Kútik na výmenu zvierat

dva mesiace po tom, čo sme prijali náš psík Baxter, som ho vzal na prechádzku cez našu farmu bez vodítka.

Keď sme dorazili do rohu poľa, otočil sa doľava, keď som sa otočil doprava, a za pár minút zmizol do lesa.

Nevidel som ho ani ho nepočul a žiadne množstvo povolania ho prinútilo vrátiť sa.

Môj veľmi tvrdohlavý manžel strávil popoludnie po celej krajine. Nakoniec sa vrátil domov s Baxterom – na vodítku.

Potom sme sa uistili, že ho budeme udržiavať na vodítku, ale to nebol život, ktorý som vizualizoval pre svojho psa na našej 129-akrovej farme.

Podelím sa o svoje osobné skúsenosti s Baxterom, ale po prvé, tu sú moje návrhy na výcvik vášho psieho, aby ste boli mimo vodítka:

Moje 5 návrhov, ako trénovať psa, aby bol mimo vodítka:

1. Poskytujte puto svojím psom prostredníctvom poslušnosti. Pred začatím relácií vodítka by ste mali mať silný základ rešpektu a počítať sa.

2. Začnite malé v kontrolovanej oblasti.

3. Potiahnite vodítko. Zviažte dlhú tréningovú linku na vodítko, aby ste pomohli definovať zónu pohodlia vášho psa.

4. Pripojte sa k skupine mimo vodítka. Prvok balíka je obrovským rozdielom, keď je váš psík mimo vodítka. Navyše vás môže povzbudiť ľudské balenie. A ak všetci zdieľate rovnaké hľadisko na psov a tréning, nebudú blikať, keď zakopnú cez vodítko, váš psí sa za ním ťahá.

5. Buďte klientom a pretrvávajte. Draging Leash môže trvať dlhšie, ako si myslíte. Možno budete mať zlé dni. Možno sa budete musieť vrátiť na základné lekcie na vodítku, aby ste sa znovu spojili so svojím psom. Úsilie, ktoré je potrebné na dosiahnutie dobrého správania mimo vodítka, stojí za to, keď uvidíte potešenie, ktoré dáva vášmu psovi.

Pozrite si tiež môj príspevok: návrhy na turistiku mimo vodítka pre psov.

Náš príbeh – naučiť sa byť mimo vodítka

Byť schopný byť mimo vodítka bol mojím najlepším cieľom, keď sme začali trénovať kurzy.

Vďaka mnohým práci a nášmu skvelému trénerovi, Baxter a ja teraz chodíme každý týždeň mimo vodítka. Nie je dokonalý a niekedy sa niekedy obávam, ale je to pozoruhodné zlepšenie v tom, kde sme začali, takže Lindsay ma povzbudila, aby som sa podelil o svoje skúsenosti.

Najprv musím poskytnúť kreditnú správu nášmu trénerovi. Zúčastnil som sa mnohých poslušných kurzov (bez Baxtera) a snažil som sa nájsť to najlepšie pre neho a pre nás. Trieda, ktorú som navštevoval s týmto trénerom, bola jej posledným zasadnutím-a bola to mimo vodítka.

Každý psík v skupine bol mimo vodítka!

Bol som ohromený. Presne to som chcel pre Baxtera.

Náš tréner používa metódu, ktorú som nenašiel s inými triedami. Všetky jej zasadnutia sa konali na svete – v centre mesta, oblastiach ochrany, mestských parkov. Absolútne nelieči vlak. A lekcie nie sú toľko o základnej poslušnosti, ako sú spojenie so svojím psom.

Prešli sme základmi – chôdza na vodítku, sedenie, pobyt, dole, príchod, trpezlivosť, obratnosť – ale všetci sa stali zreteľne.

Loosh Walk Walking sa učil joggingom dovnútra a von z rady stromov a pomáhal našim psom dozvedieť sa, že potrebujú venovať pozornosť, aby sa vyhli zamotaniu.

Sedenie sa stalo na prázdnom parkovisku a požiadalo psie, aby sedel na každej línii, keď sme prechádzali parkovacími miestami.

Lekcie zamerané na budovanie úcty, počítať na a väzbu medzi nami a našimi psami.

Pustenie toho vodítka!

Až do desiatej triedy sme pustili vodítko.

