Posted on 07/02/2013 4:45:34 AM PDT by CSM
Oh, I was laughing all the way because I recognized my big mistake. I was just glad that I didn’t lose him. He had been found running as a stray, and I didn’t know yet whether he’d always be trying to get away from his people. He turned out to be very much a Velcro dog, as most Goldens are.
One of the first things you should learn is that a new dog is not going to be like your old dog. I was never able to teach him the silly tricks that his predecessor mastered. But, he had tricks of his own. He was a wonderful dog, and I’ll never find another like him.
We live on 12 acres at the end of a long drive. But, I took Max to work at our manufacturing plant every day he was with us. Our manufacturing plant has a grassy yard, but it is surrounded by streets, schools, children, rabbits, etc. I was always worried that he might run after some of the passersby — especially after I allowed him to walk in and out of the building unleashed. But, he was very good. In fact he was better off leash than on. And then I discovered that he would respond to a whistle, so I always carried one on my key chain. OMG, I miss that dog.
Crate training and short lease.
Ha! Not only does the dog get a reward, the cats get cat cookies when the dog comes in. Then the cats started capitalizing on the situation by lining up for cookies when the humans come in. (Mr. Sg asks, "When exactly did we lose control of the house?") They are the penultimate con artists.
Pinch collar = Prong collar. I was horrified when I first hear of them, but they work great when used as intended, and not as a instrument of torture. Unfortunately, none of the obedience trainers around here will let you use them.
Aubrey is a setter-mix with a little bit of suluki thrown in, fast as greased lightning, and prey-driven as though she has never been fed in her life. She and her pups were dragged from under a trailer in NW Missouri, and taken in by a rescue group, prior to that she had been hunting food for her pups. She was very unsocialized when we got her, but not the least bit aggressive, she just shut down. She is very much improved in terms of socialization, but still prey-driven.
Our first rescue was a Golden/Brittany mix we got when she was 5 years old. She was a wonderful dog; we lost her to lymphoma at 10 (sigh).
OK, if you want another laugh, picture this. I enrolled Max in agility training and he was a picture in motion when engaging in jumps. I got the idea that I wanted a picture of him leaping towrds me while airborne that I could use on my annual Christmas letter.
So we got out into the pasture,, and I set up a jump and positioned him on the other side. I got on the opposite side and crouched down with my camera and called Max. Of course he came barreling at me, cleared the jump, and slammed right into me, knocking me on my back. He looked so worried and chagrinned — he just stood there.
It wasn’t the first, or the last, time that something like this happened. He started chasing a cat around our yard when he came here on his introductory visit with his foster mom. We were all trying to catch him and he accidentally clipped my husband in the back of the knee, knocking him to the ground like he’d been hit by a linebacker. Max just screeched to a halt and looked at us as if to say, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”
The good news is that he calmed down quickly and became an excellent companion, office, traveling dog who was welcomed into homes all over the country.
If anyone asked about my drug of choice, it would be dogs, followed closely by cats. Nothing else produces the euphoria!
They certainly do work. And sharpening a couple of prongs helps with big dogs that have a thick ruff around their necks, like Goldens. And they don’t hurt the dog.
I only used mine at training, or when we traveled cross country, stopping at rest stops where he might meet strangers.
I don’t like shock collars, however. At least not for Goldens. My trainer wanted him to have one (that was $300 wasted) so that I could train him to never chase deer. But, he did not react well to it, and I just put it away.
Funny thing, the books tell you that the dog will never associate the shock collar with the owner, or trainer. My dog was smarter than that, and I found is that all you had to do was to put on the controller around your neck and he behaved extra nice — no collar needed. Then I found that my flash drive that hung on a lanyard around my neck would work just as wall. When he was misbehaving, all I had to do was to show him the 2 inch flash drive, and he settled right down.
“One of the first things you should learn is that a new dog is not going to be like your old dog.”
That is a very sound piece of advice. I do admit that I think I had a benchmark in my mind from my previous dog and that I will definitely have to change that perspective. It will be good for me and for Buford.
I tried that and even have the formula copied and saved for my future use. My problem is that the location of the photo is on a FB site and for some reason my home computer is not able to get to the properties of a photo on FB. That was preventing me from getting the correct location. I tried it from the FR thread too, and had the same problem....
Oh goodness, yes! I don’t think I could stay sane without my pups. :)
The dog is used to (trained) to crawl over, under, on and around rubble, etc. to find what he’s been let LOOSE to find. What makes you think you can stop him from that?
Woof.
Thanks.
Another poster pointed out the nature of a coon hound to me and it has already helped me to better understand what Buford is thinking. It is certainly helpful for me to understand this issue. Thank you for reminding me of the overcoming of obstacles nature of a hound’s job.
If it were me, I’d get a smaller puppy hound and let him have to look after it. It might take his mind off things.
We can’t turn them away even if we can’t find good homes for them. Heck, we added a room on the house for them! We are better people for it. When the last of us two humans heads for Rainbow Bridge all our animals, our property and our $ go to an animal sanctuary run by a friend.
Gaffer has a good point.
The dog is a hound and generations of innate intellect are hard to ‘train out’.
My Ibizans have always walked on the coffee table, the backs of the sofa, etc.
It gives them a better vantage point from which to hunt.
Always yelling ‘get off’ will eventually minimize if not stop it.
Shock collars should the last resort to any problem.
They may not actually hurt much but they’re not particularly kind.
I’ve only ever used them with dogs who didn’t return immediately on recall and only because *not* immediately returning would put their life in jeopardy.
Crate training is good for the pee problem but marking is a guy thing and he probably wasn’t neutered until after he’d reached maturity.
Try a ‘male diaper’ which is actually a belly band sort of contraption.
PetSmart and PetCo carry them.
For the jumping problem, start right now teaching him to consistently “sit” on command.
When he starts to jump, have him sit and reward him with a treat.
Replace the negative with a positive, always.
Do not be harsh with him.
Hounds are very sensitive dogs and their natural independence is something you have to work with rather than against.
He was born to hunt independently and it’s his nature.
Work with that.
You pretty much covered it, Darnright.
I have hounds and they are a challenge.
After 23 years of having Ibizans pretty much constantly ‘doing their own thing’, I still feel mild surprise when I tell Odin to do something...and he *does*...LOL
Hunting breeds are the most difficult dogs to work with, IMO.
Their nature is to be focused on hunting behavior and it’s an exceedingly strong thing.
I’ve had to learn to work with their will rather than against it.
Thank you for the advice, I think you are spot on. I am already seeing his sensitivity, to go along with the independence. The only challenge I am having with the treats is that his nose is so good that I can’t keep them on me in any way. He immediately smells them and either tries to eat them through my pockets or he gets very excited and completely distracted from the task.
I am getting great results by simply using his sensitivity to my advantage. It is almost as if the treats are defeating the purpose, but without them he is very easy to work with...
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