# Any ideas on dog training??



## sallyanne1 (Oct 23, 2006)

Does anyone know how to train a dog off its lead? I envy people who can let there dog off and it comes back when called   Poppy is only 4 months old and i have let her off once in a big field to play fetch. She was good but when it came to putting her lead on i had to be crafty because she wouldnt actually come to me  . And the other day she broke her collor while we were out and decided to run in the grass. So i had to tell the kids to run in the opposit direction to get her to follow so i could grab her. When i do get her i always prais her and fuss her for coming to me. But i would love for her to run around and not have the fear that if another dog or person comes that she wont chase them. Any ideas
Luv sally x x


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## LizzyB (Mar 25, 2003)

Hi Sally 

I would start early hun.....sounds like you are doing the right thing by giving her loads of praise when she does what she's told. If she's food motivated then it's probably a good idea to have a pocket full of little dog bickies......really good incentive for her to come to you  Do you have a garden you could practice in?

She probably will chase and play with other dogs and thats fine, if she jumps at a person (which she might do as most puppies do) then I do a firm 'No' and they soon understand. If it's any help girls seem to be easier to train than boys and tend to come back more readily....thats how it was with my two anyway.

You could try puppy training classes too.....they should have details at your vet although my dog used to be great while he was at the classes then revert back to loony the rest of the time!!

Good luck, Lizzy xxx


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## Snowdrop (Jul 19, 2004)

Hi sally,

I agree with Lizzy about puppy classes, I own a 4 year old springer spaniel, this breed is notoriously hyper and can be quite a nightmare to train.  We have been going to classes for 3 1/2 years now, the classes really have paid off, we carry on going as it is excellant for the dogs to socialise.

We can walk off the lead on the beach but not the park, the smell of the ducks sends my dog potty and she will run off  and it will takes us a couple of hours to catch her  

You could practice in the garden, get the dog to sit and wait, walk to the length of your garden keep on telling her to wait, when you want her call 'Poppy come', treat her if she does it well, if she doesn't take her back to where she was originally sitting and start again. 

When walking Poppy take some dog treats out with you, when you call her make sure that she can see you getting the treat out of your pocket, this will distract her from other people/dogs.    If you are concerned you could try a flexi lead, this gives them chance to have a good sniff about whilst you have complete control of the pooch, you can also practice the commands whilst they are on the lead.

Hope this helps.

Good luck

Kerri


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## Juniper (Dec 13, 2005)

Hi there,

It sounds to me like you're making good progress with your dog.

She's still young and as long as your doing the right behaviours - fussing her when she comes and not chasing after her - then I bet your moving in the right direction and it's just a matter of time.

The treats are a good idea, though I always find that as much as my springer loves her food, when she's out and about all the lovely outdoor smells are much more exciting.

We couldn't have survived without puppy training, but I'd say it's worth shopping around until you find a class and a teacher you really gel with.

The first puppy trainer we took ours to was awful. The woman was very much from the Barbara Woodhouse school. There were too many dogs in the class and Barbara reduced one woman with a rescue dog to tears when the poor thing got scared and had a poo right in the middle of the village hall. Barbara was really scathing to this woman and made a big song and dance about her clearing it up.

She also tried to use our crazy springer in a demonstration and when our beloved was completely uncontrollable, as three month old springers are, she told us we'd bought a dud, our dog was 'untrainable' and that we'd better take her back.

Needless to say we didn't, we just found another class and had a great time - as did aforementioned crazy springer who was soon walking to heal and doing beautiful sit stays. Up yours Barbara.

There were times in the first year when we thought we'd never be able to let our dog off the lead without a major battle but around her first birthday she's miraculously become more obedient.

It's not that we found some magic solution, I think it was just that she grew up a bit.

My DH and I are not great at dog training. We find it really hard to be consistent and do all the 'right' things.

But we managed to stick to the no chasing after her thing and the treats thing, and suddenly, out of nowher, she started coming when she was called on a walk. (She'd always been really obedient in the house).

I really believe it was just that she was maturing.

