7 Month Old Puppy Running Off

[born2hunt81 6]

I'm new to gun dogs and got my working cocker at 7 weeks an took her to a trainer at 12 weeks were he would show my what to teach her an I would go home an train her before moving on to next lesson this was all going well until the last few months first she stopped listening to the whistle so she stayed with him for two weeks an came back brilliant but now started seeing strangers an running off so they fuss her some time she just runs to them other time she stay by me an listen to what she told any one else had same problem with there gundog is it just her age ?? All help greatly received

[ftm 3,357]

7 months is probably her testing stage mate but can you not use stop whistle when she takes off then recall with maybe a retrieve as a reward & lots of fuss .if that doesn't work try walking fields where no one else goes until she gets the message with your whistle commands -im sure its nothing serious mate keep at the training & it will come together -billy

[born2hunt81 6]

Thanks she knows what stop whistle means but ignore it its not every time she does it but when she does she won't come back an normally end up going to get her from the people she ran of too

[skinner 348]

get rid of your trainer and let the pup grow up like a bane should

[Casso 1,264]

Years ago gun dog trainers would never have attempted to train pups until after a certain age because of the very same reasons you have now discovered,

 

A pups first year is split by two very distinct mind sets 1 is food driven and the other is prey driven, prey driven been the later of the two ,

 

A dog must have a reason for a certain command, an experience dog knows that the stop is not really a stop it's only a negetive that will lead to the positive , the positive that will lead to the dog working again in tandem with you , that's what the dog wants more than anything and he will keep himself honest and obey commands from the inside out

 

What you have discovered is that the commands have no reference to the pups new found prey drive , the pup is driven to make contact with something , he doesn't know what yet but since humans are social to him it seems a good starting point for an equisitive canine mind,

 

The stop can't just mean Stop , a dog can't just do nothing he must be doing something , a stop to a dog must mean Wait , a dog can wait all f ing day if he feels something good is going to follow

 

The command for stop has no reference point in the pups new found driven mindset,

 

I can't understand this rush to train pups straight straight out of the womb, every pup is born with a blue print to work in tandem with man and to make Himself social to fit into the group, we just need to work with nature not against it , it's less about understanding training and more about understanding dogs

[skycat 6,174]

Years ago gun dog trainers would never have attempted to train pups until after a certain age because of the very same reasons you have now discovered,

 

A pups first year is split by two very distinct mind sets 1 is food driven and the other is prey driven, prey driven been the later of the two ,

 

A dog must have a reason for a certain command, an experience dog knows that the stop is not really a stop it's only a negetive that will lead to the positive , the positive that will lead to the dog working again in tandem with you , that's what the dog wants more than anything and he will keep himself honest and obey commands from the inside out

 

What you have discovered is that the commands have no reference to the pups new found prey drive , the pup is driven to make contact with something , he doesn't know what yet but since humans are social to him it seems a good starting point for an equisitive canine mind,

 

The stop can't just mean Stop , a dog can't just do nothing he must be doing something , a stop to a dog must mean Wait , a dog can wait all f ing day if he feels something good is going to follow

 

The command for stop has no reference point in the pups new found driven mindset,

 

I can't understand this rush to train pups straight straight out of the womb, every pup is born with a blue print to work in tandem with man and to make Himself social to fit into the group, we just need to work with nature not against it , it's less about understanding training and more about understanding dogs

Words of wisdom there: especially the last sentence: we don't expect children to act like adults when they're young, so why expect it from a pup? More important to get a really good bond, based on play and reward than have a pup jumping through hoops like a robot. Dogs do things because it makes them feel good, satisfied: those which are formally trained too early will usually kick over the traces and want to do their own thing once that prey drive kicks in. Sure you can force obedience into them, but you'll always be squashing them down rather than working with their drive.

[Phil Lloyd 10,739]

Sensible words from you guys...

Edited December 2, 2013 by Phil Lloyd