Issues with dog running off
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2024 2:51 pm
Hi everyone,
I have a 7 month old brittany that I need some help with.
A month ago I had him out looking for grouse and in what seemed like a matter of seconds he went from in front of my eyes to 400 yards away on the Garmin. He eventually looped around and met back up with me when I worked down the road from him to close some distance.
Today, the first time out since that incident, the same thing happened at the same spot. This was the second cover of the day, things went well in spot #1. This time he came back my direction after I simply just worked the way he went and we met up. I thought about hanging it up for the day because I was getting nervous running him. Ended up pressing on and it happened again. This time, he was gone- like a consistent 400 yards away despite me going towards him. When I finally got to 200 yards, I could hear him yipping and crying in the bottom below me as I’m sure he was a little panicked being separated for 20 minutes.
He generally listens well and has been collar conditioned to the here command. When I have him off leash in open fields around home, he follows my lead with little to no direction and stays at a reasonable distance.
My initial thought is that he’s running deer that I can’t see because we’re in the thick grouse woods. I have had 2 experiences where he jumped deer very close to me and when he did, I used the ecollar at a level that stopped him in his tracks. Another thought is that he’s losing track of me in the steeper terrain where I hunt where finger ridges and bottoms can even throw me off after some time away from the truck.
I know he’s young, but I haven’t experienced this before with past dogs and I don’t want it to lead to any bad habits.
I would really appreciate any advice (or reassurance lol)
Thanks
I have a 7 month old brittany that I need some help with.
A month ago I had him out looking for grouse and in what seemed like a matter of seconds he went from in front of my eyes to 400 yards away on the Garmin. He eventually looped around and met back up with me when I worked down the road from him to close some distance.
Today, the first time out since that incident, the same thing happened at the same spot. This was the second cover of the day, things went well in spot #1. This time he came back my direction after I simply just worked the way he went and we met up. I thought about hanging it up for the day because I was getting nervous running him. Ended up pressing on and it happened again. This time, he was gone- like a consistent 400 yards away despite me going towards him. When I finally got to 200 yards, I could hear him yipping and crying in the bottom below me as I’m sure he was a little panicked being separated for 20 minutes.
He generally listens well and has been collar conditioned to the here command. When I have him off leash in open fields around home, he follows my lead with little to no direction and stays at a reasonable distance.
My initial thought is that he’s running deer that I can’t see because we’re in the thick grouse woods. I have had 2 experiences where he jumped deer very close to me and when he did, I used the ecollar at a level that stopped him in his tracks. Another thought is that he’s losing track of me in the steeper terrain where I hunt where finger ridges and bottoms can even throw me off after some time away from the truck.
I know he’s young, but I haven’t experienced this before with past dogs and I don’t want it to lead to any bad habits.
I would really appreciate any advice (or reassurance lol)
Thanks