Red

Red again but not seasons this time.
It must be about 4 months since she came out of the hell hole that had been her world. She knew absolutely nothing about anything. I haven’t trained her that hard, she really doesn’t do pressure but I really think she’s ready to go out into the big wide world and go shooting.
I took her to the river and the big woods today and somehow with little bits of training here and there she showed she has picked up left and right. Pretty rubbish at go back but she wants to know where I am all the time so has a tight radius. It does show what a huge part genetics play. I also don’t think she’s been ill treated as in fists and boots, just ignored. It will be all the people that she might struggle with, but we are at the point there’s only one way to find out.
 
Why does Red find ‘sit’ so hard? Is it because we brainwash our dogs from puppies to plonk their bum down?
She will sit but never just first time of asking, it’s always a bit of a struggle. I’m absolutely sure it’s not pain related but more she doesn’t think to do it.
I wonder if it’s like a child that no one interacted with she just finds stuff hard to learn.
 
I ask as I can’t decide whether to persist or just allow her to stand. Her other training is great although it does take her a lot longer to learn things than a young dog.
 
It can be a variety of things, a lot of dogs are too 'tight' or muscly in the thigh to make full contact with the ground. She may also not like getting her bum wet.
How far down does she get? Is her tail getting in the way?
 
she just hasn't been brainwashed to use sit as default, just keep asking for it, eventually she'll get there. However if she is rock steady standing then that;s ok too. Some triallers prefer a stand as dog can be faster to respond when sent.
 
CorvusCorax said:
It can be a variety of things, a lot of dogs are too 'tight' or muscly in the thigh to make full contact with the ground. She may also not like getting her bum wet.
How far down does she get? Is her tail getting in the way?
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She doesn’t sit at all. She just looks at me. (With flying love darts shooting out of her eyes ??)
 
Thistle said:
she just hasn't been brainwashed to use sit as default, just keep asking for it, eventually she'll get there. However if she is rock steady standing then that;s ok too. Some triallers prefer a stand as dog can be faster to respond when sent.
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Rock steady not, not bad but not 100%. I have to set her up to succeed as if I have to say ‘no’ it is the end of the world. She is on the lead during drives right now and is happy watching. I have stopped trying to make her sit when out as I don’t want her to think getting to our spot means anything negative.
 
As I think I said before, I train all my sits/stands/downs mechanically in an oblong, it means the dog has nowhere to go and you can use your food hand for luring the head position (up for sit, down for down and almost under the chin to flick out into the stand) and free hand for pressure points (withers, croup, under loin).
Obviously you have to condition getting in the oblong first but for speed and stability in the position, I've found it really good.
Can also be used for basic heel position and straight recalls in front.
But it is a bit of a faff if you cannot be annoyed :p
 
Sit is the first thing we teach pups, but sadly that was not done with the brown dog and she's hard work with it! Her default is bounce! She will sit now, but cannot/ will not maintain it. It has really shown us how much work we put in with them as real babies, without really noticing.
 
YorksG said:
Sit is the first thing we teach pups, but sadly that was not done with the brown dog and she's hard work with it! Her default is bounce! She will sit now, but cannot/ will not maintain it. It has really shown us how much work we put in with them as real babies, without really noticing.
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That last bit is so true. As pups just potter around they learn so much about the little automatic things.
 
CorvusCorax said:
As I think I said before, I train all my sits/stands/downs mechanically in an oblong, it means the dog has nowhere to go and you can use your food hand for luring the head position (up for sit, down for down and almost under the chin to flick out into the stand) and free hand for pressure points (withers, croup, under loin).
Obviously you have to condition getting in the oblong first but for speed and stability in the position, I've found it really good.
Can also be used for basic heel position and straight recalls in front.
But it is a bit of a faff if you cannot be annoyed :p
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Oblong as in 3 sided box shape? Or corner of garden sort of thing? I’m not sure I’ll bother as she doesn’t go very far but I might have a play with Scout who is fairly irrepressible. If in doubt he hangs his Willy out and makes a goofy face ?
 
When I say don't go anywhere I mean it just trains a literal 'boundary'/position rather than just doing it out in the open where sloppiness can creep in. Just some pics I have yoinked off the internet.
Mine is hard moulded plastic but I did use a wooden one in the past.

position box.jpgobedbox.jpg
 
TheOldTrout said:
Bless her, how is she now?
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She’s in a cage rather than in her kennel. But I got home from work and took her out (OH had done her middle of day) and she’s got a runny bum. Luckily she managed to hold on until I got her poppers undone and she got to the lawn. No more NSAID for her. I left her in the kennel for a bit but I worry she can move around too much so she’s back incarcerated now.
 
Red update. She’s a really lovely girl. She does zoomies every morning, just for the sheer joy of living. She doesn’t interact or play with the others but did do a mini zoom with Scout earlier before bottling it.
She loves me. A lot.
She’s working 2 or 3 days a week and proving to have a great nose and a good, steady hunting style. A gun offered to buy her off me last week.
As the pics show she is super fit and trim and actually holds her head above the horizontal most of the time.
 

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Chiffy said:
Great news Clodagh. She, and you, have done brilliantly considering her background. Please don’t grumble that she loves you, she has alot of loving time to make up!
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She does but I fall over her about 10 times a day. ?. She gets less desperate all the time, and more confident that I’m not going to vanish.
 
Oh bless her! I do know what you mean, it can be a little wearing when you can’t move anywhere without them being right there. I have had a few rescues like that. Glad you can see a little self confidence emerging.
 
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