Chasing Cocker - HELP

[MontyCocker]

Hello there,

I have a cocker who is nearly 11 months that I want to use for rough shooting when he is ready, but he has had the thrill of the chase one too many times.

Wondering around a barren field, he will sit with the stop whistle no problem, sometimes he may take a step or two but will always sit.

We live in the middle of nowhere, so there is easy access to game. I walk the field first with the dog on the lead, but sometimes I miss something.

If we do stumble across game whilst he is on the lead, I blow the stop whistle and he sits. However, if I have missed something and he is off the lead - he will be off, I give the stop whistle a blow and he disappears, no stop, no reaction, no hesitation, gone. Eventually when I get him back, I will march him over to the point of where he has disobeyed the command and scruff him or give him a jerk with the lead. Not sure if this chastisement is the right way to go - heavier needed or do nothing at all???

I have been doing some reading, and a few things have said that he may be tarnished for the rest of his days and on the scrap heap, he will never stop if in the presence of a feathered friend.

BUT he is only 11 months old, is this too young to get his head around stopping and does he need more time to mature? Can I reverse this chasing? Stop whistle training tips? Or take him to the local butcher and be done with it? Any help will be greatly received, anything!!!

Thank you

[shootingstu]

Dont worry this is a situation most of us find ourselves in. If you see an opportunity to set up an encounter with a phessie or a furry fried try to do it so you are in a position to intercept the flush so you can stop the dog in its tracks. Introduce a firm 'leave it' command and do this as much as possible. I am finally getting there with this approach. Do not chastise unless you catch him in the act, afterwards there is no point you will just confuse him.

[MontyCocker]

Thanks shootingstu, I will give it a go.

[Alice]

find someone near you with a rabbit pen who knows what they're doing, and give it a few short sharp sessions in there, where you can control the flushes.

it's definitely not too late to steady him, you just need to let the last uncontrolled chase he had be the last EVER now!

[MontyCocker]

Will do, thank you Alice

[Cass]

Here there are people who allow their pups to chase their first season and then steady them afterwards. You can always steady - there is no "one chase too many" , chasing builds drive in a young dog

[James]

Here there are people who allow their pups to chase their first season and then steady them afterwards. You can always steady - there is no "one chase too many" , chasing builds drive in a young dog

But it takes ability to bring that young dog back into line, and 99% of novice handlers dont have it. Its fine if you have the set up and experiance to go down this line but if you dont then get it sorted now.

[kent]

Any dog that stays here will watch game run and fly around their kennel on a daily basis. I feel your pain but its also a blessing in disguise- get onto the dog and don't ignore it when it occurs (each hearty chase will be self reinforcing) Sometimes they all pop into predatory mode my 2yr old did the other day when a bunny shot out from the woodpile as we passed it, you can tell when its a case of instinctual reaction rather than will full self hunting and I don't go hard on them in these instances as they know full well it was a wrong doing as long as they recall well . With a spaniel you will just have to have to work on drop to flush but on the upside you have the advantage of ready game to train it. Walking off is a non starter for me or I should never get anything done.
Letting a hunting dog have some chases is no bad thing - unless there is game all around you because it will be too hard to turn off later for most of us in this situation. Fair enough if your game is away from home and not ever present

[Gundogguy]

Here there are people who allow their pups to chase their first season and then steady them afterwards. You can always steady - there is no "one chase too many" , chasing builds drive in a young dog

But it takes ability to bring that young dog back into line, and 99% of novice handlers dont have it. Its fine if you have the set up and experiance to go down this line but if you dont then get it sorted now.

+1 James Your response is right on! The concept of steading is one that even if approached in a correct manor is one that is very delicate and difficult to achieve. It is a much simpler process to teach a dog that has not learned the excitement of chasing than it is to CORRECT a dog that is in full blown chase behavior. How big a stick will be needed is usually the 1st consideration and how many training birds will be needed is the next. The average Spaniel springer or cocker has plenty of drive to survive the process. Who, other than a Field trialers needs an abundance of drive when the average sportsman really needs is balance of temperament and behavior.
In my practice I usually plan on twelve weeks of training a minimum of 100 training birds to CORRECT and break the chasing habit. Do the math on what that must cost for allowing "chasing one to many". ( Here in the States minimally $3000.00)

[trekmoor]

I allow every dog of every breed a few chases, sometimes more than a few before training steadiness to fur or to feather. I have always managed to make those pups steady later on. (and then I lose the steadiness by taking them to shoots but that's another story ! ) A one year old dog can definitely be trained to be steady and it can be retrained again when it becomes unsteady. I do that with my cocker spaniels maybe twice per year.

Access to a rabbit pen is very helpful but it must not be thought that the pup or dog that is steady inside the pen will also be steady once outside it. If I could I would train steadiness inside a pen and then move outside it to hunt the spaniel , I'd keep it in closer than I normally would and would be alert for the first signs of an impending find, flush and chase. It is far easier to stop a chase before it has got properly started than it is to stop a chase when the dog is already going full pelt.

Some dogs are far more inclined to chase than others are. Spaniels usually love a chase while other dogs just don't bother too much and need very little work to make them steady.

This is my Brittany pup at about 9 months old in a field full of rabbits. She was a long way away from me when the pics were taken. She had been chasing just a week before and then by a combination of training and her own nature she decided not to any more.





Steadiness and what is required to achieve it varies quite a lot from dog to dog but keeping a pup away from rabbits or pheasants will not make a pup steady. I try to do the opposite to that and let the pup see as many as possible while training towards steadiness.

Wullie