4year old cocker

[TJ91]

my dad has a cocker spaniel, 4 years old, been more of a pet than out else(mum bought her then left my dad and the dog!)

 

She has been trained to sit and stay, but she isnt too great at it

heel to her means anywhere within 10yards

i have taken her out in the hide pigeon shooting and as soon as i fired the hide got pulled down and dragged across the field by her as she collected the shot birds (or decoys if there was no shot bird) and then she brings them back

 

she has a good nose and flushes alsorts when on walks, she sometimes has a little chase but usually stops when shouted

 

so not all bad, but by no means a decent gundog

 

question is...how do i get her to sit next to me and not move when i fire..and retrieve only when i tell her too...is the saying you cant teach an old dog new tricks true or is it possible to steady her up so i can use her for retrieving

 

after reading a post on here a while ago i am told i am missing out and i NEED a dog...i know i dont but i would like to give it ago..will open up a few more shots over water etc

 

so the good points-

she sits when told and will sit next to me for long enough

she will retrieve pheasants, crows, ducks, pigeons etc

she has a good nose and can find dead animals in dense growth in hedges etc

she can swim

 

the not so good points-

she runs out as soon as i shoot and charges around until she finds something to bring back..be it an animal (dead or alive), a decoy or a log

she sometimes chases rabbits and pheasants that she flushes

she doesnt do heel, just stays within about 10 yards and you have to repeat 'heel' every 5 seconds

 

wish she had been trained as i think she would of been good but she was a pet and just left to do what she wanted and enjoy herself...

 

can i change her and make good use of her..??

 

any advice and help would be good

Edited September 29, 2010 by TJ91

[TJ91]

i arent going to do what the bloke down the road does with his pointer and lab... braying a dog over the **** with a stick and strapping an electric collar to it and making it yelp and squeal in pain when it doesnt come back at 200mph when shouted....i wont be doing that!

[jasons gold]

i arent going to do what the bloke down the road does with his pointer and lab... braying a dog over the **** with a stick and strapping an electric collar to it and making it yelp and squeal in pain when it doesnt come back at 200mph when shouted....i wont be doing that!

 

 

I would say you need someone else to help you, ie the other person fires a shot while you keep hold of the dog, and only send the dog out once it is calm, because you need to give the dog 100% attension.

You can always teach a old dog new tricks, just sometimes it takes a little longer

[Elby]

It's not hard but you have to go back to basics first.

If she returns to the whistle then that's good, next thing is sitting to the whistle.

When walking her (on a lead) say the command "sit" at the same time give one beep on the whistle, keep doing this until you no longer have to use the voice command but she sits at one beep.

Get her to sit & stay, keep doing that until you can walk a fair distance from her.

Once and only once this is mastered and she is steady start throwing a dummy for her, make her sit & stay and then throw it.

For every five throws of the dummy you make her stay and you retrieve it at least 3 times out the 5.

If she runs in and gets the dummy take it from her and say nothing. take her back to the point she was sat at and with a firm command "stay"

That way she starts to realise that every thing that falls from the sky aint for her to go fetch.

Be patient and don't expect overnight success.

If you can get her to sit to the whistle and she understands stay then everything else will come.

And no more taking her shooting untill the basics are mastered.

I could spend all day on here writing, if you need anything else pm me and I'll supply a phone no.

[TJ91]

Thanks for the advice

i have looked at a few old posts and had a quick read through a couple of books i have layd about

i will give it a go and see if we can make use of her