I've "acquired" a Springer Spaniel

[druid]

Read that as "taken on because he was in a ridiculous situation of no training, little to no walking and the wrong owners (elderly lady)" - he's 10 months old and knows his name. That is the entirety of his training.

Even as a veteran sight hound owner this one is a bit daunting. More so by his complete lack of interest in food based treats (tried the usual liver, chicken, cheese etc. high reward treats). He has no recall so is being walked on a long line currently.

Major issue seems to be that he wont' even lift his head/cock an ear to you when you try to call him back on walks...I've got a dog whistle and squeaky toy next in the armory to try tempt him with but moral support is needed at this stage!!

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Chill its early days and he is having sensory overload!

My limited experience of ESS tells me they do everything x10, but do slow down eventually (about age 10yrs LOL).

Good luck

 

[Alec Swan]

druid,

you're obviously one for a challenge!! View your new puppy as a challenge, then when you threaten to shoot him, there'll be grounds to reconsider!!

The real trick is to INSIST upon eye contact. Without it, you will find progress difficult. Be the Guv'ner, be on top, and that's about it really. Squeaky toys will hold his interest for about three minutes, discipline will last for ever. Good luck!

Alec.

 

[druid]

druid,

you're obviously one for a challenge!! View your new puppy as a challenge, then when you threaten to shoot him, there'll be grounds to reconsider!!

The real trick is to INSIST upon eye contact. Without it, you will find progress difficult. Be the Guv'ner, be on top, and that's about it really. Squeaky toys will hold his interest for about three minutes, discipline will last for ever. Good luck!

Alec.

The insisting on the eye contact is easier said than done when it's sodding off 200ft up the beach in the opposite direction! Much easier now he is on long line probation. I keep telling myself I can recall the Lurcher off a hare, this is too is possible!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Give it time and welcome to the spangle massive! Pictures are a must!

One of mine had zero recall so we used a particular toy tha he was only allowed when out. He is a demon retriever so that helped. Maybe give that a go? Maybe a tuggy rope toy? Ours gets all excited and like to play tug of war, when he's hyped up, the toy is thrown, he invariably retrieves. The hunting instinct can be very useful! We chuck the toy, hold him then send on to fetch. If he has to seeks tout, he's even happier. Ours can now be off the lead.

 

[gunnergundog]

If food doesn't do it short term, then withhold a meal or two.....he won;t die....HONEST! Up the ante on the food and make it HOT chicken. Not sure if you are familiar with gundog training or not, but you need to be part of the hunt....you won't stop him hunting (assuming that is what he's doing when he's bogging off down the beach), but you will, with training, be able to control the when and where he hunts and if you can call a sight hound of a hare a pinger will be a piece of p*ss! Honest!

Recall however needs to be established first of all in a distraction free environement.....so, front room, back garden, cricket pitch, local common, etc etc

Sooo.....the options are to make him retrieve obsessive....this means diverting the chase onto something you control OR HUNTING for a desired item (cold game??).....plant things for him to find and LEAD him to them so that he thinks you know where all the best hunting places are. This is a BIG topic so come back if you need more info.

 

[CAYLA]

I hear you I have a 4-5 months springer pup here and my work is well and truely cut out if it's to get a home (someone has royally messed it up), would not care I stepped back from rescue a good month back so wonders why I have this blady spaniel at all.
My lurchers can all be called off a kill, even had a lady come back to me last week for a 2nd rescue lurcher because she was so impressed with the 1st one I gave her and her ability to call him off a hare, (give me a fricking lurcher any day) over stupid spaniels

 

[druid]

CAYLA - I'm glad I'm not alone! Lurchers should be able to come off a hare or anything else imo but it amazes people when they witness it. The fact we lure course helps.

GGD - I've trained a setter as a gundog with some assistance previously. This boy is not from working/trial lines to my knowledge but we'll be giving it a try until I can find him a suitable home.

 

[Spudlet]

Get him on a long line - every time he sods off, that behaviour becomes a little more ingrained. Gunnergundog's advice is good - hot chicken is dog crack

 

[druid]

Get him on a long line - every time he sods off, that behaviour becomes a little more ingrained. Gunnergundog's advice is good - hot chicken is dog crack

He is on a long line now, as I mentioned above. The beach runaway incident was the first time I'd let him off leash - I think it was possibly the first time he'd been off leash on a walk ever/in a very long time and it was just a bit all too much for him.

Hot chicken has no effect on Mr.Mannerless. I'm going to try drying some liver (bleurgh) to see if it's more tempting than the shop bought stuff.

 

[SusannaF]

Get him on a long line - every time he sods off, that behaviour becomes a little more ingrained. Gunnergundog's advice is good - hot chicken is dog crack

Used to make our springer girl fart like a trooper

Male springers do seem extra-challenging, or is it just that I haven't met a bitch who was difficult? I swear one has just come up at the local rescue, although the listing says cocker.

 

[Mrs B]

Swap it for a cat. Simples.

