Some more training questions......

[Granny]

I got a 1yr old Lab from a fellow FM'er about a month ago and the dog is really great! The last few days he has began to take off for ten to thirty minutes and he will not come back to our calls. We have plenty of land for him to run but there is a highway about a 1/2 mile down the road. Does anyone have suggestions to what I can do to keep him close to home without tying him up. I have read through the previous threads and I understand that I need to retrain him to his new area. My wife has the summers off and she spends a lot of time with the dog. Will it work for me to train him sometimes and her to train the dog while I am at work or will this just confuse him?

Thanks in advance,

Granny

[Swamp Scooter]

Granny,

Is he fixed or not? Maybe there is a little girlie across the field/forest he is trying to meet.

I might go back to using a long check cord when you are out with him. Also maybe put up a small dog kennel fence and use that as the unsupervised area. After the dog bonds to you he may stay around.

Maybe he is full of energy and looking for things to hunt up or roll in? If you tire him out he will not go far from the house.

[Granny]

Kinda funny the dogs name is Scooter .

He is not fixed yet and I thought this may have something to do with it. He has lots of energy and loves to run. How exactly do you work the check cord and how long should it be?

Thanks,

Granny

[Swamp Scooter]

I use one about 30 feet long and that way when you call them and they come within range you have something to grab on to. You could also make a run line. They can move about and not be tethered to a single spot.

My guess is girlfriends, but there is not substitite for furthering the training.

[FOOT]

Yes, it will work if you both train your dog.
I would suggest 2 ways of training your dog. I assume by the way you refer to "him" it is a male dog, which will be harder to keep on your land, especially if there is a female in season.
1) Use a choke collar tied to a 100 foot length of clothes line rope and let him run to about 90 feet. Dig in and hold on. When he gets to 90 feet blow a whistle once, loud for 2-3 seconds. When he reaches the end of the rope it will jerk him back. Then call him back and if he doesn't come to you pull him back until he is by your side. If he starts running back to you let him come. After a few times he should understand that when the whistle blows he needs to stop. Also praise him even if you have to pull him back every foot of the way.

2) Walk the property with him tied to a leash. Everytime he crosses over your property line tell him NO and pull him back. Also praise him a lot. This may take quite a long time but he will get imprinted to where he won't cross your property line.

Big thing - never hit him. Your voice should be all the correction your need. I've trained 1 chessie and 3 labs and all of them knew when I was please or pissed just by looking at my face.

As far as a female being in season, good luck. I haven't seen a male yet (dog or human) that can resist that. You might have to do what my wife does and tie me to a post, ahh I mean tie the dog to a post.
Good luck a good dog really makes a great hunting buddy and will make the hunt a fantastic experience.

[Granny]

If he knows there is a leash on him he doesn't try to take off, but as soon as he knows its off he is gone. Wife called a little while ago and said the dog got sprayed by a skunk. I am going to try the hydrogen paroxide, water, and shampoo mixture out tonight.

So how do I keep him from jumping up on us or little kids? He just started doing this in the last couple days also.

Thanks much,

Granny

[Dan Thiem]

Granny,get some tomatoes from the garden (nice and ripe ones).Smear them all over.It worked for us.

[Failin'onPhalen]

Tomato juice may do the trick if the tom's aren't ripe yet.

As far as training goes, I am no expert...Here is what has worked for me. As mentioned above, use the collar and the 100' rope to train the pooch to the whistle/call...instead of hanging the rope directly to the collar, use a 6" nylon strap to fasten the collar and the rope (e.g. collar, nylon strap, rope)...The 'key' to the nylon strap is that it has some weight to it, but is not too long. Do the whistle training as much as feasible...then practice the same proceedure without the rope...the nylon strap (at least in my case) had enough weight to it that the pooch still thought he was on the rope...8 months in and my pooch is responding very well to this method...NOTICE: I am no expert.

Good luck,
Phalen

[BLACKJACK]

foot, I can relate to being tied to that post!!!!

[Cootz]

No disrespect for anyone's suggestions but the vinegar, dish soap, tomatoe juice stuff is all BS! Reason said, in May my Lab got hit by one and he HAD to have had his face almost INSIDE the skunks !@#$%^. I was up north and tried all the things I mentioned and it didn't help ONE bit. Road up north in a buddies of mine truck and he let him ride in the backseat. Well, on the way back he road in the bed of the truck tied in. I got a suggestion from another friend of mine about a product called "SKUNK OFF". Comes in a shampoo and a spray. Get the shampoo, works a little better I think. Will take away 95% of the smell. Enough to tolerate your pooch again. But buy more then one bottle ($9.00) because after a few days seems like it wears off. I could smell skunk on my dog for more then two months when he'd get wet. You can get it at most vet's and probably can order it online most dog places. After this spring I keep a bottle in my dog bag at all times.

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So many scientists, so few rockets.

[This message has been edited by Cootz (edited 08-12-2004).]

[Swamp Scooter]

Granny,

Try the deer hunters no-scent killer soap! Use it liberally and then wash them off. When you are done spray them with the scent killer spray and you can make them bearable for a few days. After about 4 days you can repeat the wash and spray and they will be good as new.

[FOOT]

Granny, if your dog is smart enough to realize when he has a rope attached to his collar you may want to go to a shock collar. I'm not a big fan of them but if it means protecting your dog from running into the road and potentially getting run over it's worth it.
As far as a dog jumping up on you, you definately want to STOP this dehavior. It's too dangerous when you are carrying a loaded weapon.
What you need to do is bring your knee up swiftly into your dogs chest knocking him back at the same time say in a loud voice NO, do NOT use his name. Only use his name when you want to praise him. It won't take long for him to understand this is not acceptable. Jumping on the kids is tougher unless they are bigger. Your kneeing him will stop him from jumping on the kids as well.

[BBL Resident]

I have a yellow lab, and at 6 to 9 months he did the same thing. He would take off to visit another dogs or a person walking by our house and I would call numerous times and he would came back when he was done visiting (which he thought was fine).
I couldn't scold him when he got back because he would not understand why he received the scolding.
That is the trick about training a dog, You have to catch them right when they make the mistake in order for them to understand the mistake they made.
That is why I would recommend the use of a "shock collar". Used correctly, you can make training and obedience corrections very efficiently. I gave my lab a whole new meaning of listening to me the first time I call in just one day. Make sure you purchase a collar that has multiple setting (all current models should) and you will be amazed at the results.
I guide at a game farm and I see more people trying to hunt and control their dogs without the aid of a shock collar and it can be humorous at times. The dog may figure out when he has the collar on and when he doesn’t, but you can over come that with a dummy collar or just turn the collar off when he has an understanding to save on battery life.
For around your property and especially hunting you can not beat the investment of a shock collar and 10 to 20 minutes of training every day. The bond between you and your dog will become strong just with the training alone. When I hunt with my dog, I would bet that I do not hit the “hot” button more then once a year. I normally can get his full attention with the mild “reminder button”

That’s my opinion and good luck with you lab.

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[Granny]

Thanks for all the info so far! I tried the Hydrogen Peroxide, shampoo, and water mixture for the skunk smell last night but not much luck. I think I will just let it wear off him.

I am going to look into getting a shock collar for him. He got bit by the electric fence the first day we had him and he learned real quick to stay away from that. The previous owner had a shock collar on him so it might not take long for him to get used to it.

Thanks again,

Granny