Cocker training

[youngshot 0]

Well basically enjoyed shooting/hunting from a young age, and always wanted my own gundog. When I got to 16 I was allowed my first gundog. I decided to get a male working cocker.

 

He is now 13 months old and so far has been a joy to train, he just wants to please. The only problem I have been having is if I’m walking him and a something gets up then he is off. It doesn’t matter what I do he isn’t interested in me until he knows there is no chance of him catching whatever he has just chased off, and then he retunes to his normal obedient self. I was told to teach him the stop whistle, so I did and he responds to it faultlessly, even at a fair distance. But still when something gets up he is off and doesn’t respond to the whistle. So my question is other then to pay to use a rabbit pen to steady him put with what can I do???

 

As I said earlier I’m only 17, and this is my first gundog so go easy please. I will be grateful for any reply. Thank you.

[longrange 0]

hellow there young dude AH the joys of training a SPRING WITH FOUR LEGS,

as you can see not a lot of help offered ?

 

it's because there"s no easy answer

I have a young Cocker at the moment But have owned 14 springers ,

and a few other breeds.

you could try the rabbit pen, but you said he was chaseing everything that got up?,

you could try him with chickens, street pecking pigeons birds in the garden,

anything you can do to stop him running in,USE a long lead, but he probably

wont break on the lead,if you can get someone to go with you, so you can

concentrate on the dog. my father used to have dogs stop to the SHOT .

any chance you have or can borrow a dummy launcher?

 

as much as you love him he has to be stopped , and when you do you"l have a

smashing wee dog.

Wish i lived a bit closer would like to help. C YA

[Guest davieboy]

if you have a helper you could tie a dead rabbit on a peice of string or use a lure, as long as the helper can get to it before the dog, he could pick it up before the dog gets there showing no reward for chasing but if he stops you could use a retieve of it as a reward???

 

this will not be a quick fix!!!

[meinnotts 1]

i have a similar problem, my cocker bitch is 3 yrs old and has just decided 'course' rabbits, nothing else, just rabbits, not sure what to do, any help greatfully received

 

we have chickens at home and when we got them we introduced them into the garden one no command and that was that, she has never bothered them

[bjlfishing 0]

[the only thing you can do is spend plenty off time trying to stop it keep it working at close range when it flushes try to be right nxt to the dog between where the dog and the bird is and if it runs in try and catch the dog at the same time as blowing the stop comand not easy but if you get on top of the dog and it relises why you are telling it off it will soon learn ,not an easy task ,dont make the mistake that most people do and shout at the dog when its come back after its course as it will think you are shouting at it for coming back and will do the opposite to what you want also a rabbit pen will help as its close range work and easier to keep on top of you dog hope this helps

[lampinglurcher 36]

im assumin you want it pickin up not beating? if so your best bet would be a rabbit pen, not difficult to make just a simple mesh type surrounding fence in a square or circle with a few fence posts to support it. the drill is once you got bunnies inside, to walk with your dog to heel at ALL times when walkin past it. practise this till you got it spot on it may be best if you use a lead to start off with. i had the same problem with a cocker/springer bitch im training but it aint impossible to fix.

[eshielsgundogs 0]

Like others have said you need to set the dog up to fail, why you are able to correct him. A rabbitt pen would be the answer. I wouldn't let him chase anything, until you have the problem sorted or your on a hiding to nothing.

 

Ian

[blahblahblah 0]

My dog was /is the same. I found that you have to stead him to everything one at a time. Example in the case of wild fowl I go to a lake where kids feed the ducks, geese ect then have him sat on a lead at first watching from a couple of feet away and once hes stoppped bouncing arround like zebadee on speed and sitting nicely at your side then try without a lead but be ready to grab him. praise him when he sits, bollock him if he moves (it took months). Then move on to whatever you like maybe rabbits, small birds, pigeons, sheep, cows ect. The only creatures mine doesnt chase are other dogs and cats. Slow process but will work my dogs a million times better but still needs work.

Ben

[masmiffy 82]

Had a Springer myself I used for beating she did much the same!

Never really cured her in open cover but the thicker stuff she was steady in cos she couldnt see so much!

Not sure you will totally cure the problem but good luck!

[pip 0]

Well basically enjoyed shooting/hunting from a young age, and always wanted my own gundog. When I got to 16 I was allowed my first gundog. I decided to get a male working cocker.

 

He is now 13 months old and so far has been a joy to train, he just wants to please. The only problem I have been having is if I’m walking him and a something gets up then he is off. It doesn’t matter what I do he isn’t interested in me until he knows there is no chance of him catching whatever he has just chased off, and then he retunes to his normal obedient self. I was told to teach him the stop whistle, so I did and he responds to it faultlessly, even at a fair distance. But still when something gets up he is off and doesn’t respond to the whistle. So my question is other then to pay to use a rabbit pen to steady him put with what can I do???

