Thoughts/advice..opinions

abbey · Old Hand

RE: Thoughts/advice..opinions

Leolurcher · Master

I have been thinking about Jake and was going to pm you with a thought but you have beaten me to it. Sleep....unless he is eating or out and about my Flash sleeps all the time. Its as if he conserves every bit of energy for running etc. The house was terribly quiet after Leo was pts as Flash just slept and slept and slept....in the house that is about all he does.....sleep. Flash has three interests in life....hunting for rabbits sleeping and eating and that is IT.
Daniel Tortora describes this sort of thing as "Behavioural constancy"
quote...A constant dog engages in a few activities most of his waking hours. A variable dog goes from one behaviour to another and is easily distractable.
A very constant dog would be almost impossible to distract once it started a behavioural sequence.
In a nutshell observe a dog and if it has very limited interests the more difficult it is to train out of any of these interests if for example one of the very few interests is chasing things or fighting etc.
Eleanorxxxxxxx

moptop · Master

Well, that's all very interesting! wonder what Jack is ?? I would say he is constant alright, just constantly thinks about food all day long and nothing else!! Bit like myself really !!
Marian.

abbey · Old Hand

Mmmmmmm....food and sleep..now that just cant be a bad philosophy on life!!!! Jake is like a different little dog, still mischevious etc but much, much more laid back, he has his manic half hours as all pups do, but he is much less twitchy and troubled somehow..he gets his times with the big dogs still, but for a much lesser time, he is able to sleep undisturbed either in his crate in the kitchen or at work with me in one of the cat kennels. He is 9w old today and is amazing at the surgery, he touches nothing apart from his toys, he follows us around before consulting starts and sometimes just sits and watches what we are doing, he likes to curl up on the knee of whoever is at the desk! He LOVES people coming in, he dashes over to them and sits down in the front of them, his tail wagging frantically. He now sits for a treat and also comes back to the recall whistle EVERY time and sits to the stop whistle and then gets his treat..he is one VERY switched on puppy..He still gets a bit over the top with the adult dogs, and sometimes needs really told off by them, but, to his credit, once he has had this telling off..off he goes...i guess the advantages to living with 6 other dogs is that there is always someone else to move on to and annoy! We are definitely getting there and suffice to say, i cant imagine life without the little mite! biggrin

Christine Young · GAL Newsletter Editor

Jake is so quick on the uptake - a clever wee chap! I'm so glad he's settling down and learning the correct way to behave from all around him. It's amazing his recall is so good at such an early age!

Christine

Leolurcher · Master

Christine Young wrote:

Jake is so quick on the uptake - a clever wee chap! I'm so glad he's settling down and learning the correct way to behave from all around him. It's amazing his recall is so good at such an early age!

Angels and devils Christine....typical working dog thing...quick to learn good things but also quick to learn that they can get away with bad things if you aren't careful. biggrin

.

For me with Flash I find it best to keep in mind that the beddie x is as much a working type of dog as are working sheepdogs etc. A big desire to work well in partnership with humans should be in them. However just like wsds there can be little things that I have to deal with. For example Flash's obsession with rabbits can be a bit of a pain at times but how many wsds have an obsession with car tyres.... don't know if the term is still used but we used to call them "Dunlopers" and how many wsds can be a bit of a handful with nipping the back of peoples legs unless that is curbed etc etc.
I expect Flash to have the capacity to be as obedient to any commands that he is capable of learning as any working type of dog is in its own field but there are wee quirks that I have to factor into the equation just to keep him out of trouble i.e. stop him in full chase?.... I have managed once or twice but I mean once or twice in about six years biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin biggrin
Love to all
Eleanorxxxxxx

abbey · Old Hand

Awww, bless Flash he is such a character! Personally i prefer a stupid dog..they maybe dont learn as quick, but that can be a positive!! My husband has trained the Gundogs that we have and is astounded by Jake and his recall, he says he has never quite seen anything like it..i use the new JW 'Special Incentives' to 'treat' Jake - they are tiny cubes of freeze dried Lamb and Rosemary or Fish and Parsley (fish ones STINK!) - he will do anything for these treats! Last night we were walking at the farm with all the dogs off lead, one of the quads from the farm starting to come around the corner fairly fast and we had to get all the dogs back - fast - Jake on hearing the whistle shot back like a bullet and sat in front of me waiting for the treat. In time, i wont use the treat everytime, but for now i think he needs to have consistency with the whistle and something he loves. As he matures, i doubt that stopping him in mid chase will be possible..but i'm hoping that his eagerness to learn will mean that the whistle is always a good thing to return to. The second he hears the rustle of the bag in my pocket his head is up and watching what i am going to do next..there have been a couple of occassions i've been about to blast the whistle only to realise he is already at my feet! D-oh! I need to be quicker than him!! Toilet training wise..still no accidents in the house, he shoots outside to do everything..we've never, ever had a pup who does this, this early, i think Holly was the quickest toilet trained pup we have ever had up til now..she was 12w...Becky (BT) was the slowest..about 19w..she just didnt get it - at all! weirdface

We have been teaching him to retrieve up the side of the house, which is narrow and it makes it easier for him to get it right, Gordon made him a tiny dummy which he covered in rabbit skin..the wee soul goes tanking after the dummy and carries it all the way back to us!

He is currently snoozing yawn

in his cage, i am going to the Dental Hospital today for surgery on my mouth bleh

, so he is spending the afternoon with a friend, smile

she is going to give him a walk and play with him, so he should be nice and tired tonight!

Have a good day all. biggrin

Leolurcher · Master

reading your last post Wendy was a joy...okay brought tears to my eyes but tears of happiness that Jake is getting the sort of love and guidance that a pup of his type needs.
Er Flash gave Hazel a rather fierce lesson in manners this morning as she was chasing him and biting his back legs. She had the sense to fall down and grovel on the grass and I now have a beddie lurcher with some skin missing off a back leg and a chastened beardie lurcher with green legs due to grass stains on her white bits biggrin

.
Hope that the dental hospital goes okay....or at least as well as that kind of thing can go.
Lots of love
Eleanorxxxxx

abbey · Old Hand

Awww thanks Eleanor, its so rewarding watching him develop after all my initial worries!
Well..that's another lot of dental treatment over..well..for another month. Jake had a ball with my friend, her grand-daughters were besides themselves that Gran had a pup to look after..he was apparently an angel..he even found his way to their back door to ask out. He came home and played and played with Holly and suprisingly Kali (Wire Viz) who up until now has kind of avoided him...he played and played and is now crashed out in his bed! Ahhh..the joys of being a puppy!

-- Edited by abbey at 18:23, 2007-08-28

max · Enlightened One

Sorry I have just caught up on your thread and it sounds like Jake is fitting in very nicely with you all. He is adorable, keep us updated with his adventures.Glad everyhting went well at the dentists, have to go as Sasha is whining at my side for her dinner. biggrin

Nora

moptop · Master

Hi Wendy, glad your dental treatment is over for another month, (reprieve!)

Soooo pleased to hear Jake is settling down. Knew he would, I told you so!!! lol
He is just a smart wee cookie!! Sounds like he has so much spirit, just what I like in a dog !!!!

Marian.