Afraid I might lose my dog

[ghosthunter]

Forget about hunting and focus on BASIC OBEDIENCE! Otherwise you have no business even letting your dog off the leash, let alone taking it hunting.

 

[AspenBud]

Posted by: Stilly bay
« on: Today at 08:13:38 PM » Insert Quote
Forget about hunting and focus on BASIC OBEDIENCE! Otherwise you have no business even letting your dog off the leash, let alone taking it hunting.



She is very obedient with everything else. It's just when she puts the nose to the ground and smells rabbits or any birds it's game on and that's what I need to correct.  I was asking for opinions on how you guys fix that problem with yours dogs? How to get them out of he hunting mood and listen to what you ask.

Your goal isn't to get her out of her hunting mood. Drive is good.

Your goal is to get her to handle.

Hey, if guys can train Pointers bred to run off horse to handle in the woods on foot without an e-collar it is doable.

[ghosthunter]

If she doesn't come when called she is not very obedient. Thats like saying my "car's power windows and door locks work great but the engine won't turn over".

all it takes is consistency, The most important thing to remember is if you know the dog can hear you, calling her name ONCE should be enough, if you   feel like you need to call it a second time its best to correct the dog instead.

get a long check cord and an a E collar.
work her in the yard with the check cord and the collar around her neck -BUT NOT ON.
once she knows what is expected of her you can turn the e collar on and use the check cord and low setting nick from the Ecollar at the same time as you call her.
Then once you do that for a few days you can lose the check cord.

Call the dog ONCE and then nick her with a low setting.
Don't give her a chance to obey the command, don't wait to see if she heard you, just call and nick at the lowest setting your transmitter has that will get a response from her. This will put the idea in her head that she has to get back to you before getting nicked, but since you are calling and nicking at the same time it should create a great sense of urgency in your dog to get back since she will try to beat the e-collar to the punch.
Try to practice this at as many different locations as possible.

don't ever let her out in a situation that you have no control over her with that ecollar. IF she gets away from you and ignores your first call and you don't have the collar and transmitter available, don't bother calling a second time, run her down. Calling the dog back repeatedly with no way to back it up will only reinforce the idea that she doesn't have to listen when the collar isn't on.  Most dogs get collar wise fast especially if their owner is inconsistent.

when your dog stops what ever it is its doing and returns to you like her life depended on it,she is ready to take hunting... or at least more ready than she was.

Don't feel bad about using the E collar, this will save your dog's life someday.

 

[mburrows]

Check cord and an e-collar.  Have had great results with combined use.  Eventually you can ditch the check cord once it understands your rules.

[Curly]

Great advice!!