Beth G Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 How do you guys get your BC to stay with you when the family/group splits up? If my husband and I go to the park with our son and we want to split up for whatever reason, like to train the pups separately or whatever, it kind of freaks the dogs out and they either want to go with the other person, or they will sit down and refuse to move...lol. How do you all deal with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anda Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Mine usualy just goes where I go and this makes my husband jelous He does go with him as well if I stay still, but keeps looking back to me. In the end I guess he's listening to the one who is calling his name and that starts walking away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 You mean the dogs freak out at being seperated? Well. We have that problem. Not with Zeeke - he'll go wherever his daddy goes. But Zoe is a brat when Zeeke is outside... she pulls, she barks, and if off-leash she'll run over to Zeeke. Still working on that one. It's hard because she gets a lot of her confidence from Zeeke's presence... so she really hates being left without him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra s. Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 That sounds familiar . Kessie thinks she needs to watch over my mum if we take a hike together. If we split up so that Kessie and I can go higher up or something, she gets upset. How do I deal with it? I put her on the leash for a short while and just take her with me. I grump around when she tries to pull back and praise her when she's looking in the right direction. After about ten minutes she is completely happy again. This behaviour is slowly getting better all the time. It took her very long but she seems to be starting to believe that I can find my way back to her Grandma (and the one time I really did lose my way for a while on a karst plateau, she politely pretended not to notice ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat's Dogs Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 We had a big problem like that with Dazzle too. Because they are herding dogs, it is more natural for them to want everyone to stay together! maybe try giving it a command, like "go with Daddy" and "come with me" sort of thing. It would still be hard for the pups to do but with some training, they might be a little happier about it knowing that it is really what you want them to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Originally posted by sandra s.:(and the one time I really did lose my way for a while on a karst plateau, she politely pretended not to notice ). Somehow, I can't really picture Kessie being polite. I rather see her shooting you dirty looks and muttering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie+Tess&Kipp Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 My dogs will pine for someone who walks away, but if we walk away from the person, they do fine. Like when I visit my parents, and my dad drives us to the ferry to go home. He stays at the car and we walk away and the dogs are fine. If he walks us to the landing and then walks back to his car, there is nothing that can stop Tess watching for him to return. So we just say good bye at the car now. Maybe you could have a new or special toy just for this occasion? Something that will hold the attention of the dog you are taking with you? Or, you could try having the other person and dog walk away and you do your training in that spot with them out of sight. Then next time you do the walking away. I imagine it will just take practice and experimentation to figure out what will work best. Edited to add: Another thing you might try is to separate only a little bit at a time. Like, do your separate training in the same area at first and gradually work at getting farther apart--perhaps start with getting farther apart throughout the training session. Allie + Tess & Kipp http://weebordercollie.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra s. Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 One thing that really gets on my nerves is the reverse situation, when we come back from a walk on the same path we started out on, and she needs to show me she knows where my mum/the car is. Suddenly she can't wait for me anymore. She does that even when we've been alone all the way. Maybe she IS proud of being able to find the car. Anything's possible with that one Originally posted by Lunar:Somehow, I can't really picture Kessie being polite. I rather see her shooting you dirty looks and muttering. Yeah, that's true . So maybe she didn't notice after all. Running up and down the edge of the damn mountain about five times must have made perfect sense to her - we were looking for marmots, of course! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted July 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 We do keep them on a leash at those times but they buck and pull and whine and everything. NOTHING works(except the ball)- even treats!! This is one heck of a strong instinct I am fighting let me tell you..lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordercentrics Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 I think the biggest problem here is that you are working against their instincts. They are herding dogs and want the group to stay together. All the time! They are still babies, even though they are growing fast. I think over time, if you keep at it, they will learn that when you separate, you always come back together and will accept the situation. It just won't happen overnight. No magic potion It is also harder because as the parents of a two year old, you both are always doing at least two things at once, sometimes more! I have seen this and don't know how you do it. You have my admiration! Just keep at it, leashing them up when you want to go to different areas. And lock the flexi so they can't get as far away from you. Steward also made a great suggestion that you work on it by just stepping a few feet away from each other and after a few moments walk back toward each other. Gradually increase distance and time. Baby steps are great for many aspects of training. Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Oh I bet. But it's kind of like a toddler throwing a tantrum.... you just can't put up with it and ignore it until they're over it. I get a little short-tempered with Zoe when she's trying to pull me to Zeeke and paying NO attention to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted July 11, 2006 Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 A game my husband and I played when we were teaching the dogs to come might be helpful. We would stand at opposite ends of our field (or when they were real young, distances as short as 10 feet apart) and take turns calling the pup to us. When they'd run to the person calling, they'd receive effusive praise. In this way they learned that leaving one of us, and going to the other, was FUN! This can be taught either one dog at a time, or with both dogs together. Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted July 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2006 Originally posted by kajarrel:A game my husband and I played when we were teaching the dogs to come might be helpful. We would stand at opposite ends of our field (or when they were real young, distances as short as 10 feet apart) and take turns calling the pup to us. When they'd run to the person calling, they'd receive effusive praise. In this way they learned that leaving one of us, and going to the other, was FUN! This can be taught either one dog at a time, or with both dogs together. Kim Yes we did that exact thing too!! Their recalls were excellent...then they backslid. So we need to get back out there and do more work obviously...lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoe Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 If I am playing with Dylan, he couldn't care less if DH went off somewhere. However, in other situations it depends. I have found that an explanation helps. Even if it is not true Dylan likes to know what is going on - partly my fault for telling him everything I am about to do; go to the toilet, get the washing in, clean the car etc, so he knows where he needs to be or what he has to do. Or I should say where to escourt me. What has hepled us is giving Dylan a command to " stay with whoever ", or " whoever has gone to the toilet " !, or if that person is not coming back, then " whoever has gone home ". He is suprisingly satisfied. It does get slightly more difficult if we go to a brand new place and DH disappears and forgets to tell Dylan what is happening - read PANIC attack on Dylan's part. He seems to think DH can't be trusted to take care of himself, which actually, is a pretty accurate reading of DH's character. Don't you just love 'em ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoe Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 I meant the BC's, not the DH's, although of course we love them too ( Just in case he's reading - the BC, I mean ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie_Girl Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Jackson loves the heck out of DH even though he is only a weekend dad(out driving truck during week ) But he is velcro when it comes to me! If he is dog-tired and sleeping, if I get up just to use the bathroom, he will follow, even though it is only 20ft! Just so he plops down and falls back asleep before I'm done! Then follows me back! But, when we go somewhere, like a trial or something, if I need him to stay with DH, I just say "stay" and he does. IOW, having a real solid stay is helpful. I would work on that first. IMO, stay is just as important as recall. Ya never know when it could save your pups life!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted July 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2006 I should say that there are times like if we are playing ball where Poppy will stay with me(Yes, he is that ball- obsessed) but often the two take turns running back and forth across acres of park to "check" on us...lol. Particularly Pepper. It just depends on the day and their mood. But training is going good so hopefully we can break them of it. Thought it is pretty strong instinct...lol. At the very least, a good way to wear them out I guess...lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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