ESP COMING UP SHORT

[leonp9lbw]

Hi

 

I have a fourteen month old ESP and he has taken very well to all aspects of training apart from retrieving. When out with a dummy he will show very little interest and on the odd occasion when he does retrieve he will always drop it about six foot short. any advise welcome.

[Lloyd90]

run like hell when he is coming back to you. Also what worked well for me is to give him a dummy in the garden to play with. Not to retrieve just put it in his mouth. Let him run about with it, let him carry it about. While he is doing this give him the odd stroke. Tickle under his chin.

 

This has worked for me

[Benellimelody]

Alright mate.

 

One of my cockers is pretty simalar. She is 1 year old tommorrow and I have tried everythin with her. She does now seem to be improving but is still not up to the mark.

 

She wasnt interested at all in canvas so moved to rabbit covered and there was a lot more interest. She is currently on a 2 week break from retrieving to try and build her enthusiasm up.

 

There are loads of things you can do and every dog is different but advice would be to give him a break and not to keep giving him retrieves if he is not responding, as all this will do is reinforce his habit.

 

At his age i would probs just move to a fur dummy but if he is not interested in that i would put it away for another month and try to find something else he likes. (Toy/tennis balls) Maybe try a little bit of teasing with the toy/dummy or a more difficult retrieve into cover or a memory retrieve in case he is just finding it boring.

 

However if the dogs just lacking a bit of confidence, short retrieves in say an allyway may be best.

 

What i tried with elle was casting her in for the retrieve and then sending my bros labrador in as she was nearly there. This even worked with a dummy as she didnt really want to have it but didnt want the other dog getting it and brought it straight back. Doing this a couple of times and going mental with praise when she fetches may help (make sure the other dog you send in is steady and not aggressive)

 

I have tried using treats and running round corners as she picks the retrieve. Most things have worked for a couple of retrieves but then she lapses back to her ways and spits out.

 

One other thing is eye contact. Try turning away when hes comin in and not staring directly at him as this may be putting him off.

 

If he does a retrieve try and get the dummy before he spits it out but dont rush it and always grab the dog before the dummy.

 

Theres so much stuff really. Once you have got a retrieve tho leave it at that for a day or 2. Dont be tempted to keep going as he will probs spit the next one out. You want to build up the habit of retrieving and hopefully his enthusiasm with it due to the praise he gets.

 

It has done my head in trying to sort her out with it as her sister is a good retreiver and my ess would fetch anything, anywhere as many times as you like. Saying that tho, im sure i will have created the problem in the first place, some how cos shes a sensitive little dog.

 

Anyways dont get frustrated with the dog and keep trying.

 

Hope some of this helps and good luck mate

[WGD]

Completely agree with the above; find what interests your dog to trigger the desire to retrieve.

 

If canvas doesn't work don't use it, as BM says it will reinforce a bad habit.

 

Definitely lay off retrieving for a week or two, then try getting the dogs interest with an object before triggering a retrieve. Use the retrieving holiday to strengthen the recall, use treats if your dog is food motivated (for recall only) but sparingly as anticipation of a treat can cause a retrieve to be spat out. Retrieving is only recall whilst carrying.

 

If you try one retrieve and the dog succeeds, stop and do no more for a couple of days. Less is more.

 

Much of what I have said repeats BM's advice, it is IMHO spot on.

 

Best of luck.