Lurcher training, how hard?

[markp76 0]

First time lurcher owner here folks hes 8 weeks old today dam's a whippet x beddlington x greyhound and sires a whippet, and i have a couple of questions, how hard are they to train when off the lead? Is the recall difficult as my last dog which was a akita had the attention span of a grapefruit and took for ever to come back? Any suggestions as the best way or books to read as the vets words were he's a lurcher so hes gonna be a pain in the arse keep coming back to haunt me.

[Geoff.C 0]

Most vets are clever people and good at sorting out animal health problems. Now when it come to training and behavior, they generally know diddly-squat. Don't let his "wise words" bother you, just take your time. I am not a lurcher man, but, as with any pup, any initial learning of commands will be done in the house or garden and on the lead. I would expect any of my pups to be coming to me when called, by 3 months. You don't just let a dog off the lead and expect it to come back, unless you have done the basics. There are many good books on training. Just keep sessions short and make it fun. Use any opportunity, like food time, to call the pup in and praise/reward when he gets to you.

There are some good posts on here about sympathetic training, have a trawl through for ideas.

[Hollie 21]

First time lurcher owner here folks hes 8 weeks old today dam's a whippet x beddlington x greyhound and sires a whippet, and i have a couple of questions, how hard are they to train when off the lead? Is the recall difficult as my last dog which was a akita had the attention span of a grapefruit and took for ever to come back? Any suggestions as the best way or books to read as the vets words were he's a lurcher so hes gonna be a pain in the arse keep coming back to haunt me.

 

 

The vet is talking rubbish. all these lurchen men on here would not be out at night hunting if their dogs did not come back would they!!

 

Start in the house ASAP (never too early to start) call your dog, everytime he comes to you, reward him with a treat and plenty of play, he will soon get the idea, just keep repeating it, you can then move into the garden, personally i have never kept any of my dogs on a lead, a young puppy is not going to run off, he will look to you for protection and guidance (obviously needs to be on a lead near the roads) just keep calling him and rewarding when he returns, repeat repeat repeat.

good luck

[furdy 0]

Go easy on the treats though....can lead to a few pain in the neck problems later, like spitting out when retrieving, if the dog is expecting a treat he'll start dropping whatever it is he's carrying.

 

Whippets are quite biddable, terrier crosses can be stubborn and willful and sometimes suffer selective hearing. Terriers are do'ers rather than thinkers and you shoulc gently convince the dog he really does want to be doing what you ask.

 

I find a good way to get a puppy to come in close is to scratch on the floor while calling him. Get down to his level too. And when he comes give plenty of really excitable exagerated praise before he realises you have nothing in your hand.

 

Keep the lessons short, I'd rather cut the lesson dead while he's still wanting to play. That way it will end while he's on a high, if he starts to lose interest and you try and push him it will undo so much good work and you'll be ending on a negative note.

 

Short lessons and fun are the most important things to remember in the early stages of retrieve. I use a favourite object, stuffed toy or something similar. Its the only thing I use for the early lessons and it gets put away afterwards. Put it somewhere out of the way but in view and call the pup in as you collect the toy. Play your throw and fetch game and then stop it dead while puppy is still waiting for the next throw. Put the toy up out of the way but in view again. Very quickly the pup will know that when you go for the toy its playtime. Now your gettin somewhere. Be patient, dont shout or smack. If the pup wont do what you want its generally because he doesn't understand whats required and its up to you to work out how to show him...

 

Good luck.....and most of all enjoy it...

[louis123 12]

http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/index...c=82457&hl=

 

try this thread if you need any help got some great stuff on it.

 

Louis123

[j davies 8]

Most vets are clever people and good at sorting out animal health problems. Now when it come to training and behavior, they generally know diddly-squat. Don't let his "wise words" bother you, just take your time. I am not a lurcher man, but, as with any pup, any initial learning of commands will be done in the house or garden and on the lead. I would expect any of my pups to be coming to me when called, by 3 months. You don't just let a dog off the lead and expect it to come back, unless you have done the basics. There are many good books on training. Just keep sessions short and make it fun. Use any opportunity, like food time, to call the pup in and praise/reward when he gets to you.

There are some good posts on here about sympathetic training, have a trawl through for ideas.

are you saying you call call any pup back at the age of 12 weeks wish i could mat no way have i ever seen this he or she will do it if there is no other dog or person around but never if they are around

[doga 50]

the vet you spoke to obviously know nothing about lurchers,good advice would be find one that does for future reference your bound to need one at some point,spend as much time with it as possible they bond fast and hard as a rule and love you for it,use any excuse to call as has been said meals what ever but never for nothing i could go on for ever find a good book on the subject read and follow you should not go wrong,all the best doga.

[villebones 4]

Most vets are clever people and good at sorting out animal health problems. Now when it come to training and behavior, they generally know diddly-squat. Don't let his "wise words" bother you, just take your time. I am not a lurcher man, but, as with any pup, any initial learning of commands will be done in the house or garden and on the lead. I would expect any of my pups to be coming to me when called, by 3 months. You don't just let a dog off the lead and expect it to come back, unless you have done the basics. There are many good books on training. Just keep sessions short and make it fun. Use any opportunity, like food time, to call the pup in and praise/reward when he gets to you.

There are some good posts on here about sympathetic training, have a trawl through for ideas.

are you saying you call call any pup back at the age of 12 weeks wish i could mat no way have i ever seen this he or she will do it if there is no other dog or person around but never if they are around

 

My 12 week old lurcher pup comes everytime hes called.

Even when there are other dogs or people about.

