My Brittany has two modes

[jbwardfamily]

Hi all,

I have a 4 1/2 month old Brittany and I am having a hard time teaching her to come to me on command in the field. In and around the house she is pretty good about coming to me but if she is occupied or in "hunt" mode, she ignores everything. When I take her to the field she is a beast and is a lightning bolt. I keep her on a 30 ft cord and work some initially with telling her to come and forcing her to me with the check cord. After a few of those I let the cord go and let her run. She may come to me once or twice after that but once she smells a bird or something else interests her, nothing else exists. I am glad she has a great hunt drive but I feel like she should still pay attention to me. It's a good thing I have a fast 12 year old son to catch her when she gets too far away.

I haven't started any hunting training with her yet. She has sit, lay down, and the basics fairly down pat. She is also starting to enjoy retrieving and playing fetch. What can I do to increase her willingness to stop what she is doing and check in with me on command?

Thanks,

James

[ezzy333]

She is a puppy, give her time. Did your 12 year old behave everytime you told him something when he was a 2 year old? And the pup is only 4 months.

Ezzy

[slistoe]

Every time you interact with the dog, the dog is learning something. Be careful that you are not teaching the dog that commands such as come are optional in certain circumstances.

[Sharon]

" I keep her on a 30 ft cord and work some initially with telling her to come and forcing her to me with the check cord. After a few of those I let the cord go and let her run. " quote

You are doing it right. NEVER call her in unless you can enforce it. Only call " come" once. At that age it is even better if you can get your hands on the dog if she doesn't come.

[jbwardfamily]

Thanks. Once I let go of the check cord, I usually use the "lets go" phrase instead of the "come". I am just trying to get her attention. She rarely comes all the way to me though. Should I start giving treats for each time I pull her to me? Also, should I incorporate a whistle to give her something louder and harder to miss?

[Hoosierdaddy]

You are expecting way too much from a puppy that young.Britts are smart dogs but they dont learn a whole bunch at 18 weeks,they are incapable of that.
Take your time and enjoy your little pup.You have a ton of time for obidience training.Get your dog out in the feilds and let her romp.

[aulrich]

And when I first saw the subject and a Brit I was expecting the two modes to be:

1 a sleep
2 full out

and x2 on Hoosierdaddy

[jbwardfamily]

That's not far from reality in my house. She is a firecracker.