Rolly the Spaniel

Hello All.

I am the very proud owner of a spaniel called Rolly. He is the first dog I have ever tried to train and Whilst I don't intend to work him, I do admire the obedience of working dogs.
He's a brilliant dog, will come to the sound of the whistle every time and is genneraly very obedient.
One problem. I bought him a gun dog dummy which he will chase all day but not retrieve.

A typical attempt goes like this. I sit Rolly down, make him stay, throw the dumy a few feet away and after a few moments, send him after it.

Rolly sprints after the dummy and either lays down next to it or barks at it.
I have tried tying a line to the dummy and twitching/dragging it across the ground to get him to pick it up.
I have also wrapped the dummy in a rabbit skin which worked perfectly the first time but he doesn't seem bothered about it now.

In the house he will pick anything up and give it to me straight away on command but outside he just doesn't want to know.

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks,

Paul.

How old is Rolly?
How big is the dummy?

Hello Les,

Rolly is 2 years old and the dummy is about 12 to 4 inches long and 3 to 4 wide.


Thankls

Seems a bit strange that he'll retrieve indoors but not out.
You've just got to make it a fun game.
I would forget about the making him sit & stay for now, just throw the dummy and let him go after it, the manners can come later.
If he comes to a whistle as soon as his head goes down for the dummy give the recall on the whistle.
Get down to his level when you recall him and give lots of encouragement, don't be in a rush to take the dummy off him, give him loads of praise first and then take it off him.
Also try using the same thing that he's retrieving indoors outdoors or use the dummy indoors until he's sussed it.
The first time he retrieves it give him loads of praise and end the training there on a high.

The other thing to do is con him a little, have him indoors, throw whatever it is he retrieves, let him get it a couple of times then throw the dummy.

Some good points there Les....I totaly agree....I'm wondering if the dummy is a little too big for Rolly yet ??...Sam my ESS will retrieve all day long with fur and feather or just plain dummies but if I move on to the extra large one he just wont wear it....

I also have a dokken that is weighted and looks like a Phessie and flops around like one when carried and he wont wear that either. I put it down to partly lazyness on Sams part when the dummy is heavier but the main thing I put it down to is the fact that it is an unfamiliar feling in his mouth.

Les's point of tricking him in to retreiving the dummy by throwing a ball that gets retreived everytime (for example) then suddenly sneakily throwing the dummy while he is excited could juist do the trick. Do it a few times and he will suddenly realise he can have as much fun retrieving the dummy as he can with a ball or a pair of socks for instance. Loads of praise the second he retrieves back to you is deffo the No1 things as well matey...but dont give him nim snacks or treats as praise as he will come to expect them then possibly sulk if you dont have any on you and then stop working.

Thats what I did when training Sam for his wet retrieves...I substituted a stick so as not to lose my dummies in the ponds by pretending to throw the dummy but then turning slightly and throwing the stick instead....It worked everytime mate

The point you made about retreiving the fur covered dummy but then loosing interest in it sounds to me like the scent has worn off on the rabbit pelt and thats what has lost his interest...plenty of fresh scenty pelts is the key matey...Try him with a fresh one and see how he reacts

You could also try this with the rabbit/hare pelts.......most people during skinning a rabbitt or hare, pull down the pelt to the top of the neck below the head and then cut off the head and the pelt all in one go.

Then turn the pelt the right way round (as nature intended) with the head still connected then insert a large dummy in to the pelt from the arse end with the throwing chord hanging out and then zip tag it shut at the bottom so the dummy cant fall out.

Then use the dummy and pelt still complete with head for the dog to retreive over the next few days then replace with a fresh one using the same process.

Just dont put the dummy next to the radiator when you get back home with it lol

Some swear by it ....obviously more natural scent would be left on the pelt if "unmessed with" which is obviously better for blind retrieves etc or just retrieves in Rollys case and the dummy also looks and feels more realistic to the dog, with the rabbitts/hares head swinging around, much in the way a dokken is supposed to replicate.

Not everybodys cup of tea I'm sure, but I think it might be worth a try...

Hope this helps matey.

Let me know how you get on.


Jase

He's 2 years old Jase, no Dummy should be too big.
At 2 I'd expect my dogs to retrieve Canada geese.
Although saying that if he is only just starting his training (a bit old at 2) it won't hurt to start him on a small dummy and work up.
As far as a scented dummy is concerned, a dog should retrieve cos it loves to do it for his owner, not cos of how the thing smells.
My dogs have retrieved most quarry but still love a dummy throwing session over the park.
Remember everything we see as work the dog must see as a game.
I agree about the rewards, I never reward my dogs with anything but praise and every training session must end on a high.

