Running off and not interested in retrieving

[Adamleebratley]

I’m new to the group so hello everyone. I have a bitch ESS who is 6 months old. I’ve done some basics with her she walks to heel on and off lead. She recalls to voice and whistle. Little bit of stop whistle but still practicing.

Now, I e done a bit a retrieving with her. She will sit, wait and retrieve on command. Sometimes she runs back and then circles and doesn’t bring the dummy back. Other times she brings it back and sits at heel.

When we go for walks is another matter! Open field she is good and listens. As soon as she sees bushes and cover she goes crazy, runs into it and does not listen. I can see her say 10 15 meters away, try and recall and she just bolts. Same with and birds/game. She also has no interest in retrieving in that situation and just runs in to cover hunting.

Have I done something wrong? How do I get her working right

P.s I understand they have good and bad days and yes some good days she does listen which shows she is just ignoring me.

[Rough_mut]

Sounds like the dog is getting bored to me?

I wouldn't personally want steadiness on a dog that age, I wouldn't insist on a sit stay or perfect delivery, just make it a big game!

Once the drive to retrieve is there, stick the brakes/steadiness on then?

With regards to the going of and hunting in bushes..... it's almost like you got a breed of dog that's been bred to go and hunt in bushes?

Always do your training in somewhere with minimal distraction, so if these bushes have had game in, I wouldn't be trying to get the dog to retrieve a canvas dummy there. I'd probably look down on a young spaniel that would rather retrieve a dummy than find game?

Rm

[trekmoor]

I agree with Rough Mut. .....welcome to the forum by the way !

Your pup does not sound too unusual to me. I've had a few that would have behaved like that .....if I had allowed them to ! She is a puppy and pups are often a bit bolshie at times , so train at times and in places where she is less likely to misbehave. Even the word "misbehave" is a bit too strong and a bit too wrong for she has not been thoroughly taught what she should do in less distracting places and situations.

This shooting season I took my then 9 -10 month old Labrador pup to shoots to learn her job as a picking up dog. She had been to 3 -4 shoots and had retrieved several pheasants very well when I did something that was a bit stupid. I threw a dummy for her during a drive. She is normally very keen to retrieve dummies but in that situation she very clearly told me to stick the damned thing up where the sun never shines ! She did retrieve it, that much of her training stayed in place, but she did it at the pace of a snail with a sore foot !

She was right and I was wrong. The situation was not one in which she would want to retrieve a dummy. When I threw a dummy for her a couple of days later away from that situation she very happily and very quickly behaved perfectly again .
What she did at the shoot made sense ....to her. Sitting right beside her at that shoot was my two years old springer . He has a different outlook on retrieves. He will happily retrieve either birds or dummies anywhere at any time. That is not due to me having trained him better.....it is just part of his individual personality.

All dogs are different and you have a dog that wants to hunt more than she wants to retrieve and more than she wants to recall in certain places. That is not unusual among the hunting breeds so I think you will have to do more work on the retrieving side of things and on the obedience side of things. Start in places where there are few distractions and gradually move nearer to and then into woodlands etc.

Wullie

[Aimeetess]

Sounds like you're making it all to formal and shes getting bored, as above. I done the same!

Try throwing some dummies and letting her run in, so its all exciting. Sitting and waiting is boring, its more fun when they're moving to pups.

Once she loves it, you can start making her steady to them. I done the same with mine, hes 8 months now and I had to stop all steady work as he started ignoring dummies and running off. If she runs circles walk backwards, I'll be honest I did start doing reward retrieves which mean't a retrieve to hand he got a treat and he soon stopped circling. Some hate that, but worked for us.

You need to give her boundaries, once she goes to far, 'AH AH" in a deep tone, change the way you're walking. This was recommended by a top trainer we have been seeing as mine was EXACT the same. If she ignores AH AH try and catch her in the act, grab her scruff so she knows to listen.

Mine now stays a good distance and if he goes to far I give him the correction.

Do some lost work around you, throw treats and say lost so she finds them as they love that.

[Springfield Pointers]

I’m new to the group so hello everyone. I have a bitch ESS who is 6 months old. I’ve done some basics with her she walks to heel on and off lead. She recalls to voice and whistle. Little bit of stop whistle but still practicing.

Now, I e done a bit a retrieving with her. She will sit, wait and retrieve on command. Sometimes she runs back and then circles and doesn’t bring the dummy back. Other times she brings it back and sits at heel.

When we go for walks is another matter! Open field she is good and listens. As soon as she sees bushes and cover she goes crazy, runs into it and does not listen. I can see her say 10 15 meters away, try and recall and she just bolts. Same with and birds/game. She also has no interest in retrieving in that situation and just runs in to cover hunting.

Have I done something wrong? How do I get her working right

P.s I understand they have good and bad days and yes some good days she does listen which shows she is just ignoring me.

At six months, I'm hazarding a guess, but the pressure might have been a bit much at this age, given you mention sitting at heel to deliver. I would lighten up a bit and let the pup find its limits. Going by how you describe the dog, it seems you have a cracker - just how they should be.

[Adamleebratley]

Yeah, I’ve not been hard on her as such was just after getting a feel at what she should b at at his age. I have hardly done any retrieves with her and thought that could have been the problem and she has found to much independance to early

[AndyH]

I feel your pain. I've got a 6 month old cocker who was behaving in exactly the same manner, to the point where one day I spent an hour and a half trying to get hold of the little %£!* as he just kept running off into cover and ignoring me completely.

My break through moment was getting him to quarter through cover rather than just hunt for himself. If you can get her staying close to you and working with you she will start to become more attentive. I started off zig zagging my way across an open area clapping my hands and giving lots of excited noises and he very quickly wanted to follow me around and over a few days I just reduced how much I moved side to side but he kept his pattern and distance. Once he had the basic idea I started taking a little puppy dummy with pheasant scent on it along and every so often if he's hunting on my left then I chuck the dummy off to the right out of view and then as he quarters across he finds the dummy and feels very proud of himself. Over time she'll realise fun things happen close to you and naturally hunt around you and listen to you much more.

As everyone else has said keep the retrieving fun. As my partner would willingly tell you I'm not the most emotional person in the world so it took me a while to realise that simply saying "good boy" and giving a treat doesn't really cut it. I've recently started getting stupidly excited every time he comes in with a retrieve and he's started enjoying it much more, so really try and put on a show when she comes back in with the dummy (as ridiculous as you will feel when someone spots you). Also, a fence line is wonderful for straightening up a delivery and avoiding them going past/circling you. If she's always going to heel on your left then kneel down with an obstacle on your left so she can't get there.

[westcountry]

Agree with Roughmut here. At that age retrieving should just be a wild game with no steadiness involved. Try to get her in a frtch frenzy so she is frantic to retrieve. Only when you have her believing that retrieving is the best thing in the world would I attempt steadiness. Also if her switching off when around cover and scent is creating problems,then keep her well away from those two distractions until you have that retrieving obsession firmly planted in her head. Go back to a ball or favourite toy if it helps.