It sounds to me like you and your dog are doing briliantly if she's only four months...but maybe me and my DH are just rubbish with dogs so it sounds really impressive to us.

Good luck

juniper


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## janinec (Nov 19, 2006)

Hi there - teaching the recall is always good fun ! 

My tips would be - REALLY good treats in your pocket such as chicken, or liver sausage or sausages, something your dog, really wants to come back for, I have found that biscuit type treats just aren't inticing enough,
I would say dont use a flexi lead, they encourage the dog to pull, use a training line, you can buy them at the vets, its a really long soft lead, and you can use to stop the dog going too far, and pull them when training. 
Have fun ! xx


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## sallyanne1 (Oct 23, 2006)

I took her out with a pocket full of ham   We went across the fields and she was off the lead and doing fantastic. every now and then i would call her back and when she did i made her sit and then gave her some ham. Apart from on the way back we came across a swamp. She ran down to it to get a drink. All around it was barbed wire so i couldnt get in and she started wading in it and sinking in the mud. No matter how much i called and shook my bag of ham she didnt come back. In the end my dd (13) ran and she came out to chase. I then got hold of her praised her and game her some ham so fingers crossed she wont do it again. She also escaped out the gate and ran across the road the other day and i went after her stopped called her and she came back. Im so proud of her. I know we will have loads of set backs as she is a baby but we will get there.
Luv sally x x


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## Jayne (Jan 26, 2003)

Good tips on this thread   and I need some of those with our Westie pup coming home in a couple of weeks   

Booked onto dog obedience training at the end of September for a 20 hour course over 10 weeks.  Dog will be just gone 5 months old then, and she is supposed to be 6 to do this course, but I didn't want to wait until the January one as we could already be in bad habbits by then!  

Jayne x


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## sallyanne1 (Oct 23, 2006)

Jayne i was thinking about obedience training for my poppy. Not that she is naughty she is really good actually but its more to train me   How much do they cost?


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## Jayne (Jan 26, 2003)

I've paid £52 for our course.  Quite reasonable I thought.  Suppose they vary though from area to area, but can't imagine it would be much more.  I want it more for me than the dog too


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## ♥ cat ♥ (Apr 13, 2003)

Jayne - poppy is so cute xxx

My male dog is now 3 and a half and is still a nightmare off the leed. he is getting better and only plays up when he sees another dog! he is now getting into the habbit of coming back to me when i walk away and leave him behind. My other dog (female) is no problem and always comes back when called. 
I think it must be a male thing! 

Good luck with all the doggie training xx


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## Damelottie (Jul 26, 2005)

Thats it.

We HAVE to find some training. Lottie ran up the street and into somebody elses house - straight through the open door and into the kitchen  .

How do I find classes??


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## Jayne (Jan 26, 2003)

OMG - naughty pooch!    

I found our classes in the local adult education leaflet that came through recently.  Perhaps your vet would know, or maybe just Yellow Pages?


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## ❁ BG2007 ❁ (Jun 26, 2007)

Hee Hee Emma! Sounds like my naughty puppy! 

We found both our training schools through the vet's surgery, the first when he was very small and just recently when we moved house. The vet generally has a list of local trainers but only once that have been recommended by other dog owners. 

Hopefully you won't have what we have though - Oscar is just over 18m and when we take him to school he does everything perfectly, exactly as he's asked, the 'teacher' even asks if she can borrow him to show the others what she wants them to do. HOWEVER once he leaves school it's chaos, he jumps up at people, won't drop things, runs about as he pleases, the lot!  

We were once walking along a VERY muddy footpath, you know the sort of mud where you struggle not to fall flat on your face with every step. He ran on ahead of me and met this poor woman and started leaping all over her - she was wearing a baby blue coat.   SHE WAS COVERED by the time I could get there. I apologised over and over again and dragged him off. We went off round the next corner so I let him go. The little bugger shot straight back to her and did it all over again but this time ripped her shopping bag spilling all her groceries into the mud and left her with an almost totally BROWN coat. I had to pay for dry cleaning!!!!!!!!!! 

Dogs - who'd have 'em!!

Oscar sends Lottie a conspiratorial wag!

