DAY 12: (Saturday): Walked this morning on the flexi. Great response on the recalls and sits. We practiced obedience after the walk, and Crosby did very well. I need to remember to practice the stays, though. Crosby still doesn’t stay as long as he needs to. It is early yet.
On the last leg of our morning walk, as we headed back up the driveway to the house, I decided to let Crosby run (dragging the leash). He stayed pretty close, and responded to the first random come I gave. Then, when he was out in front again, one of our cats crossed the driveway in front of Crosby. Now, Crosby has met the cats in the house, but he has always been on leash when he sees them outside. And we haven’t seen much “game” out on the walks – the other dogs often flush pheasant, but Crosby has always been on leash. Crosby did show great interest in some chirping once – and I wondered if he has some latent game or furry critter chase instinct that I hadn’t discovered yet…
Well, today I discovered it! When he saw the cat, he started after the cat. I called him, he ignored me. He chased the cat into the brush, back towards the house, back out behind a bush, back out into the hay field … all the while I was chasing Crosby and yelling at him… Oh yes! He has an instinct for game! And I have a training problem!
I finally caught up with him and stepped on his leash, and scolded him verbally and shamed him. But of course, the scolding after-the-fact will have little effect on his instinct.
It’s not that I’m so worried about the cats – they are pretty savvy, and there are lots of trees to climb and places to run. The problem will be at an actual Road Trial. Obviously, Crosby does not “value” my commands (or my treats) over his chase instinct! At an actual Road Trial, it could be a rabbit, or a squirrel, or deer, or whatever… but if Crosby chases something when he is supposed to be hocking, and he refuses my command… well, that would be a problem!
So, I need to do more “long-line” work around planted distractions! And I need to make sure Crosby understands that he MUST obey me! This is hard to do in just 2 months, I suppose, but if I work at it, we may get on top of it! How to “plant” furry distractions will be the challenge! Or how to be ready for the real ones!
There was no riding today. We (Brad and I) spent the day roofing the addition. Crosby spent most of the day pacing in the dog run. Mileage: 1.2 miles (plus pacing in the dog run!)
DAY 13: (Sunday). Walked this morning on the flexi. Good responses again on the random sits and recalls. I did let Crosby run (dragging the leash) for part of the walk. Brad (my husband) met us as we were headed back to the house, and I was impressed that Crosby seemed to recognize him right away as a “friend”. Crosby has such a nice temperament. No obedience practice or riding today. For conditioning purposes, this was a day of rest (muscle building). Tomorrow we will try a 5 mile ride again. Mileage: 1.2
To plant furry distractions - you can buy rabbit skins from craft and leatherworking stores (such as Tandy Leather). You can then attach the skin to a cheap RC car and plant it in the brush so it's partially showing, then use the controller to make it move once you get near it.
ReplyDeleteIf you can enlist a friend, you can also use plush toys "spiked" with training scents (you can get them at places that sell gundog supplies). Attach the toy to a rope, have the friend hide back in the brush and yank the toy erratically when you approach.