Playing Keep Away?

Vikingoo168 · Post by **Vikingoo168** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:27 am

My GSP likes to pick up random things he finds on the ground and chew on them. I try to discourage him from doing this by sternly say ahh!! or something of that sort which he knows means stop what you are doing and for the most part listens very well. Every once and a while he will get something in his mouth and run to the furthest corner of our yard and will not respond to the "come" command or any command for that matter. I have heard many many times that I am not supposed to chase him or yank objects from his mouth but let him release it to my hand, so my question is how do I let him know that he is misbehaving with out doing all the "don't s" mentioned earlier in this sentence. When I try to approach him while he has the object in his mouth he runs away so I immediately stop and ignore him rather than chasing him, but it frustrates me that I cannot just go after him and get whatever he chewing on out of his mouth. Any insight/advice would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks!!

shags · Post by **shags** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 11:49 am

The trick is to make the dog believe that you're the boss of everything, everywhere, everytime. That's why you don't give commands that you can't or won't enforce. That 'don't chase him' rule is conditional. If you're out in a gazillion acres, then you don't want to give a recall command then have to chase the dog down when he ignores you. Chances are you won't catch him until he's darn good and ready to be caught. But if the dog is in a fenced back yard and ignores a recall command, darned right you better enforce it even if it means going out in the snow in your bedroom slippers. Chase him down and take whatever it is away.

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 12:32 pm

You have to teach your dog's two things; NO and HERE and they have to perform them flawlessly. If a dog picks up an object after I have said NO, I'll give him a "bleep" good whack across the nose reinforced by another NO.

polmaise · Post by **polmaise** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 1:51 pm

Hmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Gooseman07 · Post by **Gooseman07** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 2:09 pm

gonehuntin' wrote:You have to teach your dog's two things; NO and HERE and they have to perform them flawlessly. If a dog picks up an object after I have said NO, I'll give him a "bleep" good whack across the nose reinforced by another NO.

Agreed.

That is about the first thing that should have been done when you brought the pup home. I don't know your situation but the pup/dog shouldn't go outside without a leash if this hasn't been taught.

If you can't enforce the command, DON'T say it! You're giving the dog the opportunity to learn he can flip you off and not listen to you. That is one thing I learned, if you can't enforce it, shut up.

Post by **kninebirddog** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 2:29 pm

How old is the dog?

If all you are ever doing is taking away stuff from the dog which as a puppy may include things they shouldn't have you really should reward them for coming to you and allow them to hold onto what they have for a little bit then replace with something they can have if it is something they shouldn't have
also with birds young dogs learn all you ever do is reach down and take away what they have then they will begin the keep away game trying to keep a hold on to their prize.
so let them know they have done good for bring what they have brought to start then as they mature then you add the rest of the Leave it commands
and as stated if you can't follow through on a command don't just teach the dog that your commands mean nothing by yelling the same thing over and over and no follow through happens right after the command

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 2:47 pm

kninebirddog wrote:How old is the dog?

I missed that K9. I was thinking is was an older pup, around nine months. Don't know where I got that.

Vikingoo168 · Post by **Vikingoo168** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:12 pm

kninebirddog wrote:How old is the dog?

If all you are ever doing is taking away stuff from the dog which as a puppy may include things they shouldn't have you really should reward them for coming to you and allow them to hold onto what they have for a little bit then replace with something they can have if it is something they shouldn't have
also with birds young dogs learn all you ever do is reach down and take away what they have then they will begin the keep away game trying to keep a hold on to their prize.
so let them know they have done good for bring what they have brought to start then as they mature then you add the rest of the Leave it commands
and as stated if you can't follow through on a command don't just teach the dog that your commands mean nothing by yelling the same thing over and over and no follow through happens right after the command

He is 14 months old... When we work on the come command he performs flawlessly except for these random times when he finds a treasure on the ground. He has a great natural retrieve and delivers bumpers/birds to my hand with no problem, but gets crazy eyed when he finds something like a roll of pipe tape which was the issue this morning. I will try to replace the object with something he can have in the future. Thanks for the responses!!

Post by **kninebirddog** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 3:19 pm

Here should mean HERE ...so his playfulness at this age is being directly and willfully disobedient...So He has learned somewhere that stuff he shouldn't have will get ripped away and he is ignoring the HERE command...So he needs to learn that game is and will get corrected don't take away the object just get him and drag him back to where you made your command and place him next to you ..this way he will learn that you meant business
Good Luck

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