Taking advantage of prey drive

[trekmoor]

Leeky, I think you are in danger of confusing yourself and maybe your dog too. Just train the dog in front of you, they are simple animals and simple training works.

Wullie

[Wendy M]

3 pages full of sh*te on this forum .
So I thought I would add to it!
imho ,of course

Come on, not all of its sh*ite.... I thought I added some very insightful and useful points actually, so there!

Wendy

[Lynn]

Unfortunately or probably fortunately animals don't read books - go with your instinct don't get complicated.

[Polmaise]

3 pages full of sh*te on this forum .
So I thought I would add to it!
imho ,of course

Come on, not all of its sh*ite.... I thought I added some very insightful and useful points actually, so there!

Wendy

Only in your last post!

[Judy]

And that would be one more than a few others above.

If you are just starting out with dog training don't get hung up on the science behind what you do and don't worry about making errors, the dog is a very simple and malleable creature. Don't forget people have been training dogs for an awful long time before Scientists started taking an interest in the subject.

[leeky]

3 pages full of sh*te on this forum .
So I thought I would add to it!
imho ,of course

Would appreciate it if you did add you own "sh*te" to this thread

I probably shouldnt have included the word "emotion" in my original post, makes all the "auld gits" uncomfortable

[leeky]

Leeky, I think you are in danger of confusing yourself and maybe your dog too. Just train the dog in front of you, they are simple animals and simple training works.

Wullie

Wullie, i totally respect and appreciate what you're saying, and i admit i am in danger of tying myself in knots with this, but please remember you're coming from a position of years of experience whereas i'm just trying to educate myself in different methods, particularly where certain issues are concerned - i'm trying to nip them in the bud before they become too ingrained. What's your take on redirecting prey/predation drive for resolving issues?

[trekmoor]

I wouldn't have any take on it until I'd seen the dog with the issue.
I have a cocker pup here with an "issue" .....she doesn't like cover and she thinks before she acts. I want her to act without thinking and so, this weekend, I will give her the chance to chase and maybe even catch a couple of rabbits. The rabbits live in cover, she will have to chase through cover if she wants a rabbit. I will have succeeded in resolving her "cover" issue by using prey drive. .......... but it all seems an awfully convoluted way to say ," I take the pup rabbit chasing."

Wullie

[Wendy M]

If you want to re-direct a dogs attention timing has to be spot on, if you wait till the dog is in a heightened state of arousal i.e. already lunging, already in mid chase etc, then you are not likely to be successful in your efforts. You need to catch the dog before this point in order to get and keep his attention on something else.

I would also be mindful of what you DO want the dog to eventually be able to do in that situation. Getting a ball/tug toy etc out whenever you see a car may divert his attention if your lucky and get the timing right, but unless you start using it as a reward for doing what you want then the dog will not learn anything.

Wendy

[leeky]

That's probably the main problem here - i have tried to instigate a game of tug when the vehicle is approaching but it doesnt hold her interest enough. She does like playing tug but only when there's no distractions as such ie in the house and she is often the one to instigate it but it doesnt transfer to outside. I can put her in a sit and make her watch me then i focus her attention whilst the vehicle is approaching to making her "find" the food in my hand whilst the vehicle is passing. It does work for the purposes of her not lunging (although slower approaching vehicles are more difficult to keep her focus), but when i have tried to gradually lengthen her focus before offering the food in the aim of removing the food and transferring to praise she reverts back to the lunge. It isnt necessarily a problem to keep doing the food thing but i just know it's not actually changing her association, merely distracting her, nothing in the situation has actually changed.

I just felt that redirecting her urge from the vehicle onto something safer ie a toy and me would perhaps be more likely to have a longterm effect. The only thing i can think of as a reward that is more enticing than the vehicle is for me to throw a tennis ball, but for obvious reasons that isnt possible in that environment, and simply giving her the ball as a reward doesnt interest her

The thing is, our recent progress in offlead heel is down to teaching her some restraint and to walk with me to earn the release then the throw of the ball. I've been gradually increasing the length of time before releasing her, then making her sit at a distance (with the whistle) before throwing. I'm trying to think of a way to transfer this practice over to her onlead walk (which always ends in off-lead time) without making it too difficult and setting her up for failure (it's a 5 minute road walk to the off-lead area). Any thoughts on this?