help my dog is a little f**ker

[madabouthunting 1]

hi all can anyone lead me in the right direction i have a 18 month old wheaten x lagona whippet i have had him 3 months now i am having trouble with him when i take him out on the lamp he is a good lamping dog untill he miss the rabbit he gos into a strop and wont come back to me he will run off and i takes about 20 min to get him back he knows he has done wrong because when he comes back he hangs his head in shame ?

but when he do's get a rabbit all he want to do is crush ever bone in the rabbits body and when you walk to him to retrive it from him he wont give it up he will run about 15 feet from me that last for about 10 to 15 mins its like he is persevie ??? and he has no road sence ? i walk he ever day for a hour or more and making him stop and sit at roads so he is getting better with roads?

so if anyone could give me some info and tips to get him out of his bad habbits would be a great help many thanks robbo

[rocky1 942]

sounds like the previos owner has done realy bad job on the basics training ,start at the begining try and get used 2 the recall

[jambay5 191]

i got a laguna whippet really hi pray drive but thick as a brick!!!

[Ausnick 190]

let him come to you, don't approach him. walk away from him and keep walking until he starts coming up to you.

[rabbit mad 10]

my dog did the same with not bringing the rabbits back and crushing them so i stoped feeding him rabbits with the skin on and he stoped crushing them and runing with them but i have to wait for him to bring them back had prays him if it takes 1 min or 10

[tomano1 80]

If your chasing your dog the dog will run harder it will run go back to basics get some to retrieve and start on that again then reward it when it comes back then when your out should do the same for u

[skycat 6,172]

You've only had the dog 3 months. Not only is the dog young, it has probably never been trained properly. You don't say what sort of a home he had before you got him. Unfortunately, there are many people who don't have a clue on how to rear and train a dog. You MUST go back to basic training before you work the dog. If you just carry on taking him out working the problems won't go away as if by magic. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but if you really want to keep the dog, you have to work on getting a real bond between the two of you. And you can only do this by spending time with the dog.

 

Secondly: you say the dogs hangs his head in shame. when he eventually comes back to you. Bollocks! Dogs don't feel shame, but they do fear a beating: that is why he looks like this when he comes back to you: he has been hit in the past for not coming back when called. I hope you haven't done the same.

 

Look at it from the dog's point of view: he gets taken out hunting, lamping or whatever. He catches a rabbit, all well and good. (Does he retrieve it to you?) But when he misses, he knows that there are more out there and as he hasn't had any proper training, he stays out to look for more. So you call and shout and get pissed off, by which time the dog realises he's in trouble: boss man ain't pleased. So he stays out. Eventually he has to come back because he obviously doesn't want to stay out all night and doesn't really know what else to do because he is a domestic animal born and bred into a human pack. But he's worried he'll get a beating when he does come back after buggering off, so he hangs his head which in dogs is a sign of submission: not shame. He may also be resigned to the fact that he'll get a beating.

 

So many people start working pups before they have the recall properly trained. IMO, the recall is the single most important thing to teach a pup when it is young. Sure, they'll go through various stages of trying it on, but your dog isn't too old to re learn things properly. BUT YOU MUST GO BACK TO BASICS.

 

REMEMBER never tell the dog off when he comes to you. But first of all remember that he is only a dog: dogs don't have human feelings, but they can wind us up, so never lose your patience and get mad with him. Dogs understand that angry people can be dangerous. They also know that they can run faster than us, so don't play that game with him.

 

Get out in a field. park, somewhere where there is no game to chase, and work on the recall. Make it FUN Don't just stand there saying come here dog, or whatever its name is. You have to make yourself the best thing in that dog's life. Do you play with him? If not, why not? And also remember, it is a lot easier to teach a very young pup the right way to do things, than to try and sort out someone else's bad training mistakes: you have more work to do than if you had got the pup young and it was now 3 months old.

 

I've said it many times before, but its true: playing tug with your dog helps build a good relationship. The dog comes to you and gets its teeth into something it can pull and grab on to. Dogs are at their happiest when they are getting their teeth into something. Its what dogs are all about, and what we want working dogs to do. They really get off on grabbing, chewing, biting.

 

If you can get the dog to feel really good, fulfilled and happy, when it is up close to you, most of your recall training is sorted and it also helps with the retrieve.

 

So play tug with your dog: but you have to establish rules. You can't just play tug of war with no rules or it won't work and you get a lunatic dog. You have to train the dog how to play the correct game first, but it isn't that hard. I've done four articles on tug training: I've already sent them to a lot of people but I need an email address as the files are too big to send by pm. If you want the articles, send me a pm with your email address.

[madabouthunting 1]

hello thanks for the advice skycat it was very helpful as you saying in the ad the dog no's he has done wrong. yes i have shouted and called he but i dont beleave in hitting a dog because of some one else bad training once again i thank you and all there other members for there advice i will keep you all up to date with the training thanks martin

[Millet 4,497]

If you can get him to shit in his bed..you have a typical THL allrounder.. ..listen to Skycat on this she has a rough idea what she is on about..

Edited January 22, 2012 by Millet

[wirral countryman 2,110]

Martin,Skycat always gives great advice but it sounds like the previous owner has let it hunt up during the day so you will have your work cut out re-training it,I wish you good luck but some early mistakes are very difficult to put right,also both the breeds in your dog are not the brightest on the canine ladder,atb,WM

[Millet 4,497]

Martin,Skycat always gives great advice but it sounds like the previous owner has let it hunt up during the day so you will have your work cut out re-training it,I wish you good luck but some early mistakes are very difficult to put right,also both the breeds in your dog are not the brightest on the canine ladder,atb,WM

I alway's let my dog's hunt up by day and i'm yet to have a problem when lamping..it's a age and bonding issue i'm sure..