ADV. Hunter

They are about 6 months old now! They do listen for the most part but as I have stated before I have been walking them with no leash, they behave better for me with out it. That said I will be putting them on the leash... Now as for a leash should I be using one that is 4 or 5 foot long or should I make longer one out of rope???

jodis girls

I use a 6' cotton lead and a choke collar to start obediance with. As I progress with come I use longer and longer leads (rope) up to about 25'. I find that longer than that I get tangled in them. The choke collar works for me me use the pinch style collars but I do not like them. Obediance can also be done with a stought leather or nylon collar but I find the corrections have to be made forceful to be as effective as the choke stlye. I also incorporate the use of an E collar with my training after the pups understand what i being asked of them.

ADV. Hunter

Well I guess I am gonna have to break down and buy an electronic collar and go that route as today I had one of my dogs run off after a bird and chased it for about 700 yards and he would not listen to me and come back. I had tried the long rope but I had the same issue with getting tangled up in the rope and they kept crossing each others lines so I spent more time being aggravated at myself for getting into that position. I am thinking that maybe next time I should just take one out at a time for the obedience lessons so that they are not so prone to play with each other and not listen to me.

Phil from Maine

That is why a check cord comes into play so that you can stop it from giving chase at a time that is undesirable. I have tried the choke collar route but that didn't work very well for me. It was not the pinch type though. What happened was one of my setters ran back towards me and then made a sharp turn and ran away. By doing this it broke the choke collar and it left some pretty rough looking neck area.I wouldn't use one ever since. The e-collar is great to use if used right. It is an extention to a check cord.I would recommend using a check cord first and also some obediance classes as well. Get a decent DVD and watch it for a while. They all show some important forms of training.
Good luck to you..

BetterBirddogs

You'll have better luck working your pups by themselves. There is really nothing to gain from working them together at this point in their lives. It only creates a cluster which you seem to have experienced already.

jodis girls

I would recommend after this weekends fun that you train one dog at a time and not allow them in the field together until you have them under control. I would also recomend that you stay out of the field and concentrate on "yard" work. This is were you work your foundation commands. Come and whoa, Only after your pups understand these commands should you use an Ecollar.

As a clarification I do not use or recommend a choke collar in the field. This is for obediance work in the yard or house only, it is too dangerous for the field. A good quality leather or nylon collar in the field will do you well.

Keep at it

Phil from Maine

I agree, training them seperately will help you out a lot. Having your dog/s paying attention to you instead of each other.. Once they are trained up then you can run them together if you wish to. I trained both my Irish Setters howeverI trained 1 to flush and the other to point. The reason being 1 would be a locator the afternoon before I went hunting. If I shot a bird or 2 on the flush so be it. The real intention was to locate birds to make it easier the next morning. I hunt mostly roughgrouse though up here though.

ADV. Hunter

So are your dogs family pets or just hunting dogs? I have heard that it is bad for them to be an inside dog; is there any basis behind that? My boys are like one of the family kinda like my 4th and 5th kids, I couldn't just shove them out into a kennel and leave them there like I see some people doing. I will try the check cord (made from nylon rope) and spend more time one on one working with on at a time, that will be way less work for me as they tend to feed off of one anothers hyperactivity. Who would have guessed that training pups would be this much work???!!! I love it though!!!

BetterBirddogs

I am not an advocate of keeping my trial dogs in the house. I don't think it will ruin them but here are a couple reasons why. First I like to keep dogs out on the concrete for their feet. If a dog spends 80% of his life on your carpet then his feet are going to be soft. Second the relationship I have with my dogs is a partnership where I am in charge and I think that with some dogs being inside can blur that relationship. Third a lot high drive birddogs can be destructive and I don't want them in the house messing up stuff. Just a couple thoughts. I have hunted behind other guy's house dogs and they were fine but most did slip pads and break toe nails quite often where mine never do.

ADV. Hunter

My dogs are inside, but only while I am at home. Then we do spend a lot of time out in the field, getting them to swim and run and chase, just letting them be pups. I have been trying to work with them daily on commands as come, stay, heel and so on but once we hit the field all that is gone when they see a bird on the ground or in flight. I am glad that they take such interest in birds but I am not having much luck with them not chasing them forever once the bird takes flight. I am worried that this might get them shot later on while hunting, and I really don't want them to chase deer, as they have already taken after a badger that I had to jump in after them once they got it cornered in some thick brush, talk about a bad situation. I think the one on one attention might help do the trick and maybe they will get the point. Any good suggestions on ways to get them to stop digging up my yard??? I have tried burring balloons where they are digging to get the pop to scare them and detour the digging but it has had the opposite effect. I try not to leave them out there to get bored but it happens as they are puppies and I"m just looking for a way or ways to get them to stop digging...