Is there a technique?

[Flowerofthefen]

.....to poo picking with a pup on an extendy lead around muddy fields??!! If she isn't getting wrapped round the barrow then she is going wrong side of fence posts and barking at the wheel barrow getting stuck in the mud!!

 

[AmyMay]

Leave it in the car?

 

[CorvusCorax]

Best is to train them how to behave around certain objects when you're not busy doing other things and attach a command for staying close to you. Puppies are not mindreaders and a flexi isn't the best tool for this job.

If your focus is not on a puppy it will naturally make it's own entertainment.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Put her on a shorter fixed lead?

Or teach commands to stay close, move/directional commands?

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Leave it in the car?

Yep that would work!! But I want to get her used to coming to the stables.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Best is to train them how to behave around certain objects when you're not busy doing other things and attach a command for staying close to you. Puppies are not mindreaders and a flexi isn't the best tool for this job.

If your focus is not on a puppy it will naturally make it's own entertainment.

Good idea. I just want her to be confident at the stables so eventually she can off the lead and ' help' me around the yard.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Put her on a shorter fixed lead?

Or teach commands to stay close, move/directional commands?

Think this would be great, thank you!

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Ditch the extending lead, keep her close to you and teach her to sit while you deal with each pile of poo.
But remember that while you are training her, you need to concentrate on her.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Ditch the extending lead, keep her close to you and teach her to sit while you deal with each pile of poo.
But remember that while you are training her, you need to concentrate on her.

I hate the extended leads. Will try this tomorrow, thank you.

 

[maisie06]

I used to work on steadiness when I had horses and took the dogs poo picking, I would put the dog on a sit next to the wheelbarrow, then heel to the next pile and sit again, I got to the stage I could leave the dog on a sit and pick the while field, then he would get a dummy thrown for a retrieve if he was steady..

i would ditch the flexi and use a 3 mtr line...

 

[kidsandponies]

This is how I am poo picking at the moment, with a pup attached to the barrow!! I use an extra long lead rope as a lead and tie a loop in the end, loop gets put over handle of the barrow. I need him close enough so whilst I am picking up each pile I know he can’t get too far away and in amongst the ponies. It gets easier, ours is learning pretty quickly what is expected and to stay close to me whilst I am pushing the barrow, otherwise he gets tangled up.

 

[spacefaer]

Good idea. I just want her to be confident at the stables so eventually she can off the lead and ' help' me around the yard.

Loose dogs on a yard terrify me. A bad accident waiting to happen, to either horse dog or human. Our dogs stay in the garden or house when we're on the yard. Horses are in the stables when dogs are in the fields.

 

[Boulty]

Haven't specifically poo picked but when TREC judging I put the hooligan on his short bungee lead & then used his double ended training lead to attach him to me with a sort of over the shoulder type strap so I had my hands free for writing / moving poles about etc (pretty sure a proper running belt would work a million times better). The bungee bit took some of the jerking / shock out of if he saw a leaf he wanted to chase or anything & he learnt pretty quickly that he was attached and that he had to follow me closely

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Loose dogs on a yard terrify me. A bad accident waiting to happen, to either horse dog or human. Our dogs stay in the garden or house when we're on the yard. Horses are in the stables when dogs are in the fields.

We keep our dogs and horses separate, although they have to 'share' the yard.

 

[limestonelil]

This is how I am poo picking at the moment, with a pup attached to the barrow!! I use an extra long lead rope as a lead and tie a loop in the end, loop gets put over handle of the barrow. I need him close enough so whilst I am picking up each pile I know he can’t get too far away and in amongst the ponies. It gets easier, ours is learning pretty quickly what is expected and to stay close to me whilst I am pushing the barrow, otherwise he gets tangled up.

From experience I have seen a barrow tip over and dog damaged and frightened too, when this method was being used. If its a weighty barrow and smallish pup it is very tempting to tie it on, but I would never do it now. But I know it is a well used method.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Honestly, it's really best to teach dogs commands (sit, stay, 'with me') etc in isolation and then take them out and about instead of expecting a young dog to know exactly what do to and how to behave while you are busy doing other stuff and wondering why it's not working.
If you've got a dog who has learned by osmosis, that is great, but it is also just luck.

 

[splashgirl45]

I used to have the pup on a slightly longer lead attached to my waist so I had hands free to poo pick , he got the hang of it pretty quickly and it meant he was around the horses but safe and so when he was old enough to come to competitions when I was supporting my friends he didn’t take any notice of the horses and was very easy

 

[windand rain]

Use a shorter lead and teach the heel free or close command then once you are able to trust the pup a bit pop a lunge line on its collar/harness and let it trail it behind you can then grab it before the pup gets too far away.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Back in the day when I did poo pick, I have usually walked around with a sturdy electric fence post - stick it in at each wheelbarrow halt far enough away from the wheel barrow and me and slipped the loop on a normal length lead over the fence post and very quickly taught the pup to sit until I have finished that area, given said pup a huge fuss and we move onto the next halting spot. Works a treat for most normal sized puppies and by the time they are big enough to just charge off and pull the stick over most should be reliably trained to sit and stay without the post restraint anyway.

 

[kidsandponies]

From experience I have seen a barrow tip over and dog damaged and frightened too, when this method was being used. If it’s a weighty barrow and smallish pup it is very tempting to tie it on, but I would never do it now. But I know it is a well used method.

I am ashamed to say, that hadn’t even crossed my mind. I always take the barrow to each pile of poo and he is asked to sit (so he is in effect sitting right beside me) and he has been so good with learning this that I didn’t think that he might even try and tip the barrow over. Think I will start attaching him to me, thank you!

 

[misst]

I am afraid I used to lock mine in a stable while I poo picked if the horses were in the fields. If the horses were in she would come in the field and I could keep an eye. I would avoid a small dog and a horse loose together at all times. If it's just you and her clip a short fixed lead to your belt or teach sit/stay when you stop moving.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Horses are always in whilst I poo pick. In the future, if and when pup is reliable I may poo pick with horses in the field but that may never happen!! She was much much better on a short lead and sat whilst I did most of the piles. She is young and everything is so exciting! It would just be nice to have her confident around the yard so that she has another area she can go

 

[HashRouge]

Good idea. I just want her to be confident at the stables so eventually she can off the lead and ' help' me around the yard.

Can you not focus on training the commands first and leave the poo picking until she is better trained? You could have her on the yard on a lead while you do "easy" jobs and walk her in the field so she gets used to the location.