B x


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## Damelottie (Jul 26, 2005)

Lottie is LOVING Oscar !!!


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## Jayne (Jan 26, 2003)

❁BG2007❁ said:


> We were once walking along a VERY muddy footpath, you know the sort of mud where you struggle not to fall flat on your face with every step. He ran on ahead of me and met this poor woman and started leaping all over her - she was wearing a baby blue coat.  SHE WAS COVERED by the time I could get there. I apologised over and over again and dragged him off. We went off round the next corner so I let him go. The little bugger shot straight back to her and did it all over again but this time ripped her shopping bag spilling all her groceries into the mud and left her with an almost totally BROWN coat. I had to pay for dry cleaning!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Dogs - who'd have 'em!!


Oh my goodness, I shouldn't laugh, but that is hysterical!  Am sure it wasn't at the time though! 

Jayne x


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## sharonm (Feb 21, 2007)

With regards to finding a new dog training classes - check out your vets who will probally have posters on their notice boards - and visit these classes without your dog to see if you like their training methods, as methods do vary - and also I advise asking the trainer what experience they have to train YOU how to train YOUR dog!

With a dog that dosent come back instantly when called, well easy answer - dont let them off the lead! the more they are let off the lead & the more they choose to ignore you the bigger the probem will become!

If your dog jumps up at a person - its really not funny, you could get into alot of troube under the dangerous dogs act for having out of control in a public place - and what if that was a child or the elderly that they jumped up on!!!

It is also NOT OK for your dog to run up to any old dog they see (as previosuly posted) its not good manners from _you or your dog _ not controlling your dog in public places - and how do you know if that dog is friendly? you dog may well end up getting bitten.

Working with dogs on a daily basis I see the unfunny side to not being able to control your dog in public places.

Off my soapox now 

Enjoy your dogs - but please control them -

Sharon x


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## libra (Jun 23, 2006)

Hi,all,
don't know where i've been since I joined this site-but I've only just found this bit!!Knew the dog lovers would be somewhere!
Great to hear of the trials of training & the fun dogs give.
I too gained loads from training classes-started early with puppy classes for the retriever cross-we both loved it.
He'd be a bit of a monkey for me-yet the trainer would actually borrow him to demonstrate how to do it right(especially in the 'step up' classes).He would be perfect for the trainer & made me look a fool  .
On his recall training(using a long training lead-not the flexi lead),he decided to go for a walk-he picked up all the lead in his mouth-cause he was tripping over it & paraded back & fore the training field showing off to everyone training & all the dogs in the kennels as well(made all dogs bark!)-kept just out of reach so I couldn't catch him.Couldn't stand on trailing lead as it was in his mouth(think he did that on purpose).Everyone was rolling aroung laughing while I just died with embarassment.

re-the recal training-one thing I found really helped was training in the garden/house.Getting dog to follow me as I trotted backwards making loads of fun noises,saying 'come' & holding food & gradually building up on that-making them sit & wait & extending distance etc.If off lead & things are more interesting than me-what often works really well is making it look like you're going the other way-once they see mine comes running .

have fun,
love Libra.xx


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## Jayne (Jan 26, 2003)

Hi all  

We've been having heaps of fun with Poppy who is now 4 months old.  Totally loving having her and getting very attached to her   Am loving the 'secret' dog owners club that's opened up to me since having her too   We're enjoying lot of long walks and she's a real lover of water  She's coming on well with the home training and is 99% toilet trained around the house   Starting official puppy training classes at the end of September and I'm very much looking forward to them.  She will come when called every time at home and out if there's no other dogs around!  She's off the lead when out and about in a safe area and absolutely adores running flat out, and doesn't jump up on people (have been teaching her not to do that to us at home from day 1), but can get a bit distracted when she's making friends with another dog.  90% of the time she will come back when called, but a few times she has selective hearing and the other dogs' owners have very kindly so fa brought their dog to us so that she would return   I'm hoping that I'm being recognised by the more experienced dog owners as the complete novice that I am, and they are giving me some leaway!  Seriously though, this is all just so new to me.  I grew up in a house with dogs, but there's so much more to having your own and being 100% responsible for all it's training.  I'm a bit paranoid at times and have been reading books and getting totally confused as to whether I'm doing things right or wrong as advice seems to differ so much from person to person and book to book    I'm now just trying to go with my instincts, doing what I think is right, enjoying her lots and hopefully doing an okay job at raising a happy, healthy, well behaved pooch  

