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Meet my new puppy!

Great job! It's worth it in the end to have good canine citizens. It was so nice to travel to Washington, DC with my three, stay at the hotel and walk them around with thousands of dogs at the Family Pack Walk and have them behave. Definitely worth the hard work at the end!
 
A major set back this morning. Bertie's recall has been so good, I've been gradually trusting him again, but no more. As soon as he was off lead to play he bolted off after seagulls. That was ok as we were in a big field, then he described a huge circle and then straight over a low wall and cross a busy road. Along the path alongside the road then back across through heavy traffic, a big circle of the field and back to me.
When I say heavy traffic I mean a constant stream of cars and lorries, how he wasn't hit or an accident caused is beyond belief. He was very pleased with his adventure and offered a lovely sit at my feet when he did get back to me.
Of course I praised him, causing him to squirm in delight at his cleverness and then we had the most beautiful lead walk while my heartrate eventually slowed to normal. That's it for Bertie free running in any open ground. I've got the 30 foot tracker lead and I shall get a longer one, but unless I can find safe, enclosed areas, he's lost his freedom. It's that or risk his life and possibly people on the road.
 
Have you thought of using an e-collar? That can offer you long distance control that might mean the difference in allowing him off leash or not.
 
MegF. said:
Have you thought of using an e-collar? That can offer you long distance control that might mean the difference in allowing him off leash or not.
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I'll get a session with the trainer as soon as I can, I know he uses e-collars for individual cases and he'd already suggested for a bolter like Bertie it might be an idea to try. I don't need to tell anyone who has dogs just how gut-wrenching it was to see Bertie dodging traffic and the joy of having him safe in my arms again.
 
I'm sure! I'm glad he didn't get hurt! A trainer who's well versed in using an e-collar can get some beautiful results with one. We have many trainers here who do the majority of obedience with e-collars and have very happy relaxed dogs that work extremely well. Might be just the thing to keep Bertie safe!
 
'Fairweather Trevor' strikes again. Because of a sprinkling of snow my trainer cancelled. So yesterday we went out in the icy winds and did an hour or so of heelwork in the morning and in the evening. With random indoor recall games. Today, off to the riverside at first light. As the tide was out and I didn't fancy washing the dogs, I used the tracker lead so Bertie could have a bit of freedom and still not run off. Rosie hunted plastic bottles but Bertie flushed 3 rabbits. If only I could have let him after them! Instead we tracked them through the brush, which meant combing burrdock out of the dogs this afternoon.
 

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MegF. said:
Still looks like fun!!
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I got plenty of exercise! At one point Bertie made a surprise run and managed to get the leash out of my hands, but with superhuman effort I managed to tackle him when he was circling back. So much for the theory that trailing a longline will slow a dog down, Bertie obviously never read that! He thought us rolling over in the snow together was great fun
(Edited to add; I'm probably more upset over not being able to free-run Bertie than he is. It just means I've got to put more effort into making the walks fun for him)
 
I've never found that trailing a dragline will slow them down. It does give me the opportunity to catch them from farther away though. Step on the line and you can stop them as they go by. I have a dragline on this new puppy I'm fostering. She's completely feral and the only way I can catch her and get her back in the house is with the dragline. She is already following my pack but she's not interested in coming in the door until you drag her up to it and she sees her bed in there. She's only been here one day though and she is already calming down a bit. She laid in the sun with my dogs today and followed on the drag willingly enough with the rest of the dogs until we got to the house...then she tried to head the other way. She even sniffed my fingers once!
 
Plenty of fun in the snow today! Rosie can catch snowballs out of the air, Bertie is completely overexcited and likes rolling in it best
 
Great fun!! No snow here...it's actually very beautiful here today...upper 60's and sunshine. enjoying time outside with my dogs and the new rehab case is doing very well. I'm pleased!
 
The dogs allowed on the bed, then there was no room for me! And some more snowy fun from today, with the dogs on the brace lead and longline. They followed fox tracks and found a dead woodpigeon in the woods.
 

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I have the three dogs and two cats in the bed with us....we manage to find enough room for everyone somehow!! Looks like a nice walk and good fun for everyone!!
 
I've found the most useful command using the longline is 'steady', so the dogs don't get a jerk when I stop them or if they race to the end of the line. As there were slippery slopes to negotiate 'wait' came in very handy today too! I didn't get pulled down any hills despite their excitement and it makes untangling them from the line much easier when they've made a mess of line and legs.
 
I like the wait command as well. When I used to trail ride a lot, I'd teach the dogs to go ahead of the horse, but wait if they got too far. That means, wait until I get there and let you go again. Once I caught up, I'd tell them okay you can go. Same for when I used to hike with them. It's a great tool. I use easy instead of steady but I imagine we both use them for the same thing!
 
For me, 'Wait' means the same as you, 'Steady' is a command to slow down for when it's slippery or we are going downhill, so I don't get pulled over!
 
Mick's alarm went off at 7, then he's promptly gone back to sleep saying he didn't sleep well. So on with wellies and winter coat over my PJs and out for an early walk. Even though I'm on annual leave I've got to go into work this morning for an MMR injection, so no lay in for me!
 
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