Boli sme v pokojnej jazdnej pruhu s rybníkom na jednej strane a plotom na druhej strane – ovládané prostredie s niekoľkými únikovými trasami.

Všetci ľudia a psy v triede kráčali po pruhu ako skupina. Keď sa zdalo, že Baxter sa zdal byť v súlade s nami, upustili sme od vodítka.

Kráčali sme o niekoľko ďalších krokov a potom sme sa otočili, aby sme sa vrátili späť na začiatok. Baxter si nevšimol – alebo sa nestaral – že sme sa otočili. We called his name, and he followed us back to the start where he got lots of scratches and “good boys.”

Next we walked along the path as a group. again we dropped the leash, but we didn’t turn around. If Baxter got too far ahead, we stepped on the leash, just to get his attention.

Baxter is a confident, independent dog, which I love. but a drawback is that he has a very large comfort zone.

For one exercise, our trainer had my husband and I walk down the lane with Baxter.

When we dropped the leash, Baxter stopped walking. He’d figured out that we were going to come back along the same route, and he didn’t see why he needed to walk out only to retrace his steps (he’s also very lazy).

It was a bit of a battle of wills.

We needed Baxter to respect that we were setting the route, not him, and he needed to followus.

We kept walking, not looking back, until we were around the curve out of his sight. then he started to follow. We kept walking until the end of the lane.

When Baxter came around the curve, we squatted down and opened our arms encouraging him to come to us. He took a really, really long time (slow, meandering, sniffing) but he eventually came.

Obviously, we had much more work to do in the bonding department.

Note that while our trainer absolutely does not train with treats, you may want to consider carrying a treat pouch with quick access to high-valued treats when you are working with your canine on off-leash training and coming when called. completely up to you.

Always a work in progress

In my opinion, obedience is just part of training. things work much better when your canine wants to do things with you. So we focused on respect and count on and bonding.

When we were introducing off-leash exercises, we started class first with the basics on leash: loose leash walking while changing direction and going over obstacles, sits at any moment, stays in busy areas.

Exercises that were interesting helped him pay attention to us and reminded him he had to do what we wanted.

Once he was off-leash, if Baxter wandered off to do his own sniffs, we’d call him back. If he didn’t come, we went and got him and put him on leash. We kept him on leash to show there are consequences for not paying attention.

As Baxter was learning, so were we.

One lesson for me was that my definition of off-leash changed to be leash dragging.

We dropped the leash rather than unclipping it. Eventually, we got a long training leash that Baxter dragged behind him. feeling it behind him seemed to remind him to pay attention to us.

Stepping on the leash every so often helped to reinforce the boundaries of our comfort zone. Plus, in worst case scenarios—and they did happen—it gave us something to grab.

Off-leash hiking group

At the conclusion of our training classes, we joined our trainer’s off-leash hiking group.

See our posts:

Off-leash hiking with your dog.
More safety suggestions for off-leash hiking

At every hike for a year, Baxter dragged his long training line behind him. many of the time it was much more about my comfort than his obedience, although every so often his confident, independent, sniffy sides came out. As my confidence grew, I eventually let him go completely leash free.

Najhorší prípad

Our training was evaluated a few months ago when my worst-case scenario happened. A deer bounded across the path while we were hiking. three dogs took off, Baxter among them.

Baron the German shepherd came back in less than a minute. Kaylie the border collie was back in 5.

Baxter was gone for 15 minutes. A very looooong 15 minutes.But, he came back!

On a trail he wasn’t very familiar with, he found his way back to where he’d left me. For me, that showed the strength of the bond that we’ve built … and that we need to continue to work on obedience and recall.

We’ve become regulars in the hike group, and Baxter loves hiking with his friends. He bounds to the car, stares fixedly out the front window as we roll along and whines as if to say, “Are we there yet?”

His delight is incentive enough for me to keep working at our off-leash training.

OK, how about the rest of you?

What have been your challenges with off-leash training?

Any suggestions to share? let us know in the comments!

Súvisiace príspevky:

What to do if your canine runs away
Stop your canine from pulling on the leash
Reasons to purchase a canine backpack

Julia Preston writes for That Mutt about canine behavior and training, working dogs and life on her farm in Ontario, Canada. She has a sweet, laid-back boxer mix named Baxter. She is also a blogger at Home on 129 Acres where she writes about her adventures of country living and diy renovating.