An e-collar would certainly be effective provided it was thoroughly understood prior to using it and provided the dog already had been taught the commands prior to using it. The trouble is that folk think these collars are cruel which they can be if used incorrectly or in anger. With the collars power reduced to the minimum level at which the dog could still feel it ....more of a tickle than a shock it works as an "interruptor" of an unwanted behaviour . A bit like a little tap on the shoulder to prompt the required behaviour.
It might be necessary to use the collar at a slightly higher level a few times until the dog takes note of it and then reduce it to the lowest possible effective level. It's either that or get yourself very fit and buy a good pair of running shoes !
Wullie
If at first you don't succeed .....find out if there is a booby prize !
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Don't do what doesn't work - do what does.
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Thanks for your responses chaps and do have to agree with all that has been said. The delay on the recall and turn whistle is her taking the p*ss as she knows fine well what this means so she i'm sure your right, maybe i need to be a bit more assertive in my actions.
The chasing thing I think is her not really knowing right from wrong. She knows no different as have not had access to a rabbit pen to install into her that she should not do this. I do have a collar (albit a bit of a cheap one) so may have to implement this in the right situations.
At present when she gets hot headed and sods off on a scent I do head after her sharpish and hunt her down and give her a good verbal and a shake of the scruff...doesn't seem to work too much though Lol
She sounds worse than she is all round its just they very vitally important things. She is a lovely dog most of the time and walks lovely to heal on the lead and recently had been walking really well to heal of the lead, even thorough cover she is desperate to dive into. Its just when she goes she goes and its like to have to stay over the top over her at all times to be in control...but then you end up going where she wants to hunt and not the direction I want to be going!
With respect, the delay on the recall & turn whistle is nothing to do with the dog taking the pish but is something that you have inadvertently trained her to do when there is the distraction of game. If she knew fine well what the commands meant when under the distraction of game then she would be responding just as well as she does when there is no distraction. You simply haven't distraction proofed the turn/recall behaviours. All dogs will respond perfectly when there is no distraction, the trick to having a well trained dog is to have them willing to respond when under distraction. And however proficient they are at heeling will not affect in the least their response to the whistle when quartering. Repeated, and timely, hard shakings should have sorted out this problem but the fact that they haven't means that you have allowed the dog to get away from you & when you finally catch up with it the punishment is too distant from the 'crime' for the dog to make the connection, so if you can't run the dog down within a few seconds/yards of it ignoring the turn whistle then you might as well leave the shaking part & just catch hold of it as best you can, take it back & start quartering again but this time be even more prepared to anticipate the dog breaking/pulling. At the very least, if you have fixed firmly in your mind that, from now on, the dog hunts where you tell it to rather than you lamely following after the dog, & stick to that with no compromise, then you will begin to make headway, providing you can sharpen up your timing, as others have explained earlier.
Naj
ps. and you do need to keep continually 'on top' of spaniels when quartering them, especially young ones that aren't yet steady or have developed bad habits.
colc08 wrote:
I do have a collar (albit a bit of a cheap one) so may have to implement this in the right situations.
If the collar you have is not one in which the power can be turned right down until you yourself cannot feel it then please do not use that collar. It will do more harm than good.
The kind of collar you may have is O.K. for sheep chasers where you don't want the dog to trouble sheep ever again but if you use too much "power" as a dog hunts then it may result in a dog that will not hunt at all.
Wullie
If at first you don't succeed .....find out if there is a booby prize !
-----------------------------------------------------
Don't do what doesn't work - do what does.
.
colc08 wrote:
I do have a collar (albit a bit of a cheap one) so may have to implement this in the right situations.
If the collar you have is not one in which the power can be turned right down until you yourself cannot feel it then please do not use that collar. It will do more harm than good.
The kind of collar you may have is O.K. for sheep chasers where you don't want the dog to trouble sheep ever again but if you use too much "power" as a dog hunts then it may result in a dog that will not hunt at all.
Wullie
The collar does have the ability for me to turn the power right down or even on to vibrate. I have it, don't like it but will only use it as a very last resort if i really have to.
Dont feel like you should give up on the dog. I posted on here about my young cocker bitch at the time. After I got told she would never make a gundog. I recieved great help from a great trainer on here and still am. But this season I have enjoyed a full season with her doing really well. So i have proved that trainer wrong and the difficult dog make the best.
flosser184 wrote:Dont feel like you should give up on the dog. I posted on here about my young cocker bitch at the time. After I got told she would never make a gundog. I recieved great help from a great trainer on here and still am. But this season I have enjoyed a full season with her doing really well. So i have proved that trainer wrong and the difficult dog make the best.
Gundogguy wrote:This sounds and reads like a situation for the modern electronic digital training collar. This just the area that it is designed to handle. The perfect aversion training tool. 3-6 weeks max to help the dog understand it's role around scent. All done using finesse rather than over powering the dog into submission.
