke into the garden shed and brought me a trowel. I bet a pug wouldn't be so thoughtful
Oh poor you! (Though I couldn't help smile at the trowel delivery ) I can't offer any advice, but do think she's a million times better than a pug in a pink jumper.
Oh Lara I feel your pain. But what a fabulous present to cheer you up, a trowel! A Pug-in-a-jumper would never bring such a lovely gift. You know deep down, it WILL get better. How old is Indie now?
Oh no, I can just imagine! I find bird chasing is such a pain and a worry too (although I have it much easier than you do, and Betsy is getting much better). And yes, this is the problem with lines, they can be so very difficult. You don't want a pug in a pink jumper. Really, you don't.
Thank you yeah I forget to look back and see how far we have come with Indie. She is 16 months now, and we adopted her at 9 months as a crocodog with temper tantrums. She is now a sweet girl in the house - we just didn't realise how important it was to control her self-rewarding outside until too late and are now are struggling a bit! But of course the trowel makes up for it we have just booked our first 1-to-1 gundog lesson next week which we are (nervously) looking forward to not sure what the instructor would say if I brought a pug-in-a-jumper to that
Oh dear... Had me in total stitches tho. But only because I have been there, SO, SO many times. For me 'pug in a pink jumper' is Rosie in a delicate pink harness with a delicate pink lead attached... She is a very small rescue dog exactly the same age as Jessie.. Darling of the school run. Who's owner just casually lets her off the lead to play in the park next to school. If I did that with Jessie it would be a carnage of crying children within 30 seconds. Why didn't I choose Rosie? Is it my punishment for dismissing a rescue dog in favour of a reliable labrador?? I had a similar walk myself yesterday. For Jessie it isn't birds, but dogs and people. and I have found a circular walk where I can see other dogs and people for miles around. We had the perfect walk. Lots of focus on me. Lots of me changing direction. She recalled beautifully from swans, geese, sheep, the really muddy bit of the river. Right to the end of the walk, when she took off after nothing! I had to drop the lead for fear of injury to one or both of us as she was off. Training lead flapping in the wind behind her! She did come back, but not to my call. Mostly I have the hang of the training the line, but sometimes it just all goes to pot. They are hard to manage. It isn't you, you just have to keep on keeping on. Surely we will get there and all thoughts of Rosie and Pug in a Jumper will be out of the window??
I'm going to admit it made me chuckle a bit because it reminded me of the other week when Stanley ran off into a swamp and was having the time of his life, refusing to come back and a man trotted past with a little Yorkshire terrier (that obviously gets more expensive haircuts than I do) and said to me "oooh that'll be fun". And I thought I wish I'd gotten one of those little things that you could just pick up I don't have any advice but I'm also hoping it gets better. *PLEASE* But you definitely don't want a pug in a pink jumper. Even that pug probably doesn't want to be a pug in a pink jumper.
Coco is a bit of a troublemaker outside. I normally walk in a wood where I see no other people/dogs - I know this is not really helping. This morning, a woman ran out of a path & startled us both, Coco gave chase & jumped up. I was mortified, I panicked - tried recalling verbal and whistle (which was destined to fail), shouted apologies (ignored by her). I caught up with Coco - she was the other side of the gate, getting into her car - I gave him a theatrical "ticking off" for her benefit - this meant nothing to Coco . I did lots more recall practice after that, to make sure it wasn't broken. Indie is doing REALLY well, you've only had her 6 months or so. Good luck with your gundog lesson.
You know, something @heidrun said a little while ago I think is very helpful - her spaniel is off lead only to do something. A retrieve, to hunt under control, or walk at heel. My dogs are pet dogs, and I don't quite want to do that with them, but I do think that it's still helpful advice. My new puppy is also only off lead to do specific things although it's a wider range of things e.g. play with me splashing in the stream, fetch a ball, bumble along with me hiding from her, go to a target stick, learn to walk along a log, play tug etc. In between times, I put her back on lead. It's working well as I walk in very distracting places, and it does make for a more, not less, relaxing walk. The key is that your dog is not an absolute pain while on lead, it seems to me. Charlie was at that age, and it made me reluctant to put him back on lead when I really should. Betsy is much better on her lead and so I use it a great deal more - to the benefit of both of us!
Yes, that's what I do with my dogs. I realise that this is not an easy concept to get one's head around as a pet dog owner, that's why I always think hard these days before I post it as a response on how to deal with hunting obsessed dogs.