[littlefish 549]

Most vets are clever people and good at sorting out animal health problems. Now when it come to training and behavior, they generally know diddly-squat. Don't let his "wise words" bother you, just take your time. I am not a lurcher man, but, as with any pup, any initial learning of commands will be done in the house or garden and on the lead. I would expect any of my pups to be coming to me when called, by 3 months. You don't just let a dog off the lead and expect it to come back, unless you have done the basics. There are many good books on training. Just keep sessions short and make it fun. Use any opportunity, like food time, to call the pup in and praise/reward when he gets to you.

There are some good posts on here about sympathetic training, have a trawl through for ideas.

are you saying you call call any pup back at the age of 12 weeks wish i could mat no way have i ever seen this he or she will do it if there is no other dog or person around but never if they are around

 

I think a 12 week old pup needs a lot of one-to-one work and encouragement. Remember, for your dog to pay attention you must make yourself interesting - play with it, reward it with treats and praise and keep training sessions frequent and short so that the pup does not get tired or bored. If it runs off when it is outside the saftey of your house or yard keep it on a lead until it knows better - there is no shame in that. You will only look or feel like a fool if you let it off and try to catch it running about in your local field or park worrying what trouble it will get into. You can always practice recall in a public place with the distraction of other dogs and people by using a long lead or peice of rope - that way you can build up trust and obedience safely.

[summat decent 0]

Basically keep it simple,ie name something that sounds nice ie say Fred can be made in to freddie,pups like things to sound daft pleasant.

Keep yourself to one word commands ie name followed by command.If you said sit down to one of my dogs they would do a sit followed by a down.Obviously most commands are sit,down(put your body on ground,wait(until i give you another command,stay(stay where you are,off(dont jump on me furniture whatever,you shout down instead of off dog will get confused.Over(jump over this,under(under gates,wire etc,through get through this gap ie gate etc

You can do away with the words when pup has learnt action,i use hand signals with the words so eventually,arm bent means sit,arm bent palm of hand facing dog means sit and stay.

You will be mega happy everytime the dog does what you ask,and will understand you.

When dog does not do as you ask,you can bame yourself for not motivating and teaching your dog correctly.

No such thing as a bad dog,only a dickhead of a trainer.

Of course if your screaming your head off and hitting pup in anyway,you shouldnt have a dog.

This is an endless discussion,you could go on and on.

If you cant train basics in a six foot area then forget the field.

Dave sleight's purdeys progress is a good start,not only that he's a decent bloke.

I have 12wk old pup at moment she is going through gates, under wire sits as soon as she sees you,recall great kills herself to get to you,picking articles up,find down a bit heavy going yet(it's the most submissive of commands,sometimes takes a while to get in depending on pups temperament breeding etc.I am very happy with her,it takes and plenty of screwups on both parts.

Most of all it takes patience,if your in a bad frame of mind dont take it out on your pup.

We all start to crawl,walk etc and some of us will learn for the rest of our lives.

Only arseholes think they know it all.

Good luck

P.sTry Jackie Drakeford book i think it's called understanding your lurcher,also any of John Fisher's books,teach you more about how a dog thinks.

[Pignut 4]

I was told by a dog trainer that my lurcher was untrainable. So, I didn't believe him and spent alot of time with my lurcher (whippetxgreyhoundxcollie). The one before was a bedlingtonxwhippet and both dogs were the most biddable easy to train animals ever.

 

Terriersx, on the other hand, add that extra bloody mindedness, IMHO.

 

Anyway, you have a nice biddable cross lurcher whose main aim in life is to please you! Use that and work together. If you can be out and about together all the time as a team, then he will follow what you want. Regular calling back to you, regular enthusiasm and thanks are all going to help. My lurchers were not particularly food oreintated, it was the enthusiasm and appreciation of the handler that gets them returning. They want to be with you, they like being part of your daily life and will accept everything that goes with it. Fetch games on their own are brilliant ways of getting a dog to come back to you plus bring you something. Do this in an enclosed safe area and play with him lots and lots every day. This will develop a really good relationship between the pair of you.

 

Limits, consistency and the same commands will get you everything you want. I think "where is my dog?", look around and he is there. Once he swam across a loch to come back to me rather than go around it. I was fishing (no, funnily enough I caught nothing). Get him used to being called off rabbits, or allowed to catch rabbits and be enthusiastic when he brings them to you. That is what he was originally bred for. I was told lurchers were originally drover dogs that were bred to get something "for the pot" on the way to the markets.

 

I say get him used to calling him off rabbits because if you live where I do, it is fine when it is on your land, but if my dog strays onto other territory during lambing season then I have to take the consequences, that he could well be shot if a farmer sees him disturbing his sheep. I can go riding with my lurcher. He often appears out of nowhere when I thought I shut him in the house but he travels along the side of the road, sitting when a car approaches and waiting for my next command (we have single track roads).

 

Also, if you can call them off the chase, you can sometimes avoid the fences that they don't see when they go hurtling at 30mph towards a fence oblivious of the wire and cut themselves up.

 

Good luck. You will have a lovely dog that is 100% around everyone in any situation if you bring him up properly.

Edited February 16, 2009 by Pignut

[J Darcy 5,871]

First and foremost what you need to remember is that your "cat and dog" high street vets knows Sweet Fanny Adams about working dogs.....

[trader 0]

First time lurcher owner here folks hes 8 weeks old today dam's a whippet x beddlington x greyhound and sires a whippet, and i have a couple of questions, how hard are they to train when off the lead? Is the recall difficult as my last dog which was a akita had the attention span of a grapefruit and took for ever to come back? Any suggestions as the best way or books to read as the vets words were he's a lurcher so hes gonna be a pain in the arse keep coming back to haunt me.

go and buy plummers THE COMPLETE LURCHER dont beleive every story in it ,but as a training manual for lurchers its hard to beat