 

As I said earlier I’m only 17, and this is my first gundog so go easy please. I will be grateful for any reply. Thank you.

hi , my advise for what its worth; firstly don't give the dog the opportunity to chase anything else unless you are in control of the situation otherwise you are just reinforcing bad behaviour. get the dog to sit and stay make sure you can roll tennis balls, dummies, rabbit skins etc. past it without it moving then move on to working the dog where there is no game , again throw things in front of it and use the stop whistle, this can include dead rabbits, partridge etc. watch the way the dog works you will spot when the dog is hotting up, stop the dog take it in another direction, don,t let the dog go more than 5 yards either side of you the best way to do this is to drag the dog back by the underside of the neck. once the dog is doing this reliably take it somewhere you know there will be game not thick cover, long grass is good , its not easy but you have to see the danger before it arrises and be prepared to jump on the dog preferably just as or just before something flushes. this is the purpose of the 5 yards your close enough to keep control. if it all goes wrong you have to run after the dog and drag it back. never give a command that you can't back up and be prepared to look like an idiot chasing a dog. hope this makes sense and helps.

[Back Stabbath 1]

The dog dosn't respect your leadership and absolutely knows he can take advantage of you when he's off lead. A dog that refuses to come back is my most hated problem. Its very easy to correct the dog for not following a command when you have him on lead, off lead is a different story, so he must not ever be in a situation where you are not in control until he learns that your commands are not optional and that he con't run after whatever he likes.

 

Keep him on lead all the time, until he's proof-trained.

 

The easiest and most effective, fool-proof way to get off lead obediance when the dog is in full drive is with the use of a quality electric collar on low stimulation (dogra is a good brand). On the nick, not continuous button. You absolutely must know how to use one properly though before even thinking about getting one. If you do decide to get one, also buy the dvd "training with an electric collar" I think its called, from Leerburg.com.

 

For a cocker spaniel an e-collar may not be necessary. (Try getting a Yugoslavan schutzhund working line Doberman without one tho!) Proper ones are also quite expensive.

 

 

Try this for an instant recall -

 

Get a 30 foot long line (like they use in Schutzhund training) You'll find one on the net somewhere probably.

Get a prong collar appropriate for the size of your dog.

 

Use the prong for normal corrections for a while in if your dog isn't used to a prong or a choke chain. (do some training in the home, get an instant 'sit' with the collar so he knows its for corrections for refusing to obey a command)

 

 

Take the dog into the field with the prong collar on and put on the long line. (bring lots of treats for this too)

 

Let the dog wander, dragging the line with him. When he's not looking, call/whistle him and before he turns to come, pop the lead (lightly for a small dog like a cocker, but so that he feels it). When he comes to you, make a massive fuss of him and give him the treat the second he gets to you. (you could also use a marker for the point that he turns to come, but thats getting more complicated)

 

Let him go again. After a little while, call him or whistle or whatever is your "come", and again quickly pop the line after you call him. (not at the same time, just after you call him).

 

He will get the idea after the second or third time. Then try him without the pop, then with it again.

 

Do this lots of times, every day. and its a really good way of getting the dog to come instantly. He learns to try and get to you BEFORE he gets the pop on the line.

 

Don't let him off lead again before you're happy with him recall in a controlled environment. A good recall may save his life.

 

Now this isn't the best way, the best way is with an e-collar, becasue you always have backup off lead no matter how far away he is. But do try this, it will get an instant recall, but while he's chasing something it might be a different story. Do it with distractions too (let off a cat or rabbit or something in front of him) and you may well just get a perfect recall!

 

 

Good luck!!

[longrange 0]

GREAT reply and good advice, easier said , than done, when i first replied to this post i could quite easily suggested a shock collar ?

but just like mobile phones ! WHAT did we do before we got them ?

but i think most owners dont realise that no matter how good your dog retrieves swims or works if he or she runs in out of control,

they wont be an asset or welcome on some shoots or company.

 

that is why i said he had to be stopped, having trained dogs of many breeds but mainly spaniels and achieved good results through

the years, oh! dont worry i know the old beat the sh*t out of them method but i could hardly have suggested that !

training any dog takes time and patience,

ithink dogs need a psychiatrist , because of the things we ask of them.

when i take on a new dog as i have done, i recon to give up a whole shooting season and concentrate on the dog,

what i"m left with is a fully trained dog.

there is nothing finer than watching any dog be it lurcher, lab pointer etc, under complete control.

 

and this young man puts in the time and effort he will get there.

[springspan 0]

I'm training a young springer at the moment and working on the stop whistle too, i have got to agree with pip on this, i started off with sitting the dog in the middle of the floor and rolling things past him , toys etc that he had as a pup and were taken off him months ago. you could see he was desperate to try to chase but resisted.

Would also walk him round the room to heel and right over the top of the toys, if he showed interest then a quick "leave" was given and he'd pass them by, also would leave him in the sit and walk to the other side of the room a place a toy directly in line with me and him then recall him, he would give it a wide berth on the way back.

In the field i would do similar things with his dummy, sitting him and throwing them over his head or to his side all the time reinforcing with a hand signal and blast of the whistle then going and picking them up myself, never letting him retreive them.

I try to avoid really wet or windy days as there attention seems to wander a bit, they need to be 100% focused on you,it can be seen in their faces.

Good luck with it though and its a joy when things start to fall into place.

[youngshot 0]

Some great replies here! I took your " set the dog up to fail" advise, and took him to a local duck pond with a loaf of bread and made him sit wile the ducks walked around him and he soon got used to it. I did this a few days in a row then I walked him through them to heal, also just be pure chance I was walking him to heal off the lead and a covey of partridge flushed about 10 yards in front of us, got a bit excitable but didn’t move. so thanks a lot guys it seems to be sinking in.

[Back Stabbath 1]

Excellent!