Ahhh...I missed the bit about him being 2 Les .......well spotted mate.

I'm not very experienced at dog training to be honest mate....this is my first ever ESS and I'm just going mainly on the advice that I have sourced over the last 12 months from other owners along with stuff I have tried with Sam my ESS....

Rolly is a Cocker and that is what I thought might have made a difference with the dummy sizes with them having smaller mouths than some other retrievers and I just thought that the Bunny scent might excite Rolly a little more while trying to get him interested in retreiving......but as I say I'm not that experienced so I could well be showing my ignorance here lol

Wasn't having a go jase, been training gun dogs a long time.
I'm actually about to start a training and boarding kennels after many people asking me to train their dogs.
A Cocker although a bit smaller than a Springer should be abled to retrieve a 3lb dummy without any problem.
The only thing I find with Cockers is that there is a mile of difference between a working Cocker and a show Cocker.
I think people get a bit confused over what excites a dog, I believe a dog has to love its owner to get the maximum performance out of that dog, that way evrything it does is to please its owner and not to please its self.
Most working dogs are natural retrievers, if a dog isn't retrieving its normally something the owner is doing wrong not the dog.

No didnt think you were having a go mate...Ive got shed lods to learn and thanks to people like yourself it can only help the Forum and its members to have someone to learn from...after all thats why I started the Foum in the first place ...

It's for people like me to be able to learn from people like you.....any way have a go all you like matey if it means I'm going to get a days hunting with you one day....But the Beers are on me

Would you be interested in an Admin job on here covering the Dog Training side of things ? You can of course advertise your place all you like once it is up and running and hopefully as we get more members you will get more customers...just a thought, but we deffo need people like you to help us push the Forum forward

I'm constantly learning Jase.
Nothing I love more than listening to other peoples opinions and ideas.
Sometimes its the dogs that teach me new tricks too.
I'll pm you my phone no so we can arrange a day out, I've got about 6000 acres to cover, plenty of bunny bashing, deer staliking and foxing.

i aint had much experience with gundogs but when i teach a longdog to retrieve,if he lays down and mouths the dummy and wont fetch il run off and call him, 9out of 10 times thell chase after you bringing the dummy with them,and that usually gives a good base to start from

I'll pm you my phone no so we can arrange a day out, I've got about 6000 acres to cover, plenty of bunny bashing, deer staliking and foxing.[/quote]

kin'ell jase ive known him nearly 30 years and i dont get invited out, i think he may be attracted to ya mate

champboxer wrote:

I'll pm you my phone no so we can arrange a day out, I've got about 6000 acres to cover, plenty of bunny bashing, deer staliking and foxing.

kin'ell jase ive known him nearly 30 years and i dont get invited out, i think he may be attracted to ya mate[/quote]
Sod off you, I saw him first.
You have an open invite anyway.

Jesus Ive never felt so wanted lol ...Ive just got off the phone with Les and he was talking about all 3 of us going out for a day after New Year...

So from your response can I take it your up for it then Gary ?

I'm buzzing mate and cant tell ya how grateful I am for the offer, cheers Les and cheers Gary for introducing us

did you withhold your number jase? god forbid if you didnt , itll be great to get out with the pair of you , i up for it anytime , but im not allowed to go to any pubs without a responsible adult

I caqn't see waht I'm typing

champboxer wrote:

did you withhold your number jase? god forbid if you didnt , itll be great to get out with the pair of you , i up for it anytime , but im not allowed to go to any pubs without a responsible adult

That's better.
You just shouldn't be allowed to go to any pubs.
Get up as soon as you can in the new year.

Sounds briliant...thanks once again fellas...Cant help with the responsible adult bit though, sorry Gary

Hello all, thanks for the advice.

Been away for a bit so rolly hasn't been fetching much lately.

He picks anything up in the house, I point say bring, he picks it up and gives it me. dummy included.
When we're walking, I take the dummy out of my pocket and he hangs round me, never takes his eyes off me and chases after it when I fling it. He just won't pick the bloody thing up and if he does he drops it more or less straight away. I tried running off and recalling him when he got to the dummy, he came straight back to me - minus the dummy.

He's a cross between a springer and a cocker. same size as an ESS with big daft floppy ears and slightly shorter legs. He has no problems picking up a dummy of this size and can carry it easily.

Thanks again for any advice. I don't intend to work him ever because I don't have the time to spend to train him properly but I'm interested in dog handling and Rolly seems to like it too.