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  1. #1
    House Broken tims229's Avatar
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    What to do about puppy running away with unwanted item

    So this morning I took Leo to the shooting range. It has grassy and mowed areas and is usually vacant in the mornings during the week. I wanted to expose him to more grass areas and it's good exercise. As we work our way through the area Leo came upon the remains of a pheasant. This isn't all bad as I do want him to search for them in the future. However, he grabbed a wing and ran off with it. I didn't call him back as he was off leash and knew he wouldn't listen and I don't want to reinforce not listening to me. This carcass was ripe and I didn't want him messing with it bringing that aroma home. I was able to get him to drop it by rolling a toy by as he ran for it I grabbed the wing and threw it in the garbage. When he realized the wing was gone he hunted around for it for ten minutes or so.
    Did I handle this correctly? Is there a way that I can deter him from grabbing things and running? Especially things that I do one day want him to hunt. I fear that a habit of keeping these dead critters away from me will cause issues later when I'm wanting him to retrieve birds that I've shot.
    Any help in resolving this is greatly appreciated. Or maybe I'm just overreacting. Thanks for any comments.

  2. #2
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    I hope someone with hunting experience chimes in, in case the rules are different for that environment, but when Kimber was about Leo's age, her off leash time was actually "leash still attached, dragging behind her." I had a very small chance of catching her when she played games like above, but I could grab or step on the leash.

    Labs *love* the keepaway game, so it's also a good idea to teach Leo some version of "trade." Get a high value treat and start practicing having him bring you whatever he has in his mouth, praising him grandly, and giving him the treat. Start with things he'll willingly trade, and keep at it. Soon he'll be bringing you things just for the treat.

    PS I don't think you're overreacting, because labs can get into dangerous stuff, and you need to train him not to run off with things that could hurt him.
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    tims229 (09-20-2016)

  4. #3
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    Work on "drop it".

    "Leave it." "Drop it." "Give." All three commands really come in handy.

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    tims229 (09-20-2016)

  6. #4
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Might have been a good idea to keep that wing and maybe the carcass too, if not too far gone.
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  7. #5
    House Broken tims229's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    Might have been a good idea to keep that wing and maybe the carcass too, if not too far gone.
    It was pretty stinky as I could smell it as he ran around with it. I do have some wings that I've used on his bumpers now and then. He had no issues with feathers in his mouth.

  8. #6
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    Do not chase, it only plays into their game, and they love it. Not sure how old Leo is, but for Brooks (almost 19 weeks) any time I'm in a place that he could get into trouble, which is pretty much everywhere, I have him on a 15' check cord.

    Start working on training "leave it", "drop it" and "give".

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    Charlotte K. (09-20-2016)

  10. #7
    Best Friend Retriever silverfz's Avatar
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    Gigi is the urban area, so we have alot of plastic bottles espcially nips , pears tree that is on the side walk near my house and dunkin donut bags. She will pick them up during walks. She is getting better. She even gets dried roadkill that stink. again, she is getting better and leave it .

    during feeding and she is hungry i will make her sit , leave it command on the bowl and ask her to walk to me. once done she gets the eat command. I will suprise her by lining cookies in the corridor and again work on leave it and then in this i will stay on the other side and ask her to walk over the cookies to me. So i keep proofing the response and when outside in these scenario i can give the leave it command and she does leave it now. again depends on how excited she is too. again she is 6 months and i am sure in time it will get better.

    i am no trainer and this is my go around with puppy training. i see if i teach her one behaviour in one place, she does not do it when needed in a new area. I read early to do this on different surfaces like boardwalk, deck , grass and hardwood. seems dogs associate place with touch for some reason. its like taking gigi to the pet store fish area. the surface is so different that she looses concentration .

    Drag a leash all the time, the best way to catch em .

  11. #8
    House Broken tims229's Avatar
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    Took Leo out again today with a 20 ft check cord. Didn't need it, but at least I had it just in case. He loves running and "hunting" through the grass!

  12. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by tims229 View Post
    Took Leo out again today with a 20 ft check cord. Didn't need it, but at least I had it just in case. He loves running and "hunting" through the grass!
    One of the ladies I train with, who's been doing obedience, hunt tests, rally, etc, for a long, long time, told me when I was training my boy Bruce, we take our dogs off leash way too soon. Even if you think you don't need it, keep them on a check lead. She keeps her dogs on a check lead until they are ecollar conditioned. Before ecollars (yeah she's that old!) she said she'd keep them on a check lead until they were at least 2 years old, some much longer.

  13. #10
    Senior Dog TuMicks's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by barry581 View Post
    One of the ladies I train with, who's been doing obedience, hunt tests, rally, etc, for a long, long time, told me when I was training my boy Bruce, we take our dogs off leash way too soon. Even if you think you don't need it, keep them on a check lead. She keeps her dogs on a check lead until they are ecollar conditioned. Before ecollars (yeah she's that old!) she said she'd keep them on a check lead until they were at least 2 years old, some much longer.
    Yeah, Barry. Thanks a LOT. I am that old, too. (Well, OK... not exactly, but e-collars were really, really primitive when I started training/running dogs.) But, I agree that for the life and welfare of a dog, you almost don't want to take them completely off lead ever. Even dogs that have very well proofed recalls... it only takes a split second for disaster to happen.

 



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