Love 
Jayne x


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## Catb33 (Aug 1, 2006)

Just found this thread, and have to chuckle at a few of the stories even though they sound awfully familiar. We have a 3 1/2 year old and a 6 month old retriever. Both had training from 13 weeks as we wanted to get them started and into good habits early and they love it. 

Honey, the oldest, is great 99% of the time, just gets overexcited when she sees people. Daisy is a minx - fed up of going to the neighbours to give their clothes and shoes back - but is fantastic out on walks. One problem we have is that they both try to jump up at people. We tell them off, teach them not to, put them on the lead when we meet people on walks but it just takes one person to give them affection when they're doing it and we're back to square one. Anybody got any tips on how to stop them doing it?

appleton - mine love cheese too. The smellier the better, though I have to mix it in with normal treats so they don't eat too much. Honey is prone to weight gain since she was speyed so we have to be careful. Have you tried jerky? Some dogs don't like it cos it's v chewy but mine would do anything for it.


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## Pickle_99_uk (Dec 12, 2005)

HIya, 

Just found this thread as well.  We've got Hamish - a 14 week old Westie.  We took him to his first puppy training last week.  The trainer said hes very confident - is that trainer talk for naughty!  he does seem very naughty at the minute but we are trying.  I spend a few minutes every day trying to teach him to sit and stay and we'll perservere with the puppy training.  

He still nips at our feet alot.  When he does it we say "leave" and give him one of his toys but he doesnt seem to be getting any better - any suggestions?

Tracyxx


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## Catb33 (Aug 1, 2006)

Pickle - we had that problem with Honey. Any trousers I had when she was little have teeth marks at the bottom. Nothing we did got her out of it as I think we'd left it too late to tackle and although things worked for a while she soon saw it as a game. Thankfully she did grow out of it. 

The vets said to make it clear that any tooth contact on humans was bad - by a small scream and withdrawing the bit the dog is toothing on - as early as possible as the window to stop it is quite small. We were much firmer with Daisy and she's fine now. She just chews everything else instead. I'm on my 3rd new bra since Easter  

Dogs, love them to bits but they drive you


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## Damelottie (Jul 26, 2005)

Lottie understands any commands from what I can work out. The problem is that she only obeys them when she feels like it! Which is wrong obviously..........


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## Catb33 (Aug 1, 2006)

Honey;s like that on walks. She'll look up with an expression that says "I think I'll just stick with what I'm doing for a bit if you don't mind" and then ignores us till she's ready. Food sometimes works.....


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## Damelottie (Jul 26, 2005)

I think I'm going to take her to training classes! I shouldn't think she's too old - she's 3. I need to get her walking better on her lead. She seems to pick things up pretty quickly so I shall try


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## Pickle_99_uk (Dec 12, 2005)

Thanks for the advice guys.  Hamish is going to training so that will help and we'll practice at home.  Everythink I've read has said to keep going and reinforcing right and wrong with him.  Hes lovely but bonkers!!!


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## Catb33 (Aug 1, 2006)

Anybody got any tips for stopping a puppy escaping from the garden? Obviously the boundary is weak but a lot of it is on our neighbours side so we're waiting for them to fix it. The main problem is that when Daisy gets out she will just run away from us rather than come back when called. I've been doing lots of recalls with food and play to train her to come back but she seems to have a stubborn streak which is now getting us in trouble with the neighbours.


