another springer question

[gutfish]

ok this is a long one.... so please bear with me.

when my springer, who is now 6months old, was very young. i used to take him on the field next to my house for walks. i used to let him off his lead and he'd never stray more than 8 feet away from me.

the field has since had cows put in it so i'm now forced to walk him nearer the roads.

about a month ago i took him across the road to a woodland area, and decided to take him off his lead.

he was fine on the way there, but on the way back he got further and further ahead of me.

when he realized he knew how to get home he ran off. he ran across 2 main roads and on the second he was clipped by a car.

i was obviously chasing him as fast as i could... but he easily outrun me... luckily the car was coming to a stop and thankfully he was not hurt.

i'm now extremely worried about letting him off his lead at all.

i want to start taking him up cannock chase (huge forest area) but dont know if it's a good idea.

has anyone got any advice???

he does come when called.

[andyjevs]

Oh boy do springers have a mind of their own....and i'm silly enough to have two of the devil dogs ;-).

If, as you say, your dog will come back to you when called, i would be calling the dog to me every time he got more than 20 feet away. Reward with treats every time he comes back. Then let him go again....then call back once he strays too far again. you should only have to do that for a few walks and he will soon get used to it....they learn quickly !!!

By doing this training off the lead, and when the dog is so young and impressionable, he'll hopefully learn fast. I also trained my eldest (nearly 3 now) springer to obey hand signals....so if i want him to go left...i point left...and visa versa. This works a treat when you want him to "go wee wee's" (go to the toilet) in the bushes.

Male springers are very head strong and mine didn't really settle down until he was 2 so be prepared to put up with a lot of mind games. My bitch springer is 6 months and she responds well to me but not my wife.....possibly stronger tone of voice.

Be firm with your dog and you will be very well rewarded. They are always eager to please you but will find a way of doing their own thing if they can....be very firm with him.

Good luck and keep us posted

[drgnrdr]

Just curious if he comes when called why didn't you call him instead of chasing him? Not looking for a fight just asking I wasn't there and only go by what you say in post.

Most dogs that get to be 5-6 months old, are now called juveniles, they start to venture on there own and push the boundries, you'll tell them to do something and they just ignore to see if they get away with it, the more they do the more you will loose control, if they aren't neutered, then they will start to look for mates because the body is shot with a bunch of extra testosterone. Keep control of him like andyjevs suggest, if it gets to hard use a long ( they have them in 20 and 30 plus feet)lead to keep control.

[andyjevs]

BTW,,,,i'd just like to say that when the police get hold of Springers for use in drug searches, they don't even think about training them until they're 9-10 months old so you have plenty of time.

[clair3934]

if your dog starts to run away from you don't chase it start to run in the other direction calling him that way you should be able to keep him away from the road. andyjevs is right though just keep calling him back and rewarding him so when he runs off you can just call him back

[GillyG]

My answer would be to buy a retractable lead, and re-start his training from scratch! He is still young enough to learn! Good Luck

[gutfish]

thanks all... very helpful answers

[surfbabe]

the lady from its me or the dog did a thing last week where she made a real loud noise to get the dogs attention an he came running over an she gave him lots of praise for coming back. you could try it with a treat if that didnt work.