JonnyR Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Am I expecting too much. He is great on the lead and in the absence of any distractions I can stop, recall and direct him left and right on hand whistle and voice commands. Let him run beyond 10-15 yds and it is a different story. He is off, nose down, tail going, enjoying every minute of it. Took me 40 minutes to catch him the other day and I am scared he is going to straight into a road and under a car. Have spent the last 12 months agonizing over an electric collar but I really don't see any other solution. ps He gets about 2 - 3 hours of exercise a day mostly on a very long lead. Help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancs Lad Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Most important is the STOP, as soon as you get him on that then you should be OK. Get him out working on the lead with distractions and keep him in check when doing it. The collar will work, and it will work very quickly.......... Send him out on the lead about 10 yards and recall. Give him loads of cuddles and stuff. Send him out 15.....recall, same again,,,have his toy and do a bit of close throwing, send him out again, recall, short long short long short long. Push the distance out a bit more each time.....would say not more than 5 to 6 times on each trip out though.... You want to make him want to come back to you, instead of being off chasing his nose. Then try the same off the lead......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funky Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 My mate shakespear Pete has the same problem ... I suggested some Valium :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancs Lad Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 At 2 he should be well under control, Jaz is about 18 months, and seems to be Ok with me, although he can be a bit of a ****** with the wife........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveK Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 At 2 he should be well under control, At 2 he should have you well under control. When will your cocker calm down? Do we have a confirmed date for hell freezing over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaniel Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Got to agree get the STOP right first, god i made some mistakes with my 1st springer which i am determined to corect with my 2nd When you say it gets plenty of excercise on a very long lead, do you mean you allow it to be out in front of you doing its own thing........so you are introducing into the dog to be out at a distance doing what it likes, if you get what i mean give then an inch and they will take a mile.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullet boy Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 My mate in work has got a Cocker and he said his is hyper too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Short answer... train him, get some help if you're struggling - no shame in that. Books, forums, DVDs are all good but won't come close to a couple of sessions with a pro or someone experienced in dog training. Also the type of exercise is important to the dog's state of mind, if he's fit he'll run for hours no problem and still want more so you need to tire his mind out with training exercises - heelwork, hunting, marked retrieves, blind retrieves, distractions, stop, sit, stay etc etc, keep it varied and make every exercise session a training session, short and fun; in my limited experience that is far more challenging to the dog than free running for a couple of hours. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 keep working on it and get a collar, had exactly the same with my GWP and at 18 months tried a collar as like you we only had problems with serious distractions and I was concerned about her getting run over. Within a day we had it sorted and she no longer pushes her luck, funnily enough the selective hearing stopped and she listens all the time. I borrowed a PAC one where you can select a bleep before the shock and vary the strength of it. She is very responsive now on the bleep and hardly ever needs any more, probably resorted to shock half a dozen times and thats it. It means no falling out with the dog and is non confrontational I'll lay money it will be the best money you ever spend on a training aid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyR Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 All, Thanks for the all the tips - I really appreciate that I need to tire him mentally so probably need to do more training, albeit that every outing includes recalls, stop etc. Need to get out with the dummy more I think. Al4x, I am glad that you saw results with a collar, I have been heading there for a long time and think I just need to start with one and see how it goes. I have been looking at PAC ones. Do you rate it and where did you get it? I have the advantage of an empty release pen which is a decent size so I can train him in it without the fear of running off! cheers all. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 I think the PAC ones are among the best I was lucky my brother had one so i just borrowed it. You won't need the release pen necessarily and thats the beauty of them. You do need to follow the guidelines so you don't get stuck having to use one but generally I started with a dog that was having to go on the lead whenever near roads / woods etc and now I can actually walk through woods with pheasants about and she will look to me for instructions rather than hunting permanantly. Despite the negative press i feel its been a good thing for mine and allowed her a lot more freedom as well as stopping any need for face to face reprimands which ok will work but are usually after the event. In your case like mine you've a dog that knows what its meant to do and the commands and this just backs you up so I would expect you to sort the problem within a matter of hours, and you will be able to stop it on hares etc which were my big problem. I was pulling my hair out and walks / training were getting stressfull and it all stopped straight away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead-Eyed Duck Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Mine slowed down when she was about 12 (years that is). Until then it was a regular occurrence for her to run down a field in hot pursuit of anything that flew - slowed down slightly by my cammo netting, hide poles, the lot. Keen - she would have tackled crocodiles if the local canal had any in residence. She was the main reason that I went grey early. God, I miss her to bits Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boromir Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 How was he socialised when younger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyR Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hi, As I suspected, the full gamut of responses - never a dull moment on PW - cheers fellas and ladies. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead-Eyed Duck Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 After I had bought Sally I read a few books comparing springers and cockers. The general concensus was that cockers were 'independant'. I translated this to mean that they were slower and more difficult to train than springers, and the slightest misdemenour had to be checked straightaway. In hindsight (which is always wonderful) I would comment that cockers are wonderful, natural dogs for a 1:1 situation. Mine had a fabulous nose, worked literally until she dropped, but endless patience was required with training. In a formal situation she was easily distracted. Now all dogs are of course different, and I have seen many cockers working. They appear to be 'busier' than springers (not easy to appreciate until you have made actual comparisons), and are more difficult to recall from hot situations. Their character is also more robust...... Hope this helps - I had to review all the basics every time I took her out if I was to stand any chance of getting satisfactory performance in a formal situation. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackbart Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 It's a spaniel they dont do calm ! I have just taken my 14 year old spaniel for a walk along the banks of the tyne(mainly to look a some likely swims)and the crazy fool jumped straight in and swam for the other bank :( I just watched her waiting for a yelp and a sinking dog having a heart attack !It was pointless shouting at her cos she is as deaf as wood.I threw a rock at her and she tried to retrieve it so i gave up on that idea.She swam about looking for the imaginary duck i hadnt shot and then came bak to the bank knackered. They are nuts till they die and i wouldnt want them any other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyR Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Superb. Sums Monty up too. Took him to a beach in Pembrokeshire recently with about 5 million steps down to it and that was the only way in and out.....or so I thought. He took one look at a Gannet, dive bombing fish and was off. Fortunately I managed to catch hold of his long lead as he headed out to sea. Had I not I reckon they would have picked him up off the East coast of Ireland. Nutter! :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheene7 Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 It's a spaniel they dont do calm !I have just taken my 14 year old spaniel for a walk along the banks of the tyne(mainly to look a some likely swims)and the crazy fool jumped straight in and swam for the other bank I just watched her waiting for a yelp and a sinking dog having a heart attack !It was pointless shouting at her cos she is as deaf as wood.I threw a rock at her and she tried to retrieve it so i gave up on that idea.She swam about looking for the imaginary duck i hadnt shot and then came bak to the bank knackered. They are nuts till they die and i wouldnt want them any other way. I'm glad it's not just our cocker I've given up trying to walk her along the canal or near any large stretches of water, all she wants to do is jump in and swim after the ducks. You then have to spend an age trying to coax her back out, I was on the verge of going in the water once as we thought she was going to stop in the water all night. Having said that , we wouldn't be without her and only wish we had owned a cocker sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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