 

[CorvusCorax]

A) As GGD - withhold a few meals. He won't die.
At the moment, my dog is mostly hand fed, ALL food comes from my pocket give or take a chicken carcass or dish of tripe at night, and even then, he has to do a bit of work for it, even if that's just a sit or some focus.

B) has his hearing been checked?!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Used to make our springer girl fart like a trooper

Male springers do seem extra-challenging, or is it just that I haven't met a bitch who was difficult? I swear one has just come up at the local rescue, although the listing says cocker.

Springer, for sure. Diabetic but very friendly!

 

[druid]

A) As GGD - withhold a few meals. He won't die.
At the moment, my dog is mostly hand fed, ALL food comes from my pocket give or take a chicken carcass or dish of tripe at night, and even then, he has to do a bit of work for it, even if that's just a sit or some focus.

B) has his hearing been checked?!

He can hear a car coming down the driveway (a good half mile) and is on high alert so I think he's ok - he's going in to have his balls off so will ask them about it then

 

[Lolo]

If he's not keen on the chicken, have you tried cheese? Our boy springer would do anything for a bit of cheese...

 

[SusannaF]

Springer, for sure. Diabetic but very friendly!

I've practically never seen a springer here; might be why they don't recognise the breed at the shelter. I hope he ends up out in the countryside round the city - so much space to run.

Seconding cheese for springers.

 

[Thistle]

Getting him castrated with definately improve things. My old boxer dog was like an ADHD child at dog training. knew what to do but really couldn't be bothered. Within a month of being done he was fully trained and biddable.

 

[Alec Swan]

Getting him castrated with definately improve things. ........

A sweeping statement.

Alec.

 

[Spudlet]

He is on a long line now, as I mentioned above. The beach runaway incident was the first time I'd let him off leash - I think it was possibly the first time he'd been off leash on a walk ever/in a very long time and it was just a bit all too much for him.

Hot chicken has no effect on Mr.Mannerless. I'm going to try drying some liver (bleurgh) to see if it's more tempting than the shop bought stuff.

Sorry, I didn't see that.

I think, under the circumstances, I think I'd temporarily forget recall and go right back to basic basics - name recognition. And then build up from there.

Hand feeding may help, and also play with him, with something you only use for games with you. An old walking sock with a couple of tripe sticks in it can be very tempting. Even if to start with, you can only get him to play for a moment at home, that is a start that you can build on. You need to get him wanting to spend time with you.

Good luck

 

[gunnergundog]

Not sure how long you've had this boy but at 10 months for a medium sized/rescue breed with unknown (?) background I wouldn;t be having his balls off.

To my mind it's more about training, training, training .....and then MORE training!

Sometimes castration is necessary and can provide a good fix; other times it can be both unnecessary and counter productive and cause more problems than it removes. Unless you are 100% sure of the dog you have in front of you and the 'drives' behind it then I wouldn't be castrating a 10 month old. Just my opinion.

 

[druid]

Meet Milo

 

[Cinnamontoast]

*Grabby hands*. Cute!

 

[PorkChop]

He is gorgeous

I have a springer dog, and a bitch and the dog is very laid back unless we are picking-up his nickname is captain sensible

Good luck with him, I know how hard it can be when they've had a less than satisfactory start to life. However I know plenty that have been turned into angel's

 

[geegee11]

We've had our springer from 12 weeks when his owner 'discovered' she was allergic to dogs.. after 2 weeks we felt allergic to him too!

Ours is a male, and when he was a puppy it was as though a rocket was up his bum the entire time. The only way to train him properly we found was with Pedigree Shmacko's and in our back garden. He couldn't run far and with a treat withheld it told him who was boss.

Although in our experience it just comes with time, regular training in the garden, getting him used to responding to his name when you call etc.

And whoever said they calm down at 10yrs, ours is 13 and still as mad as a hatter.

Would go through it all again though! One of the best natured and loving, loyal breeds out there.

 

[undertheweather]

Are you drying the liver?
We dry the liver and then break into small pieces. You can then put them into an old film pot and use for hunting games.

 

[druid]

Just an update - pratty the spaniel, while not fully reformed is well on his way to being a useful gundog. He ran his first gundog scurry yesterday at Burghley, not disgraceful (he picked up both dummies including a memory) A far cry from his life in a tiny back garden!

His recall at home and in our training grounds are 100% there, we are now slowly proofing that slightly precious recall in different situations and trying not to set him up to fail.

I hope this update might give another rescue spaniel owner a bit of hope that it's not all doom and gloom with bog off dogs!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Always nice to see an update, even better when it is a good update, glad it is going onwards and upwards for you and him.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

So you're keeping him?

 

[druid]

So you're keeping him?

Yes, I changed jobs at the end of march which made it feasible....he's now in Newmarket with me whole the lurcher stayed at home in Ireland with my parents. Sadly my old setter had to be pts in March at the grand old age of 16 so I decided to keep Milo.