I have been following your advice on this and it is going well. In fact, the sprint off after nothing was when my judgement lapsed, and I let her just poodle about doing nothing in a fit of "oh this is going so well, it will be fine..." Doh!
Perhaps the pointer side of Indie might be encouraged, so that she will point and hold a pheasant, rather than chase it! You did say she stumbled over one, so no chance to be the right side of the wind to be able to point
HeeHee. So been there - Charlie never gets the chance these days (well, unless he is with OH ). 3.5 years I've been at it, and I don't trust him as far as I could throw all 30kg of him. With very, very good reason.
@Lara, I did have a little chuckle. I've had a few walks like that myself they are so dreadful and why is there always someone watching, and someone near by with the gentlest well behaved dog. I've been training "walking past the village duck pond nicely". I started off at a distance gradually getting closer and we were doing quite well, but a couple of weeks ago she went crazy, over the top threshold, pulling like a train. I turn round and there is a lady (nose in the air) with a black pug walking perfectly to heal, ignoring ducks. I tell myself it will get better, and it will. I think popping them back on the lead at times is very useful, I adopted that approach a while ago and it certainly helps. I can guarantee the minute I take my eye off Mabel she's up to mischief, leaving her to her own devices will never be an option. I'm used to people looking at me strangely. We play this little game where by I hide cheese in a tree and shout yay "look what mummy's found a cheese tree". It never fails to have her running break neck speed to see what I'm up to. Pretty sure Fiona @snowbunny used to do something similar with a sausage tree Dogs value a good hunter. I think you leave your ego and dignity at the dog when you have a young Labrador
Oh I think if we're honest we've all regretted not getting a Pug in a Jumper instead of a large dog But I've met enough lunatic small dogs to know that they come with their own set of challenges. I take great solace reading all your stories - I'm not alone, it will improve, I'm not alone, it will improve.
Oh Lara, first of all Pugs in pink - NOOOOO!! Secondly been there with Charlie also a Labrador x Pointer many times. The best one was whilst he was on a long line, he got scent of a pheasant went full pelt and dragged me through a hedge, I backed out covered in debris, had a good look round to make sure nobody had seen me, brushed myself down and continued my walk Another time, again he got scent of something and before I knew it I was on my tummy being dragged part way across a field by a 32kg dog, I was covered in mud - AGAIN!! All joking aside, we do lots of sitting watching pheasants, rabbits anything he scents at a distance and if he's not too over threshold we C&T and this does help. It's not easy at all and I do get it, Charlie is almost 6 years old and he is 'manageable'. It's easy for owners of Pugs in pink to be judgemental but they don't have to deal with a rescue Labrador x Pointer, all they have to decide is what ridiculous outfit to put on their ugly dog , wow that's so tough!! Could you take Indie on a normal lead to the same field, walk the perimitter C&T for looking at you, sit and C&T for calmness and with a bit of luck the odd pheasant might appear for training opportunities? Never pass up an opportunity to do desentising training, we even had a bit of Seal training in a Scottish Loch this year Keep going it's very early days, you are doing well so don't be disheartened. Indie isn't half as bad as Charlie was, at least Indie doesn't abscond. Many an hour I stood in the middle of fields with Charlie a tiny dot on the horizon almost reaching the next county so count your lucky stars!! xx
I'm glad to hear I am not the only one...and I think everyone knows a Jessie or a Pug-in-a-jumper and I bet if Jessie ever met Puginajumper, they would have a lovely polite little game without getting their pink accessories muddy and then come back when called...*sigh* But Jessie sounds like she is doing great - recalling from swans and ducks! She was probably exhausted from all that good behaviour at the end of the walk and needed a loony few minutes
Hehe oh it is so nice to hear other people's little mishaps - not in a mean way, just makes me realise that having occasional calamities is normal! I guess we are all trying to teach furry impulsive mammals to be socially acceptable, and some of these furry mammals start out more impulsive and less socially acceptable than others
That is a good bit of advice and something that is taking me a little while to get my head around. I actually tried that out last night - only let her off the short lead (and onto the training lead) for some sit stays, some recalls, some chasing me and a few retrieves of her dummy. She was good as gold (except when someone walked past and I had forgotten she is scared of people in the dark - all her hair stood on end and she barked her head off at them!). You are right, in general she is not too bad on the short lead unless there are loads of sniffs. I just worry she is not getting that much exercise doing that - but I guess a safe, well-trained dog is the priority rather than perfect physical fitness at this point.
