collie/saluki testing time

[Casso 1,261]

I will give you my personal experience here. I am certainly not a dog trainer and I am currently in the process of training my first lurcher.

 

He is a 9 month old saluki/whippet/greyhound.

 

From day 1 (6 weeks old) I started training, sit, down, recall etc and was getting nowhere. He would try to be a pup and play with me and I would shout at him and hit him for it.

 

By 6 months old he was a nightmare. Zero obedience, zero recall. We could be up the local country park where there are loads of other dogs and he would race off as soon he saw them and I would literally have to round him up. The last straw was when it took me near 40 minutes to get him back.

 

So I came on here and had a look through some threads and changes tactics.

 

I started playing with him, fussing, bonding and forgetting training. If out on a walk he ran to another dog then I would let him, go with him and then after a few minutes just walk away and like a miracle, he came with me.

 

He is now 9 months and I go jogging up the same country park every morning with him off lead. I don't even take a lead with me. He comes out of the back gate, into the car, out of the car when we get there and doesn't leave my side until we get back to the car. Occasionally he will stop to play with another dog if one crosses our path but I dont even have to call him, he just follows me after a few seconds.

 

I plan to start retrieve training this week with a tennis ball to see how we get on. But I certainly think slow and steady is the way. And when you start to get high rate and annoyed call it a day.

 

Good luck.

 

Gaz

 

100% right approach bud, the dog will only play with other dogs because the owner wont play with it, the training will come from the play , its just an extension of it , but the dog dont need to know that ,,best of luck

[millybot 3]

thanks gaz have changed tactics seems to be working better good days more than off days and not that often now so thanks to all on here for advice and chastisment yes i needed it so roll on summer

millybot

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

Glad you are noticing a difference. I would say it took about 2 weeks before I started seeing a difference in Rocky. At first we would have the odd good day then 10 consecutive bad days.

 

Now we probably have the odd incident, maybe one a fortnight where I feel like belting him, but we are slowly getting there. 90% of the time he is a pleasure.

 

Last night for example he jumped out of the car after our walk and f****d off up the street 8 houses up. No explanation apart from him being a stubborn twat. After 10 mins of calling him he came, I felt like giving him a bollocking obviously but instead praised him for finally returning.

 

Today we have been out and he was perfect. So like I said above it is just the odd incident,, which hopefully with time will disappear altogether.

 

Good luck again.

 

Gaz.