Terrier off lead

[Oshea 20]

Letting off the lead - 

Hello chaps, I was given a Powell bread bitch from a close friend who didn’t have the space nor time to accommodate. She came to my kennels at seven months, very game and unfortunately doesn’t always mix well with other dogs. 
 

I like to be able to walk mine off the lead, have them stock broken and have some recall! But this bitch is the most pig headed thing, off the lead, her head goes down and she’s off. I’ve tried and tried to improve things but she will not listen. 
 

Since having her I’ve accommodated for her ways and brought her on slowly, she went to work for the first time and was superb. I kept quiet, allowed her to mark on her own,  go in and locate the quarry. She’s a fierce bitch that shows great hart with a good voice on her. Sadly since then she still is a sod if there’s nothing to keep her interest she’ll get her head down and bugger off, I’m finding myself paranoid she’ll vacate a spot and f#ck off across country. My biggest concern if she does it and disappears on me It could really spoil a day out. I know it’s still early days to cast judgements but I wanted to see if anyone had been in a similar place?

 

Many thanks 

 

[chesney 5,457]

Plenty digging keep her busy

[neil b 2,348]

Keep her on a lead…… simple

[terryd 8,529]

Some terriers are level headed and some are just not. I had a cracking terrier that was a super ferreting dog but many a ferreting trip turned into some thing else which was some's times good and some times not. I made a point of when he hit a line running like hell to keep him in site if we were on new ground. If I new the ground and new what what was coming up i used to get the sod back on a lead. One trick I had up my sleeve was if I shouted rabbit he would come running. I saved that for emergencies or if I actually saw a rabbit. By the sound of it yours is off on a line or not though. I guess you could try a long line along some hedge rows get a bit of attention off it or just keep on a lead I guess. Good luck with it

[Bakerboy 4,736]

Problems start when they come out unseen in a field full of livestock or drop in to a nasty place or nearer a road ect, couldn't keep a dog that wouldn't come when called on top

[Nicepix 5,650]

23 hours ago, Oshea said:

Letting off the lead - 

Hello chaps, I was given a Powell bread bitch from a close friend who didn’t have the space nor time to accommodate. She came to my kennels at seven months, very game and unfortunately doesn’t always mix well with other dogs. 
 

I like to be able to walk mine off the lead, have them stock broken and have some recall! But this bitch is the most pig headed thing, off the lead, her head goes down and she’s off. I’ve tried and tried to improve things but she will not listen. 
 

Since having her I’ve accommodated for her ways and brought her on slowly, she went to work for the first time and was superb. I kept quiet, allowed her to mark on her own,  go in and locate the quarry. She’s a fierce bitch that shows great hart with a good voice on her. Sadly since then she still is a sod if there’s nothing to keep her interest she’ll get her head down and bugger off, I’m finding myself paranoid she’ll vacate a spot and f#ck off across country. My biggest concern if she does it and disappears on me It could really spoil a day out. I know it’s still early days to cast judgements but I wanted to see if anyone had been in a similar place?

 

Many thanks 

 

I have exactly the same problem. JRT x FT bitch rehomed at 3 after being severely abused. Lovely dog around the house and garden, but when she gets a whiff of coypu she's gone. Been stuck underground several times.

With all my other dogs I've had 100% recalls. The same methods used on the others don't work on her. Tried more methods with no success.  Its an obsessive behavioural issue that means the dog is zoned out to any other thing but the quarry. If an ec doesn't work then the dog is far too preoccupied to respond to anything else. All my other dogs and the ones I've trained for others have responded to a key fob or length of chain thrown towards them to break the pre occupation followed by a recall command , but she doesn't. Can't use an ec as she just ignores it. 

A lead is the only safe answer imo.

[downsouth 7,356]

Cant be let off the lead,Cant mix with other dogs.Sounds like she spent them first 7 months banged up in a kennel getting no socialisation or education.unfortunately rom what Ive witnessed over the years lots of working terriers get brought on the same way

[Oshea 20]

1 hour ago, downsouth said:

Cant be let off the lead,Cant mix with other dogs.Sounds like she spent them first 7 months banged up in a kennel getting no socialisation or education.unfortunately rom what Ive witnessed over the years lots of working terriers get brought on the same way

Couldn’t word it any better, it’s has sadly become common practice.

[Aussie Whip 4,127]

My two are goods when hunting, stay fairly close, daily walking them on my 25 acre property they are on leads because if they pick up a pig or deer scent they'll be ten properties away if that's where the game is. I thought this was normal for highly driven terriers. Also in the hotter months there are snakes about everywhere so leads are a must if you want live terriers.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Aussie Whip

[Nicepix 5,650]

I class dogs in three ways regards training. The first are those that want to please and will do anything not to displease you. The second are those that can be trained using rewards or just enhancing and harnassing their natural instincts. Then you have dogs that become so focused on a particular obsession that nothing can be used to replace it for training purposes. Terriers seem to fall into that group more than most breeds. Perhaps it is something to do with the genetics of their breeding. 

[C.green 3,231]

I had a choc bitch exactly the same ended up loosing her in the end tried alsorts to cure her as she was a decent thing apart from that

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

14 hours ago, downsouth said:

Cant be let off the lead,Cant mix with other dogs.Sounds like she spent them first 7 months banged up in a kennel getting no socialisation or education.unfortunately rom what Ive witnessed over the years lots of working terriers get brought on the same way

I think times have changed from allowing terriers to run off leads regardless of recall mate .I’d love to let mine off but with green spaces shrinking and every c**t with a smart phone it’s not happening .I just know they’d run and fecking run until they dropped in .

[downsouth 7,356]

1 hour ago, foxdropper said:

I think times have changed from allowing terriers to run off leads regardless of recall mate .I’d love to let mine off but with green spaces shrinking and every c**t with a smart phone it’s not happening .I just know they’d run and fecking run until they dropped in .

Ive had the odd one find in unexpected places over the years and just dealt with it when it happened.Couldnt think of nothing worse than constantly having to keep them on leads.Ive seen more problems with dogs that are never allowed any freedom as if they ever do get loose theres no way they're gunna come back.Also seen more false making with this type of dog as well and Im sure they see it as a way of getting let loose.Id much rather allow my dogs a bit of freedom within reason especially when they're pups to allow them to develop a brain.

[downsouth 7,356]

2 hours ago, Nicepix said:

I class dogs in three ways regards training. The first are those that want to please and will do anything not to displease you. The second are those that can be trained using rewards or just enhancing and harnassing their natural instincts. Then you have dogs that become so focused on a particular obsession that nothing can be used to replace it for training purposes. Terriers seem to fall into that group more than most breeds. Perhaps it is something to do with the genetics of their breeding. 

And perhaps a big part of it is a majority are owned by thick c**ts that couldnt train the most trainable of breeds and leave them in kennels on 24hr bang up and never development any kind of bond with them.

[Nicepix 5,650]

1 minute ago, downsouth said:

And perhaps a big part of it is a majority are owned by thick c**ts that couldnt train the most trainable of breeds and leave them in kennels on 24hr bang up and never development any kind of bond with them.

Perhaps. But you do see people with dogs that are perfectly behaved and yet have one or more rogues amongst them. There is one near us who walks five off lead and one on lead. She wouldn't dare let it off or it would disappear into the horizon.