Lurcher won't leave dead animals alone

[shushyjukal 41]

Hello all. My bullxwippxbeddxgrey pup is 3 month old now and she's coming on great. She can sit, stay, wait etc but has a problem when it comes to dead animals. She can smell them from a mile away and when she gets them she won't come to me or if she does she wont let them go. If I manage to get it off her she goes on the lead. Problem is that no matter how far I take her she just runs back to the same spot and runs off with it again. I've tried various ways of correction but jack all works! I know she's very young still but in the future I want her to work the lamp and retrieve without ignoring me and bollocking off into the distance. Any advice welcomed. Thanks. Adam.

[riohog 5,701]

your bigest wory is with dead stuff you dont know how it died could have been poisened then passed on to the dog

 

then you got big worries good luck

[MikeTheDog 153]

Don't worry about it shushy it's a pup thing!...I take it she's not started rolling on the cadavers yet or eating cow shit...

[shushyjukal 41]

Haha yeah mike she went over to a big pile of cow shite but one look from me and she left it but I know she will do it sooner or later! I just don't want her getting sick but unless I keep her on the lead forever what can I do?

Hope she grows out of it tho. Thanks for replys on this!

[Rainmaker 7]

I'm no expert of course, but focus on retrieving and recall work away from places with dead stuff for a bit. As someone said above it's a puppy thing really. Once you start to work them and they realise there's plenty more LIVE stuff in the sea, they soon start to lose interest in a mere cadaver. Well, except some terriers anyway

 

Once you've established a decent bond between you, and s/he knows that "No!" means just that and has a reliable retrieve and/or recall you'll be OK. Don't sweat it, it'll come right as s/he gets older with a bit of work. Just beware, as riohog says, of any that could have been poisoned. Have fun.

[shushyjukal 41]

Thanks rainmaker. It makes sense what you say. I'm finding her very frustrating at the minuite and it's hard not to let her see that. She will have to stay on a line again for a while until the recall is better I think. Also what would be the best way to show that no means no? I've tried calm, shouting, slap on the ass with lead, nothing works she just goes deaf!

[Rainmaker 7]

Again there are many ways to skin a cat, and I'm not an expert. For some dogs (and owners) a slap round the arse would work wonders when done in a thorough, quick sharp shock kind of way. For others, it results in 'going deaf' as you experienced. Personally? I'd just make myself more interesting than the dead thing! Playing with dead things is a hunting dog's expression of instinct. They just 'know' there's something about this animal/cadaver that they're supposed to like. It's in their code!

 

Have you tried clicker training yet? It's brilliant and really gets the dog motivated and produces VERY fast results.

 

You can read about it online for free, and most clicker books are only a couple of quid - or there's always the library. An actual clicker costs about £1.50 so it's a quick and cheap investment that pays huge rewards. Once the dog understands that click = treat/approval you've won. It takes between five minutes and a day for that to happen. Just let the dog mill around (AWAY from distractions like dead stuff! ) and randomly click and treat IMMEDIATELY.

 

Tiny treats, about the size of a pea, but VERY tasty are in order. Maybe chopped dry liver treats or dog chocolate, bits of sausage, etc. Be creative and find what drives your dog loopy with desire. Click/treat. Click/treat. Be random until the dog begins to realise that click = treat. You'll see the ears prick up, the eyes light up, the whole body stand tall and maybe the lips get licked in that second between click and treat as you go along the day. Now you have her!!

 

Next day, show her the treat but DON'T click. Now you have a confused dog! "What on EARTH can I do / do I need to do, to make my master give me that morsel??"..... See what happened? Your dog is THINKING about how it can serve you! Now be a tight git, and refuse the treat. Wind the dog up with it (not by actions, just by showing it's there and with-holding it).

 

The dog will eventually (as dogs do) sit down at some random time or another. CLICK/TREAT/"OMG-GOOD-DOG-YOU'RE-AWESOME AND I LOVE YOU MORE THAN SEX!!"..... Next time the dog randomly sits, repeat your performance. Sooner rather than later, you'll have a dog that follows you EVERYWHERE, sitting down every three seconds giving you the "I'm awesome, look at me sitting down!" face.

 

Keep the sessions short, always train before a meal (a full dog won't work for food!) and build up gradually. Once sit is mastered (even if the dog already knows "Sit!" as a command, you're teaching her the clicker NOT how to sit particularly) you can move onto down, stay, and more importantly the recall. HEAPS and HEAPS of praise each time. As you develop it'll be less treats more praise, then praise one click and treat the next etc etc.

 

After a month or two? You watch her spit out that dead thing like it's on fire when you say "Puppy-name, COME! "... Click and treat. Have fun, it's an awesome experience and great for bonding and working out how each other work. JMHO, as I said I know nowt really but it's what I've picked up along the way and it works for me.

 

EDIT: Oh, and sorry I forgot to add this (I'm trying not to write a book!)... Obviously once you have your dog running around like a crazy thing randomly sitting, lying down and so on you'd be adding verbal commands as your dog does these things through the day. Your dog sits, you say "Sit!" and THEN click and treat. Soon the dog knows the command for everything she can do (and loves to do!) for you. You can use clicker training for basic stuff at first but you can then go mental if you want.... dolphins are trained the same way - you'd be AMAZED at the stuff you can get a dog to do for a click and a treat. Complex routines, retrieving, "dancing"... basically it works. A little TOO well LOL

[shushyjukal 41]

What a great post about the clicker. I've thought about that before but never followed it through. That will be my next option. I think your post was a great help and fair play for writing it all out for me! Nice one.

[Rainmaker 7]

No worries, glad to be of some help. Good luck, and let us know how you get along.

[mad al 146]

ours went through the same thing, I found it more of a problem with her than any other breed we've had. Definitely more a puppy thing though, now she just dumps everything at the back door and won't let the others touch it