lewis Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 hi all. my 6-7 month old golden retreiver pup was getting on great, walking to heel with a loose lead. and recall but recently she has been lifting phesants and has found her nose.. annoyingly when she gets a wiff of something like a deer or any type of furry mammel she totally ignores me. 40 yards she used to be perfect, but now she just turns and thinks shes the doggies danglers. any ideas anyone? i know keeping at it will solve it but i was wondering if you guys had any ''tricks'' cheers Lew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie 1 Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 You want to get into an enclosed place like a small field and for example do the stop/sit whistle if she ignores you then go and put her where she was when you blew the whistle. you will have to do this a fair bit so she understands that when you say sit you mean it and she can't get away with not doing it. all dogs will try to push the boundarys so you need to be on top of it as soon as they start. so if the dog is the other side of a hedge and she doesn't sit when you tell her then you have to get through that hedge quickly and put her back to where she was when you blew the whistle. persistance is the key with this. and when you have done that and she does everything you want without the smell of game etc. then you need to go somewhere with either rabbits or pheasants and start with something simple like walking er on the lead and make sure that if she pulls or trys to follow a scent you stop it by a quick snap of the lead, and makes sure she looks at you. then after a while she will stop doing it. then take her off the lead and walk at heel making sure she stays with you and if she follows a scent you pull her back to you and make her heel. she will then soon learn to ignore game when at heel. after that is complete put her on a long lead and let her hunt then whenever she puts something up make her sit if she doen't stop then you snap the lead and make her sit keep doing this then start trying it off the lead at very close distance and if she does decide to ignore you go and get her (do not call her) and put her back into the spot where you said sit. then if she does it a second time start again on the lead and get her perfect. do not rush it as it can make the task longer to overcome. i hope this makes sense good luck and let us know how you get on with it. charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis Posted February 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 yeah great points and i will try that . but when you walk near her she jumps back and does a paddy run everywhere i dont know how to cure that aswell but ill keep at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeksofdoom Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 Sounds like you have a very excitable young bitch! Before you start taking her out to any more fields ...STOP!. This dog needs plenty of yard work first i.e. obedience training. Don't take it too any more big fields or small fields until you have the basics instilled in it. Taking it out in the open, giving the dog a command to stop which it doesn't understand properly and then diving through a hedge to correct it is only going to get the dog excited and next thing you know you'll be doing all the chasing, what you'll end up will be frustrating to say the least. Around the garden with the dog by your side on the lead walking to heal is what you need to do until the dog is stopping perfectly to the whistle. After this you can start practising the stay, blowing the stop whistle stepping off to the side and gradually walking around her and away from her making sure that she remains in the same position all the time. Then you can try walking her off the lead to heal and blowing the stop whistle and doing the same stuff. After you have her firmly under control in the yard you can start bringing her out to the fields, this may take quite some time to perfect but provided you are prepared to put in the time the rewards will pay off. Avoid long walks or training sessions, 10 or 15mins a night is plenty might be even too much. Use treats, and before you start training make sure the dog hasn't been fed it should be good and hungry; that way it will be more focused on its rewards i.e. the treats, a hungry dog makes a more attentive pupil. Then after this has been successfully achieved you can bring her out to the wide open spaces. All this is covered in NTTFs pinned thread http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/ind...showtopic=47072 I have also brought my dog to puppy obedience classes, the dog didn't learn a whole lot there but I sure as hell did and I was able to teach it to the dog afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis Posted February 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 thanks a lot mate you got it in a nut shell ... shes an excitable little bitch lol ill read all the pinned topics that NTTF's done cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted March 7, 2008 Report Share Posted March 7, 2008 Lewis , I had similar problems with my golden retriever when she was younger , but believe me its worth persevering with as she is one of the best dogs I have ever had. Goldens take longer to mature than labs and this can be reflected by slowing down your training. I recon mine was 5 before she matured. At 7 months she is finding her feet a bit and developing her own mind. Try not giving her temptation by walking her where she will not encounter pheasants or deer while off the lead. Coming after a succession of labs I found goldens though easy to train , very different to use in the field. For a start mine rarely put her nose down on the ground to follow a scent , instead she would catch the scent in the air and follow with her head held high. I found she had attitude too. When shooting alone she would be quite happy to jump into the coldest water , but when shooting with other dogs she would stop at the waters edge and let the other dogs get wet. She once retrieved a greylag with no problems , but as I was on a circular walk I decided to leave the goose on the bank. An hour later I returned and sent her across the creek for the goose. She crossed and hunted every bit of cover , but refused to pick the goose lying in the open. I think she found some BASC rule about gundogs only retrieving heavy geese once or something !!!!! Alas she is 12 years old now and should be retired by now. But after having her scratch the door down upon being left behind at the start of last season she shot with me 4-5 days a week thought the season. ( I had replaced her with the most useless lab I have ever had which is now a pet for a friend) . I have been looking for another golden to replace her but the cost has rocketed to more than twice that of a lab so I guess I will have to return to a lab. I guess there is not much to choose between the 2 breeds , apart from one thing.........STYLE. Goldens do not run for retrieves they bound , and with their flowing locks always look grand in a way labs can never do. Good luck with your golden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potshot Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 Golden retrievers and flatcoated retrievers 'air scent' whereas labs ground scent. The going rate for 'working golden' is about £500 but iit can be difficult to find really good working ones as the gene pool is very small. There is a quite a good selection of Goldens in East Anglia, the west country, some in the midlands and the you have to go to Northumbria or Scotland to find the good working lines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 (edited) I wish I could find a golden worth its salt for £500 , All the bitches I have looked at have been between £700 and £900 where as some good labs are going for less than £250. Edited March 9, 2008 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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