Help with 1 year old english springer

Lifeisbutadream

vax2002 wrote: »

I must admit mine pulls like a husky on a mission and he is knocking on now , I tried everything, they just want to get free and run.
Too much to see, to much to do.
I think it comes with them, but the bad bits ate far outweighed by the good ones.
If you can train him to run with a mountain bike you can have some great adventures.

Thats the weird thing though - he doesnt seem to want to be free as if I let go of the lead he just stands there!!! I usually end up letting go and walking in the opposite direction just to get his attention and get him to stop!

My main concern is that I need the kids to be able to walk him - at the moment it is me walking him for every walk and apart from it not being fair on me, he would get lots more walks and have more fun if they could take him too!

Lifeisbutadream

DogsBody wrote: »

Does he have a 'command' for doing a wee etc? If he will 'go' on command it'd be easier to make sure he's 'empty' before he's free to womble around in the kids bit?

There are methods to make it 'unrewarding' for a dog to do something when you are not there - these rely on corrections being applied seemingly by the environment (ie having nothing to do with you), but they tend to be aversive (for example, for my worktop surfer, mousetraps on the worktop have been suggested - not the sort of thing I'd really want to be advising anyone to do). Sadly, prevention is better than cure for that kind of thing - a behaviour that is not rewarded ever tends tob e quickly extinguished, and if a dog is NEVER eg allowed on the sofa, he never learns that it is worth trying - done by crates/gates/shutting the door when you are not there, but much harder to do if he's already practising the unwanted behaviour, and will take a frustratingly long time.

Loose lead walking - the holy grail for most of us, so you are very much not alone there. Time, consistancy and a truckload of patience, whichever method you try - very frustrating, I know (I am teaching the counter-surfer LLW just now (well for the past 2.5 months), and sometimes we don't make it 100 yards down the road, which is a great improvement from the times we struggled to make it out of the door!). Have you done any clicker training with him? Google the 300 peck method if you haven't already tried this, small goals at least make it seem like you are making progress!

Yes done the clicker training - I have tried EVERYTHING - he is not interested in the treats that he can have (he has a dodgy tummy, so cant have much)

DogsBody

I like the 'bike' suggestion, I'm thinking about doing that myself!

When you say he's not interested in treats, is this when you are 'out and about'? Would you say he seems more excited, or more stressed (food not 'high value' to a stressed/excited dog)? Is he a hunter (well obviously, he's a spanner!), but has he had plenty of opportunity to 'please himself' hunting so that he finds you less interesting?

There is some evidence to suggest that mad pulling on the lead can be linked to stress, and stressed dogs don't learn too well - would you say he is stressy, or is he just a busy young hooligan?

meritaten

I had an English Springer Spaniel years ago and honestly, you aint doing to badly!
I had to buy a Halti as I couldnt walk her - she pulled me over, got under my feet, dashed madly round me in circles and once dragged me through a hedge cos she smelled bbq on the other side! embarrassing!
It took her about ten minutes on the Halti and then it clicked in that she wasnt in control anymore! Bliss!!!!!!!!!!!! even the kids could walk her then!
as for your dog entering out of bounds areas both my dogs did that - the staffy was better at getting downstairs or off the furniture before being caught (warm patch on the sofa usually gave her away) but the springer being thick - used to lie on my sons bed and look out the bedroom window - and any of us walking down the hill could SEE her! also she didnt shift herself until she heard a key in the lock - so we could see a black and white streak coming down the stairs as we came in, lol. I think most dogs do this when they think owners have gone out!
as for wee and poo in certain areas - I dont think that unless the area they are not meant to go in is fenced off - then they think that ALL the garden is THIER territory - and weeing and pooing is also a dogs way of warning off other animals.

Dont despair hun - Springers are not the easiest dogs (but they do make up for their shortcomings by having the nicest natures and a they do love fun!)
your dog is only a year old - not even out of puppy stage yet! persevere and do try a Halti or similar. you could use a babygate to block off parts of the house you dont want the dog in. and fence off a run in the garden where the dog is allowed to play (and poo and wee).

bouncydog1

Springers are excellent pets, but you have to put the effort in with the training.

Is there a local dog club you could join which wouldn't cost too much - they are very intelligent dogs, but remember they are working dogs so will get very excited about going out and about.

Our old girl still pulled me along when she was crippled with arthritis although she couldn't move too fast.