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## libra (Jun 23, 2006)

Hi,cathB,
a difficult one.But if it was me-I'd do something my side to reinforce boundary.Even if you use temporary measures.
I am currently in the middle of a very nasty boundary dispute with my neighbour-joint boundary,he refuses to pay,stating our solicitor has got it wrong,threatening me verbally & in writting.Luckily our dog is fairly large & grown up,so not that bothered unless the gate was open-he wouldn't make the effort to look for a way of escaping.Our boundary has been damaged since Jan.I've just let my honeysuckle grow over the netting in the huge gap & plants are covering gaps where wall has fallen down into next door-think it fools the dog.Don't know what will happen when plants die down-he may see gaps.
I may be wrong,but I think in our area local by-laws state it is the owners responsibility to ensure dogs stay secure.Bit contradictory though if the boundary is definately his responsibilty.
Good luck -I hope you don't end up with a neighbour from hell like mine.

loads of luck,
love libra.xx


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## Martha Moo (Jan 30, 2004)

Hiya

Lovely to read of your doggies and their antics

CathB daisys tales always bring a smile to my face  

Jayne Poppy is doing well shes such a cutie

Tracy wow brave lady doing tx and a puppy too!

Libra sory to hear of the probs you are having

As many prob know we have our lickle willow
shes been a challenge after bouncer who was just an angel dog altho we never took her to dog training classes the only downside to her was when out on the lead yikes she could yank your arm outta the socket

Willow is now 9 months oldwell she was 2 mins ago haha

She has been totally spoilt since bringing her home in march my worst thing is that i constantly compare bouncer and willow which really is unfair on Willow

Willow now walks off the lead (i was initially scared to let her off but shes so good) she just had her season so a bit interested in dogs atm and thats the only time she pulls on the lead this is something i worked on from bringing her home as i couldnt enjoy walks with bouncer by myself 

Willow did go thru a stage of chewing wood but think shes got thru that thankfully and is much more settled since we have moved 

She wants to be everyones friend however recently well about 2 wks ago, the new neighbour came out to us and said oh you have a dog she was stood in the garden with us!  

She basically demanded that willow isnt allowed into the garden without being on a lead because she doesnt like dogs!

Cheeky mare, my dh agreed to have her on a lead in the garden 
well i dont put her on the lead to take her into the garden 
Willow is a calm dog doesnt wander off and when shes enclosed in her garden she doesnt need to be on a lead, i just wont take her to play round at caths with daisy 

I am a very proud mummy to willow (no one would ever know   )

On the count down to her spay now  

Em
oh and she was   for the biting when she first came but grew out of it within 2-3 wks and also used to jump up but grew out of that also very soon and never jumpsup or bites now


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## Damelottie (Jul 26, 2005)

Is it too late to get Lottie walking nicely on her lead? She's 3


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## Jayne (Jan 26, 2003)

Hi all 

Things still going well with my gorgeous little Poppy  She's starting her puppy training classes a week Monday, but not sure how much she will need them as doing really well on her own. Can even get her to go from a laying to sitting postion now 

One problem I do have with her is that everytime I put her in the car (boot) she treats it like a toilet! Will do number 1's (and occasionally number 2's) in there without fail and it doesn't matter if she's been right before she gets in the car. I have waterproof matting down, so it's easy enough to clean up, but how do I stop her? I can't catch her in the act as I'm driving. Maybe she will just grow out of it  Any ideas?

That's about my onely problem with her though, and seeing as that's all it is, I can't really complain.

She's got a bit of a skin infection at the moment and on antibiotics, which seem to be doing the trick. Has a slight bald patch to her back end though, which doesn't look that attractive! Took he to the groomers for her first cut on Thursday though, and that's made her look lots better. She's so cute! Have attached a pic below that was taken before she got groomed, and she'd just been in a rock pool, so not looking so tidy 

She's booked in to be spayed on 29 Oct, and I'm a bit nervous about that, but fingers crossed it will all go okay and she'll be back up and about in no time.

Love 
Jayne x

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## lindz-lou (Jun 5, 2007)

hi ya 
sorry for butting in but i too have a springer spaniel, and one of the beat ways i think is ........ if you have a friend with a dog take them with you the first few times as that dog keeps your dogs attention and as they get used to going with them they copy the other dogs behaviour it really does work and my second piece of advice is always take food or your dogs favorite toy its all about keeping their concentration.

GOOD LUCK 

LINDZ X


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