Retrieving Good And Bad

[springfield 20]

Any advice on my lurchers retrieving. She's 20 months if I lamp her from over a hedge or from outside the field she retrieves fine. But when I get her in a field she stands off with her catch playing with it releasing then recatching.

 

She will retrieve a dummy and ball to me and not release until I tell her. I've trained her the hold command with the dummy. She's not yet came into season which I hope will make her more mature. Any advice on what to do next? Do I carry on picking her runs over small hedges?

Edited February 20, 2017 by springfield

[terryd 8,994]

walk away ? You might find an empty mouthed dog standing behind you like I did but you never know

[Neal 1,930]

I agree with Terry: with both recall and retrieving I find walking away from them is the best way to make them come towards you.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Neal

[Casso 1,264]

The predatory aspect of the human from a dogs point of view is eye contact,

 

when we apply eye contact we can throw a dog into a different mindset, not an answer to your problem bud but something to be aware of ,

 

Then again ? You may not have that issue at night

Edited February 21, 2017 by Casso

[skycat 6,174]

If she's retrieving when she can't see you as she catches, crouch down, turn the beam off, when she catches in the same field. That can make her think you aren't there any more and she'll bring the catch to find you, same as she does when she is on the other side of a hedge. I had the same issues with one of my lurchers long ago. She'd mess about with a close catch, but never ones she'd caught further away. In her case, 'disappearing' by turning the beam off and sitting down, worked. Also, turning my back on her, so as not to seem too intimidating, helped.