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Dog roaming, how to cure it?


Dawsie
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I was given a 4 year old male Cocker from a well known shoot about 5 months ago, lovely dog, obedient, good to the whistle and good worker, my big problem is I cant take my eyes off him for more than a couple of minutes, because if I do, he's gone!

I work all over the country in forestry/private woodlands and take him to work with me every day, for the most part he's fine and stays close but as soon as my back is turned, he scarpers, it's like he's just waiting for the opportunity, one second he's there, then the next second he's gone, and I mean not just 30 or 40 yards, he goes for miles...................

In the last 5 months I have had to collect him from 8 different dog rescue centres around the country, apart from the embarrassment (and annoyance)  on average its costing me £35 each time, I'm reluctant to return the dog to the shoot from where it came but I cant go on like this. 

I've spoken with my two local vets about his behaviour, (especially the fact that he is constantly scent marking) but they don't seem to think that having him neutered will make any difference.

Any realistic advice would be much appreciated.........................

Thanks for reading 

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Aye either leave him in the motor or corkscrew/tie him to a tree.

Nt a good time of year to be having a dog running loose, only a matter of time until a farmer quite rightly 'cures' it for u

If u do 'free' sit him any time he moves u have to catch him and put him back on the exact spot so he doesn't gain anything to moving and learns to sty still.

 

Dunno wot job u do but often even well trained dogs are a pita when ur trying to bash on and get work done, and to be hones tthe dogs probably enjoy being left in themotor more too as they then don't have any temptions.

 

I'd also say he's can't be that good on the whistle or sitting either, a lot of this will come down to going over basic obediance on lead until ur both sick of it

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Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear enough, he is very good to recall, the problem is when I don't have eyes on him for a couple of minutes and don't realise he's gone, that's when he does a runner and its a long distance runner!

I do have him in the back of the truck with the with a grill to stop him getting out sometimes if I need to concentrate on some piece of work, but I don't like him closed up for long periods.  

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12 minutes ago, decoy1979 said:

I guess you've found the reason you were given him in the first place. Good luck trying to correct him.

This ʌ   You'll probably get used to it, but I doubt you'll cure it. I've got a Springer with the same outlook, it's a sneaky little ****** but it can find absolutely anything so I keep forgiving it.

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Each time he goes on one of his doggy adventures he self rewards, and it would appear that he is a regular little adventurer. The alternative for him is to sit behind the grille on the back of your truck.  I fear it maybe too late to correct him.  This is not a criticism, but if you can’t give him 100% of your concentration, and you can’t while your working, leave him somewhere secure.  You can’t really mix the two.  If you can still work him when you are not distracted then be happy with that.

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I'd agree with the above.

 

If ur dog was 100% on either stop whistle or recall he would come back/sit instantly so u wouldn't have this problem, and i doubt a generally obediant dog would bog off in 1st place, he should sit on the spot for as long as he is told too.

It really would be worth u geing proper professiomal help and really listening to wot they say, as others have said it is quite well engrained now so will be hard to break/retrain.

1 rather random thing that might help would be some sort of modified placeboard training, instead of lugging boards about try a hula hoop typpe thing, sit ur dog in middle the tie to a tree on a long line, the hoop should acts as both a pyhical and mental barrier and also shows u where to move dog back too.Intially u will need to be really on the ball  and any time the dogs moves an inch move him back and keep doing it, no matter how busy u are (why bringing dogs out when ur busy is a pain)

 

From a professional point of view it might not be helping ur job/rep either having a wild dog, if i was a landowner i wouldn't want someone coming on my ground with a dog that bogs off, bad enough with dog walkers never mind paying somone to come on with a dog like that

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21 hours ago, Dawsie said:

I was given a 4 year old male Cocker from a well known shoot about 5 months ago, lovely dog, obedient, good to the whistle and good worker, my big problem is I cant take my eyes off him for more than a couple of minutes, because if I do, he's gone!

I work all over the country in forestry/private woodlands and take him to work with me every day, for the most part he's fine and stays close but as soon as my back is turned, he scarpers, it's like he's just waiting for the opportunity, one second he's there, then the next second he's gone, and I mean not just 30 or 40 yards, he goes for miles...................

In the last 5 months I have had to collect him from 8 different dog rescue centres around the country, apart from the embarrassment (and annoyance)  on average its costing me £35 each time, I'm reluctant to return the dog to the shoot from where it came but I cant go on like this. 

I've spoken with my two local vets about his behaviour, (especially the fact that he is constantly scent marking) but they don't seem to think that having him neutered will make any difference.

Any realistic advice would be much appreciated.........................

