early lurcher training

[tomdean 4]

Hi there i have just got a lurcher pup who is 11 weeks old and was wondering on some tips to get him to recall

i give him lots of praise when he does eventually come to me and have repeated this a lot but it takes a long while before he does come to me.

 

he doesnt like any of the treats i have tried and whenever i take him out side he ignores me all together. indoors i try and play lots and get him to retieve toys he does retrieve them and looks as if hes bringing it back to me but runs right past me and lies down and chews it?

 

i managed to house train him successfully and we keep chickens and have managed to train him not to chase them. he learned that very quick. so id be gratefull of any tips to get him to recall

 

Thank you

[STAFFY poacher 90]

TIME AND PATIENCE MATE...Stick at what your doing but dont over do it...as the pup will get bored, just do anything you can to build the bond

[Casso 1,261]

i cant understand how you get an 11 week old pup not to want to come to you ??

 

a pup not liking treats is like saying he dont like breathing air, he is driven through instinct to eat, there no stronger compulsion at that age,

 

what i would be interested in is how you stock broke and house trained him, what method, because i believe the answer to it's disinterest in you, lies there

[skycat 6,173]

If you continually tell a puppy off, tell it NOT to do things, you are straight away making the pup look at you in a negative way. By always saying "Don't do this, don't do that", or "No!" or anything that doesn't make the pup feel happy to be around you, you create a barrier between you and the pup. Pups want to do things, they want to learn new things, they want to play and have fun with their owner, BUT ONLY IF THAT OWNER BEHAVES IN A WAY THAT REWARDS THE PUP FOR BEING WITH THEM.

 

You should remove any negative 'training' from the pup's world immediately. Have fun with the pup. Don't tell it not to jump up at you: the pup is behaving normally by doing so: it wants to get close to your face: it's what pups do to adult dogs, it is dog language for showing that it is submisive to you, that it wants to be accepted by the 'big dog' in its life. Let the pup lick your face, let it climb all over you, roll around on the ground and wrestle very gently with it. Let it grab on to an old sock for a very gentle game of tug, let the pup claim the sock. Run around the garden, let the pup chase you and catch you. Say 'ouch' or yelp sharply if it bites too hard and hurts you, but don't tell it off. Direct its biting on to the sock or toy. Reward it with cuddles and happiness when it comes to you.

 

Don't try and make it come and sit like a perfect little robot. Don't call it to you all the time. Let it alone to play, run around. Don't nag at it all the time. Pups need freedom to play and do their own thing. They don't exist just for you: they are living breathing 'babies' who need time to develop and mature in their brains. They become sullen, resentful and unhappy if you do too much training before they are ready to play on your terms.

 

You must build confidence in the pup, confidence in you, that you are the best place to be around, and most of all, you need to understand that pups don't do anything wrong, they just do things because they are dogs. It can't understand why you are cross with it sometimes, and it can't understand that chasing chickens is wrong at this age. If you have used any form of negative reinforcement at this age, then this is why your pup doesn't want to come to you.

 

As Casso says: how did you house train the pup? Did you tell it off for peeing in the house? If you did, then that is already a step in the wrong direction. It is your fault if the pup pees in the house, because you didn't let it out soon enough when it needed to go.

 

No pup is fully housetrained at 11 weeks, they get excited, have accidents etc. I never say a pup is fully housetrained until 6 months old: teething often brings another spate of peeing in the house too.

 

Also, depending on the breeding of the pup, some take a long time to 'learn' that you are a valuable part of their lives. Saluki types are notoriously slow to adapt their brains to human ways and rules.

[tomdean 4]

Thank you for the reply very helpfull.

i have never told himm of for peeing in the house 9 times out of 10 i got him outside before he went like you say still has the occasinal accident and when he does i dont shout at him and when i manage to get him outside i prasie him lots so now when he need to go he will run to the door so like you say not full house trained but hes catching on quick.

 

i play with him lot indoors and do all the things you mentiond with very little or no negativity he he seems a very happy playfull pup indoors. its when i take him outdoors he looses interest in me when he comes to me i praise him lots but he doesnt seem as happy to recieve it out side than when hes inddors he does run around and explore so i will do as you say and let him get on with it.

 

he is a bull, greyhound x lurcher

thanks again for the reply

[skycat 6,173]

That makes sense: I'm lucky to have a very large fenced in garden: a jungle. I pretty much let pups do as they please for a good while when they are outside, before calling them to me. No sense in expecting a young mind to ignore all those smells and interesting things it can find outside. The urge to explore and follow their noses is a damn sight stronger than to come to you at this stage: quite normal.