At 12 months your dog is entering puberty and will likely become a bit of a pain. You can't rely on him to stay out of areas where he isn't allowed if you don't shut them off - close the doors - he will likely just jump over stair gates.

As for where he goes in the garden, can't suggest much on that apart from ensuring you pick up!

It's got nothing to do with not wanting to please you, you must remember he is a young dog and there will be lots of things he is finding exciting about his world!

Fire_Fox

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

Thanks - I am most fed up about the pulling TBH - it is getting me down badly now and I cant afford to keep getting him more training.

It's often the owner that needs retraining not the dog. There are plenty of good books on training, 'how to' videos on YouTube, TV programmes such as 'It's Me or the Dog'. Have you established which ingredients triggers his digestive disturbance? Most commercial dog treats are full of rubbish - alternatives include plain dried meats, frozen prawns, scraps of raw chicken.

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

I dont want to use baby gates - done all that when the kids were little! he does not go into rooms that he isnt allowed when we are not there, so he knows that he is allowed.

You have trained your dog not to go into those areas when you are present, you have not trained him not to go into those areas full stop. He has the same intellect as a young child, you don't give them free reign in your home without adult supervision.

It's really sad that you feel "indifferent" towards your dog, don't you love your children even when they misbehave? If you don't feel you can give this dog the love, training and stimulation that he deserves, perhaps consider returning him to the breeder whilst he is young enough to find another forever home.

vax2002

The dog needs a job, you need to find games you can play whilst walking that the dog thinks is his job, springers are 100% working dogs, you let them off and they stand waiting for orders, they need to think they have a job, a purpose or they get confused and pulling on the lead becomes the job.
He could do with walking with an older springer to show him a few jobs to keep him busy.
As a working dog they were flushers, they bull charge in to woods and undergrowth and scare the birds, then they would be used to find injured quarry that had gone to ground and alert beaters to its position, they arnt that good at fetching, thats the retrievers job, the springers is to spring the prey from the hiding place by hook or crook hence the power of the dogs, they surprise people, they have some serious strength and can get in to anything, even brambles if they have to.
Your dog is waiting for you to teach him a job, he wants to work, he needs to work, it could be fetching a ball, or rooting in the bushes, but he needs to know what you want him to do.
A great game for springers is hide and seek, one of you wanders off and gets hiding and the dog has to find them, they love it.
Think of some games and he may calm down a bit.
I once hid about a mile away down a track, the boys let him go and he found me in minutes even tho he had never been there and the grin on his face.
PS the wife's nick name for him is "pizz take harry" that explains the getting up to things whilst you are out bit, they all do it.

gone4gold62

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

No he isn't neutered - I was hanging on to decide whether to do it or not, but am thinking now might be the right time as his !!!!!!!! are pretty much the most unattractive things I have ever seen dangling around whilst he runs about..:o

I never thought about that being one of the reasons though - might be an idea to do it sooner rather than later..

hi yes i would get him castrated asap . also try a dogmatic head collar (google ) and it will be the best money you ever spend ,no I don't have any connections with the makers just have had a very large dog in the past ,good luck.

suki1964

Sounds to me that although you say you have "tried everything" you havent actually tried one thing long enough to train him - hes not trained

Thats not having a go at you as so many of us find stopping a dog pulling on the lead just too difficult and either get a harness or like you - give up on the lead walks

So either get the harness - one that does stop him in his tracks if he pulls or go back to basics and make every walk a training session till he gets it - and now hes going through puberty its going to take a while

I hold my hands up here, my last lad I never got him lead trained because I couldn't walk him for months due to an injury but I taught him to walk to heal off lead and we would often walk Tooting to Putney like that not a problem

This lad is a puller ( cocker) but as long as I have a tennis ball in my hand he dont go to far ahead - the tennis ball is the only treat hes interested in when out, food doesnt do it

Caroline_a

You mention that you want your children to walk him. How old are they? If it's the children that you want to walk the dog then the training should be happening with them as the focus, or the dog will just take advantage and you'll have a potential disaster - I heard of a lab last year who pulled his owner under a lorry's wheels. Dog and owner both killed.

I agree that you haven't given any of the training methods a decent chance. No dog can continue to pull on a Halti - if you are holding it right, it just turns their head and unless they are backing up (in which case it will probably come off), then they don't have the correct muscles to pull. If my 54kg Shepherd can't pull with one, I'm sure your dog can't!!