Tips for delevery/possession issues

[Egaraust]

To put it simple, 1 yr old lab won’t come back to me without running away, lying down and chewing the dummy,
How do I fix this. 1 tip I have gathered it teach hold so he knows to not chew it. That’s it tho.
Thanks.

[Nickheref]

Are you standing in one place and waiting for the pup to come to you whilst calling it etc? Has it had a lot of playing with toys?
I would turn away without saying anything and move off fairly quickly in the opposite direction on a relatively narrow lane/track (to give the dog limited options) and then turn and reward the dog when it got to you. 9 times out of 10 they will follow you at speed. You will need to get the timing right but it is usually very easy to resolve once the pup understands what you want.

[Egaraust]

Thanks for the info. Yes he has toys, will this impact him negatively?

[Nickheref]

Not necessarily but does he do similar things with his toys? Is there any distinction in the dogs mind between retrieving to you and playing with his toys or are they all fun things he can carry about and do what he wants with. Keen carriers will find things to carry whether you give them as toys or not, my youngsters would pick up virtually anything from tin cans, plastic bottles, flower pots, small logs, car cleaning sponges, shoes, shed antlers etc etc but they were encouraged from the start to bring these items to me first before I either gave them a treat as a reward for doing so if I didn't want them to have it for whatever reason (might be dangerous or I didn't want it destroying) and I kept it or if I wasn't concerned about it gave them some praise and handed it back for them to play with but in either case it came to me first. What I was trying to prevent was making them think everything they picked up and brought to me would be taken off them as they might then either stop bringing it to me or just stop retrieving but much more likely to just avoid me and take it away to rip it into bits. So if I was going to take it off them they got a treat, the bitch being more possessive needed higher value treats to make her think it worth it handing her treasure over whereas any old biccy worked for the dog.

If the dog is a really keen carrier it is pretty simple just to explain to the dog that if it isn't given to you there is no treat, ie if it drops it a yard away it is not rewarded, it only gets something nice if it gives it puts it in your hand.

The slight difference is the bitch still regards most things she randomly picks up as hers and I have to ask her for them (simply holding out my hand as a signal but if I don't she will keep it - shed antlers are a current favourite and I usually hand them back to her unless it is a particularly good one!) whereas the dog is trying to push them into my hand without any interaction from me as he is not so possessive and wants me to have them BUT dummies, game etc are mine in the bitches mind and now with a bit more maturity she gives them to me without hesitation or me having to ask.

Sorting out a possessive dog is relatively simple but for me it is not a quick fix, more of a slow improvement over time - others may disagree.

The danger is either getting frustrated and upsetting the young dog about carrying which essentially you really want it to do or the behaviour just becoming a complete habit in their mind.

[Judy]

Thanks for the info. Yes he has toys, will this impact him negatively?

No. All mine have had toys / something to chew.

How good is his recall? If recall is perfect then there's no reason why he shouldn't come back with something in his mouth.
One of my Cockers would fiddle about with the dummy rather than come right in to me, I spent a week teaching her that if I held out my hand and she shoved her nose in it there'd be a treat then I held out my hand when she had a ball, she shoved it into my hand. Maybe I was lucky! As Nick says walking away as he comes in to you can work although a friend had a particularly awkward Flatcoat who would simply lie down where he'd been sent from i.e. where she had been standing.
You can back chain the retrieve; start by playing give and take with something he likes to hold, once he will take it and give it back put it on the floor and ask him to hold it, take it off him. Repeat until he is happy to pick it up and give it to you. Then sit him up, step back put retrieve article on floor, ask him to hold, take it. Gradually build up distance between you and the dog. Have a look on you tube for videos of back chaining the retrieve.

[Nickheref]

Thinking about it Judy I probably do actually back chain but don't really realise it as it all starts with things very close when they are small pups and we play give and take then move it onto a place board.
If it helps Ergaraust, I would prefer a youngster to be a bit possessive rather than one who isn't that interested in carrying things and likely to drop it and go and do something else at the first hint of it getting a bit difficult, I had one who when young, if I wasn't standing exactly where I had sent her from would drop the dummy and panic looking for me when I wasn't where she thought I should be rather than holding onto it and finding me. She improved but I never had complete confidence in her.

[Judy]

... I had one who when young, if I wasn't standing exactly where I had sent her from would drop the dummy and panic looking for me when I wasn't where she thought I should be rather than holding onto it and finding me. She improved but I never had complete confidence in her.

I have a 5 year old Cocker here who missed so much picking up experience due to covid and then bird flu plus I had an accident last December so she missed another month, she has yet to do a full season's picking up! Anyway, she is prone to panic if I am not where I "should" be, she will drop the bird and run looking for me. Last winter she did a spectacular retrieve, 100 yards to the fall then chased it the whole length of the gun line and up the field behind before catching it, ran back to where I normally stand, realised that picker up wasn't me, dropped the bird... Luckily the bird was pretty tired by then so their dog managed to catch it without another spectacle. Yeah, I'll never completely trust her either. My latest acquisition is a possessive little oik, now, how do I stop her burying them...?

[Egaraust]

Thanks for the info. Yes he has toys, will this impact him negatively?

No. All mine have had toys / something to chew.

How good is his recall? If recall is perfect then there's no reason why he shouldn't come back with something in his mouth.
One of my Cockers would fiddle about with the dummy rather than come right in to me, I spent a week teaching her that if I held out my hand and she shoved her nose in it there'd be a treat then I held out my hand when she had a ball, she shoved it into my hand. Maybe I was lucky! As Nick says walking away as he comes in to you can work although a friend had a particularly awkward Flatcoat who would simply lie down where he'd been sent from i.e. where she had been standing.
You can back chain the retrieve; start by playing give and take with something he likes to hold, once he will take it and give it back put it on the floor and ask him to hold it, take it off him. Repeat until he is happy to pick it up and give it to you. Then sit him up, step back put retrieve article on floor, ask him to hold, take it. Gradually build up distance between you and the dog. Have a look on you tube for videos of back chaining the retrieve.

From what I’ve gathered, I think it’s his recall I need to improve on as he loves to hold random things he finds, his toys and blankets, he even puts his paw up on me if I don’t give him praise when he brings me something, but outside it’s different he just doesn’t come to is has to be his recall I think, how would u suggest I improve his verbal “here”?

[Judy]

If he is 12 months old you have probably fallen into the same trap we all do - getting lax about calling the pup right in to you when you whistle. As long as the dog comes somewhere near we carry on walking and pup does a fly by, gets a muttered 'good dog' for returning. Before we know it the fly past is some distance away and when you really want the dog by your side it wont come right in. Go back to basics call the dog, if necessary get down on your knees, get the dog right in and make a stupid fuss of it as you would a tiny puppy. Rinse and repeat until the dog rushes back to you.
People call the 12 month old thing a teenage phase but I think it's more likely that we expect the dog to do as it's told because it's been trained! We get lax, pup takes advantage or also gets lax then it has either forgotten what to do or has been retrained to semi ignore us. All too easy to forget to keep up the standards you first taught. Soooo... Puppy recalls from not too far away, lots of fuss and / or treats, build up the distance again, shouldn't take very long to get back on track.

[Nickheref]

The place board makes it all pretty simple in the dogs eyes as to what you want. Start by just running up and sitting in front of you for a treat then add in the dummy, if it is a keen carrier it won't take too long. I tend to use the "walkaway" method more if they are messing about picking it up.