Having had labs most of my life, I have never really thought twice about walks in the country. I walk in The South downs with my 20 month old boy. He is good on recall. However, he spends the day flushing out pheasants and will give chase to the odd deer - of course I call him back when chasing deer and he, to date , has always responded to my recall. Of course, I keep him on the lead near farm animals. I am now concerned that allowing him a good romp in the country is not good? I can't imagine him at his young energetic age just trotting beside me all day. Just after your views. As said I have never even given consideration to this before but now worried that others may consider this unacceptable behaviour. I think some have suggested gundog training as a solution? I walk in the countryside for my benefit as well as the dog's and generally walk 4-6 hours with friends and will continue with or without the dog. thanks for any comments
Hi there, I’m afraid I’m in the camp that doesn’t think it’s acceptable for a dog to chase wildlife. Ok, sometimes it happens, it’s one of those things; I’m certainly not saying my dogs and I are perfect in that regard! But I do work as hard as I can to train them not to. Early this summer, I had great success with my boy, Shadow, who has a very strong prey drive and I stopped him chasing rabbits on our morning runs. Your dog doesn’t have to plod along sedately at your side; when free walking, mine zip around, always close to me, but enjoying the smells of the countryside. I interact with them a lot, and they’re always looking to me for fun activities we can do together, be that a spot of training, some games or activities with the environment (jumping on rocks etc). Gundog training is a wonderful pastime to get involved in, and really strengthens the bond you have, while wearing out your dog’s brain and harnessing his natural instincts.
Well, I can't think of any reason not to walk in the countryside with your dog - we do it every day because that's where we live ! Of course, as snowbunny says, chasing wildlife or any other animals including farm livestock is unacceptable and is obviously a major training subject when we walk dogs in the countryside. We walk on the moors as well and on the coast - where permitted. I would be horrified if I couldn't walk in the countryside with the dogs, and as you say, as much for myself as for Molly. I don't really understand what has caused you to think it is unacceptable
Like you, I love long country walks with our Lab. From the first walk onwards we've encouraged Holly to stay close and within sight. We made it a game by suddenly changing direction and rewarding her when she runs back to us. As a puppy OH and I would take it in turns to hide and reward her when she found us (a game we still play five years on) Fortunately she isn't a chaser, and this might result from her early training where we made games out of staying close. She's had lots of wildlife encounters with deer, boar and other animals and birds and comes back to us. The only thing she will run off for is a good smelly poo! Our walks often take us across farms and nature reserves. Holly is always on the lead when crossing them, by it's usually an extending lead so she can wonder a little. I think her tendency not to chase is partly her nature, but reinforced with some good training.
I agree with the above comments. Walking in the woods is great for dogs, but I don't allow Harley to chase wildlife. The only thing we struggle with is squirrels! We are working on this at the minute. She runs around and has a good sniff but never strays to far and constantly checks up on me.
You can still have lovely walks in the country with your dog off lead. Get some gundog training and perhaps the trainer will have a rabbit/pheasant pen where you can train your dog not to chase them. The gamekeeper won't be too pleased he is flushing his pheasants, can you walk somewhere else in the shooting season which only lasts from about October to the end of January. If you are walking with 3 or 4 friends, you attention will not be wholly on your dog, so perhaps train when you can concentrate on him. Don't give up your country walks
I think it sounds as if your dog is having a lovely time with you. You say he responds to a recall if he starts to chase and that you have him on lead near farm animals, so I can’t see a problem.
Hi @simonD , I agree with the other respondents, don't give up on your country walks. For me that's why I have her. There are lots of things you can do to keep him closer but still enjoy his walks, I've always done about turn walk with Cassie, aged 18 months, and now combine this with hand touch -- if she goes further ahead than I wish I just stop, when she looks for me she comes back for hand touch and reward. Also I hide bits of food, usually bits of kibble, and get her to sniff it out, which she loves doing. These and other things I've learnt off the Forum, and they really enhance our walks as we are doing things together.
Hi, I too live in the countryside and live for my daily walks in the woods and open countryside which I wouldn't give up for anything. You could train a good stop whistle. My girl Hattie now aged 10 years has an excellent stop whistle and if timed correctly I can get her to stop chasing wildlife which I have to say makes me extremely proud. I also hide, change direction, do some retrieves and a "behind" cue that I have recently been working on. I also have a silent recall with a hand touch which is very useful for keeping her close to me which she does most of the time. I also do a stop still if she wanders too far from me which indicates to Hattie that she has to get back to me pronto. There are lots of things you can do to keep enjoying our beautiful countryside Charlie our rescue boy on the otherhand has been a bigger challenge but that's another story x
