tweety pie Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 I wonder if any one can help me. My 1 year old lab has a tendancy to chase rabbits whenever there is one near and no matter what i do he will not come back untill he wants too. This is usually not a problem, recall is good any other time. I have never shown him to do this and it is not what i want. What can i do to stop him doing this ? Tweetypie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new to the flock Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 Get him on a long line so that you can control and correct him and get him out to an area that has lots of rabbits. NTTF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greybeard Posted January 12, 2009 Report Share Posted January 12, 2009 A dog that ignores you like this is going to cause you high blood pressure. You will have this dog for 14 years (that's if he doesn't chase a rabbit, hare, cat, etc across a busy road. This is the start of a terrible trait. You have to nip this in the bud. I agree with the last comment. What you need is a rabbit pen or similar. Something you can control and a place where you know something is going to run out. You have to put the odds in your favour. A long peice of rope with one end slip noosed around the dogs neck. You walk up the rabbits. The rope is hanging loose but the dog is walking at heel. Expect the dog to break as he no doubt will. You have tight hold of the looping rope at about the ten feet mark. (i suggest you wear leather gloves) as the dog makes a run you pull back hard on the rope when it get to the end of the ten feet you have allowed it. The idea is to give the dog a 'shock' to stop it mid run --but don't drag it back to you by the rope. Go to the dog, grab the loose skin on it's throat and pull it back to where you were when it broke away -- ten feet, repeating the word you have chosen for a misdemeanor-- 'No' is usual. Sit it up. stay calm. Gather the rope. Do it again. If the rope is hanging loose the dog never connects it with you. It gets a huge surprise though when it's brought up short. As soon as the dog is stopped dead by the rope you should release the pressure-- this will happen anyway as you are now speedily making your way to the dog right? Do it a couple or three times then do something else. Don't over do it. Keep repeating until the dog won'r even think about chasing. This does work. You have to be consistant and keep at it. It helps if the momentum of the dog can pull itself off its feet when you stop it. The dog will be thinking 'how does he do that?' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweety pie Posted January 13, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2009 Thanks very much, appreciated. Will let you know how I get on. I agree that it is something that needs to be tackled now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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