Prey Drive

[J.Faulkner]

19 month old GR has excellent basic skills in place in garden. Taken out into new environments, prey drive is huge. She will chase airborne birds and is oblivious to the Recall. I have found a safe area to release her and am working on the assumption that she will discover she can't fly and it is a waste of time. I have tried training on a long line, but she is bright enough to know when she is free and the behaviour returns. Any tips please.

[trekmoor]

I take gundog training classes and I wish I had a £1 for every time I have heard a dog owner say something like...." He does it fine in the garden !" Basically your dog is 19 months old and has not been trained to stop when commanded to or to recall when commanded to.

Train your dog far more thoroughly that you mean to be obeyed when you give it a command by voice or by whistle. I do not necessarily think that a dog that likes chasing birds has a huge prey drive ......most dogs will chase game if they get any chance to.
The "trick" if it can be called that , to having a dog that stops and/or recalls when among game is to train with the dog close to you when no game is present . Then very gradually let the dog move further out before giving the command. If the dog disobeys at the longer distance, take it back to it's previous distance and start all over again.

Only when the dog is behaving perfectly when no game is around should it be taken to where there is game. When you arrive there go right back to square one and begin the whole thing again at very close distances. With some dogs this takes only weeks , with others it can take many months ...... how long it takes and how well the dog responds to commands depends upon both the dog itself and upon how determined and how competent the handler is.

Whenever disobedience occurs go back to square one for a while and begin all over again. Yes, it is a bit like playing Snakes and Ladders but if you "play" long enough then you will win the "game."

P.S. .....get the hell out of that garden !

Wullie

[Springfield Pointers]

19 month old GR has excellent basic skills in place in garden. Taken out into new environments, prey drive is huge. She will chase airborne birds and is oblivious to the Recall. I have found a safe area to release her and am working on the assumption that she will discover she can't fly and it is a waste of time. I have tried training on a long line, but she is bright enough to know when she is free and the behaviour returns. Any tips please.

You need to stop training in the garden. Get the dog out and make sure you are in a position to enforce you commands, there is no use screaming "Fenton! Jesus Fenton" if there is no way to actually get the dog in. I would start in a new sterile area and gradually increase levels of distraction as you get more of a handle on the dog. It seems she has learned to tune you out and you need to get her to see you as "large and in charge" - for what it's worth, the problem is not uncommon. A lot of people take a big step into the field thinking that the dog is finished because the dog is faultless in the garden. Take a few steps back and slowly add distraction, but make sure you get compliance before you move on.

[J.Faulkner]

Thank you for your wise words. I have successfully trained the Recall and Stop whistle with my other dogs who are reliable and responsive to my commands.(Honest!). I have followed the same formula this time of moving from "the garden" to a "sterile" environment, stood by duck ponds, walked with her on lead and off lead (but using a line) in the environment. Training the Recall close up, and the Stop whistle all of which she obeys even in the company of my chickens but as soon as I get confident and release her away from home, she is off and running - birds, any type flying overhead make her run even faster. She does come back (admittedly in her own time) and then having got the running out of her system will settle to work. I know it might be unorthodox but in a safe fenced field should I let her free run as a reward for say some good heelwork - if that is what enables us to move on? Again your opinion would be appreciated. Help!

I bred this dog and maybe I am too emotionally involved. Patient understanding has always worked for me before but not so far this time!!!

[Rascal]

Are you intending to work her and does she retrieve and enjoy it?

You need to work out a reward for her returning on the whistle or stopping on the whistle that is greater "for her" than chasing birds, would she find retrieving a good enough reward? You sound to me, apologies if I'm wrong to be working on a "must do" rather than a "want to". For some dogs the chase is the reward and it doesn't matter that they can't catch whatever it is they are chasing.

At 19 months it's pretty established behaviour, is she left in the garden at all for periods where she can self serve?

I've not read it but several folk on here have used this book and said it's helped. I think it's available to download on line too, Google Total Recall by Pippa Mattinson.

Rascal

[Stihl 090]

if your working the dog or not, taking a line of flight is a bad idea, roads,cars etc. etc.
suggest you find a trainer with a good size flying pen, where it can be dealt with effectively.

[J.Faulkner]

Thank you for pointing out the point about the garden and her free use of it which I had not considered. I am at home during the day and the door is open and there are plenty of pigeons about. Maybe that was the start point of my problem. She wooed me into a false state of security as until she was 9 months old, it was all going so well

Also I do have Pippa's book on the shelf!! where it ain't going to be much help, so I will take it down and re-read.

[Rascal]

Yep dogs are great at finding their own fun if you fail to provide it……. Some dogs are more likely to do it than others, it depends on their personality and it’s a shame you didn’t spot it and prevent the behaviour from developing but hindsight is the only exact science as they say…………..

Interesting reading here too….
http://www.dog-secrets.co.uk/how-do-i-s ... g-chasing/

Then you could also put the chase behaviour on cue and allow it but on your terms in a safe environment.

You haven’t said whether she’s to be a working dog or a pet?

Rascal

Edited to add:- this is an interesting article too.....http://eileenanddogs.com/2013/04/24/dog ... irt-poles/

[J.Faulkner]

Hi Rascal
Thank you for yr. interest. Yes, I will be working her together with her
Mum & my 3 working cockers. I love my picking up and her Mum has been successful in competition too.
I realise now that I didn't control the "chase" in the early stages when pigeons in the garden were fair game. I have been reading Pippas book with renewed interest because it now seems to mirror my current problem. The great thing about working with dog's is that it makes you aware of yr. own faults at the same time as you are working to eradicate the dogs. She is a great girl & I will work hard to do her justice. For the moment the environment is far more exciting than anything I have come up with but I have now found an enclosed 30 acre field I can use - So armed with Pippas book, a long line, roast chicken & garlic sausage & running shoes, it's back to the drawing board ))

[Stihl 090]

if your working the dog or not, taking a line of flight is a bad idea, roads,cars etc. etc.
suggest you find a trainer with a good size flying pen, where it can be dealt with effectively.

A 30 acre field is still not going to help, how you going to get the dog when its pi$$ed off! You need a far smaller enclosure.
What are you intending to do. Wait for a pigeon to fly over?

Find a trainer with a flying pen, as noted before