Thanks for reading 

short term solution might be a Dog trace x20 tracker  for you escape artist ,bit expensive in this country at £400 but can be had from lithuania with postage for £280.

looked at everything on the market before buying one.forget the mobile linked stuff out in the field.

well made simple to use bit of kit , fully waterproof & 50hrs tracking on a charge.updates ever 3 secs and has a geo fence alarm for sneaky slope off moments :)

had an incident with mine 6 months ago after she went self employed for 30 mins , when she came back i said to myself that ain't going to happen again little bitch.

i'm only a novice so its been a challenge  but even the best dogs can go wrong i'm told .

 obviously the tech ain't going to cure the boging off but at least you can catch him in the act and possibly sort some correction.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Remimax
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 you need to swop round from you keeping an eye on him to him keeping an you as you    are the master that can cause you to  you running off in the opposite direction hiding etc keep him guessing what you are up to  please remember any attention for a spaniel is better than none fold your arms and turn tour back  for wrong behaviour loads of praise for positive whatever he is doing make sure his attention is on you  flailing your arms  running away walking round him in a circle stopping when he breaks eye contact etc and only moving when he locks on to you        what ever his must attention must be on you  and only  you

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On 5/3/2018 at 01:56, Mochastorm said:

Each time he goes on one of his doggy adventures he self rewards, and it would appear that he is a regular little adventurer. The alternative for him is to sit behind the grille on the back of your truck.  I fear it maybe too late to correct him.  This is not a criticism, but if you can’t give him 100% of your concentration, and you can’t while your working, leave him somewhere secure.  You can’t really mix the two.  If you can still work him when you are not distracted then be happy with that.

Good advice - though exanding on the grille bit, why can't the dog be confined in the vehicle in a crate (with fans and proper ventilation, of course)? Not cruel just procedural safety. Also would like to know more on why and how the kennel came to place him with you?

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Hes obviously sat there bored.. so ******* off off. Obviously never been taught sit/stay for long periods and knows he can get away with it.. can't really blame him. I'd get him on a long rope and tie him to the truck or a stake in the ground. My other halfs lab (as a pup) started to do similar, he worked doing land management and she disappeared for miles and was picked up several times. She was so obedient but one minute she'd be gone, only occasionally. He was lucky to get her back so he started to use a stake.. gradually weaned her off it. Shes 5 now and hasn't wondered off for years but hes a bit older so may never cure it. Don't let him keep self rewarding by letting him do it. 

Edited by Pigeonshooter22
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2 hours ago, Pigeonshooter22 said:

Hes obviously sat there bored.. so ******* off off. Obviously never been taught sit/stay for long periods and knows he can get away with it.. can't really blame him. I'd get him on a long rope and tie him to the truck or a stake in the ground. My other halfs lab (as a pup) started to do similar, he worked doing land management and she disappeared for miles and was picked up several times. She was so obedient but one minute she'd be gone, only occasionally. He was lucky to get her back so he started to use a stake.. gradually weaned her off it. Shes 5 now and hasn't wondered off for years but hes a bit older so may never cure it. Don't let him keep self rewarding by letting him do it. 

Might be better with a light chain. Its suprising how fast they can chew through a rope when not being watched.

I had a rescue border/jack who could go through a tape lead if you stopped to have a natter with a neighbour. He was found running loose in a bad way and obviously abused with a chewed end of a lead hanging off him by the dog warden before we had him. He had to have chain leads as we never got him out of chewing tape leads through. We got a good recall with him after 6 months when he realised we didn't beat dogs.

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On ‎05‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 01:46, Bigbob said:

Electric collar if he goes fifty yards  give him a shock it's sounds drastic but your going to have to do something drastic its lambing season and you don't know what he's up to when he's away on his jollys

After forty years of gundog training (labs) I was dead against these devices.   Then I purchased a nine month old who had never even been taken out for a walk.   He wasn't maltreated - just ignored.   Super friendly dog and good on all the dummy work etc but off the moment my back was turned or he put something up while we were walking or training.   Got worse.   Put him on a 50 yard rope and he had me off my feet a couple of times.   Anything that moved and he was off after it.   After ONE YEAR of this I was persuaded to try an electric collar.   It was that or he had to go.

Got one - PAC and not cheap.   Read the instructions carefully.   Put it on the lowest of settings.   Zapped him just three times over a week.   Now he is as good as gold.   Different dog.   Rarely goes on a lead.   If he puts something up when we are out he just sits.   Collar is packed away in a drawer and his training is going on by leaps and bounds.   Just needed to be told that his behaviour was unacceptable.   We are now the best of mates.

(He is now steady with sheep, horses, cattle and other dogs).  

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