Lucky escape..now how to fix the problem

Shhh

Hello there everyone,

I need to urgently get some training help for my 3yo JRT. He obeys well at home and when there is nothing more interesting happening but not when it counts... He is an intelligant biddable doggie and I know I have neglected him by not training him properly. I just hope I am not too late addressing this..please tell me 3 years old is not too late.

Walking him early this morning on the seafront off lead he ran to the road and across it into the path of a car that actually hit him. There was a dog on a lead on the other side.. I assumed that was it. My lovely boy was gone, but he walked away just shocked and chastened. Its only thanks to luck, the gods and the care of the driver of the car that he wasn't totalled.

Please don't bombard me with recriminations on how I could have caused a serious accident - I do know this and and I feel awful for putting him and the people driving at risk..

Help me fix it..:(

I would appreciate posts and PMs of recommendations for the best way to address this training. I can get general help off the web, but info from anyone with success with a JRT / older dog would be most appreciated.

thanks
Shhh

toadfly

OP did you get him checked over by the vet to make sure there are no internal injuries that might not be obvious. Where are you based? Positive dog training in Stilorgan are brilliant if you are in Dublin.

Vince32

The good news is, You CAN Teach an old dog new tricks, so don't worry about it, You had a narrow escape, count your blessings (+1 dog) and carry on.

Training an older dog is much like training a puppy, it takes awhile, its frustrating and may leave you wanting to pull your hair out, but it is very possible.

If you know how to train a puppy use the same methods to train your dog, a dog has always wanted to please its human at every stage of its life and training is basically the same too.

Start with sit / stay and work up to heel / come over about 2 weeks, take it slowly and make sure the dog understands whats happening. because its an older dog, you may need to praise it more lavishly at first when it succeeds in learning new commands. But it won't take longer than a few days with each command.

When you get back from your walks, wait about 10 minutes and begin a 20 minute training session, EVERYtime you come home. Dog's love routine and s/he will learn faster because of it.

If your dog won't /can't do what you ask, get your hands on some smelly (really smelly) food, like beef heart jerky (pet store) and make about 20-40 small rewards for your sessions, treats and praise. (imagine how great you would feel if all your friends came to your house with cake and they all told you how great you are ) you would come back for more too.

Watch some training videos on YTube on the command you want to teach your dog, and pick the method you think you dog will respond to the best, remember it will take days to fully teach the command, and you will need to reinforce what is learned everyday for a few weeks, until it becomes second nature to the dog.

It can be done, relax, smile, let your shoulders down... and begin

Edit: If you find it too hard to train your dog, it is well advised to enrol in a 6 week dog training programme, you will in good hands and your dog will learn effectively. Just remember to not punish you dog for not getting it right, if it gets the command wrong just turn you back to it and and look up as if its going to rain for about 20 secs, and start again.

_Lady_

Hope you and pooch are ok... the fear the fear!! Sorry I can't offer much advice - new puppy myself so I'm busy learning and reading up - but please feel the sympathy and kudos for looking for info to try and rectify it. Any start is a great one!

barbiegirl

For recall use a long leash and lots of treats. When he's a distance from you call him and when he comes give him a treat. The same in the house, when you call him from the garden, upstairs, wherever treat him when he comes. Then work your way up to larger secure areas with him off leash.

When we were getting our JRT I read on a US website that they can never be totally trusted for recall as their prey drive is quite strong. I have to say though that my guy, when let off leash in areas I have some security over is pretty good. I still leash him though if I see anything I think might make him bolt.

Shhh

Hi there,

thanks to you all for your positive comments and advice.

We've been to the vet for a check up and the tyre mark!?! on his back appears to be the only side effect of the incident. He is a bit sore there and will probably be sore in the morning but I cannot believe he got off so lightly.

Retraining and PLENTY of treats are now planned.

Thanks again for the advice

Shhh..

Vince32

Thats a huge relief, I'm glad she is ok, good luck with the training

Shhh

I know.. I can't really understand it.. Just phewww!

tk123

Definitely get a long/field line, practice the recall at home and then take it outside. A light weight one will do for a JRT and wouldn't take up too much space or you can even make one out of rope if you want.
My guy was restricted to his lead for 12 weeks last year and when he was allowed off he'd forgotten he recall so we had to learn it all over again. A few sessions on the long line in the park and he really really improved. Our park allows them off the lead until 11 so I'd bring him to play and then when everyone left we'd practice the recall. Coming back to you should be a reward for him - a special toy he loves or treats if he prefers them and loads of praise. When you're at home call him to you and reward, when he's on the lead let him take up the slack of the lead and call him back and reward and when he's off the lead call him back every few mins and let him go again. We were thought at class to use a phrase rather than the dogs name so we say 'come here'. Another thing you could try is whistle recall - this takes a few weeks of conditioning but it's worth it - especially say at the beach where your voice mightn't carry over the wind.

One of the most important things is not to get annoyed if he doesn't come back first time - give loads of praise when he does and chalk it down to needing more practice.

Shhh

Did ten mins with him tonight.. He loves it and totally understands. Just need to keep it up and get it to work when there's other dogs around.

belongtojazz

I have a 3 year old Jack and she (and I ) is still learning new stuff every day

Jacks can be difficult to train as they are very into whatever they want to do
I have been doing training with my girl since she was a pup and she will still regularly sit and stare at me as if to say " ok I get what you want me to do but I really would much prefer to stay here thanks... What you gonna give me that's better than what I'm doing?"
I remember going to puppy school with her and watching class after class graduate up and us still left there

Find something she really loves, with my girl it's her frisbee and make that thing what she comes back for, keep lessons short as they get bored very quickly and make it lots of fun.

Best of luck and I'm so pleased there was no injuries

Qualitymark

Shhh wrote: »

Did ten mins with him tonight.. He loves it and totally understands. Just need to keep it up and get it to work when there's other dogs around.

If you want to train a behaviour in a dog and have it stick, you have to train it in lots of different places. To a dog, a behaviour learned in the kitchen won't translate easily to the same behaviour outdoors. So train it at home, then in the park, then on the seafront, and it'll stick.

That said, I'd always keep a dog on a leash near roads.

There's a great (and funny) book on training called Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor; she also has a new book called Reaching the Animal Mind. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Shoot-Dog-Teaching-Training/dp/1860542387/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1325748365&sr=8-4

littlebug

I have a runaway dog:). While recall (with food) is near perfect in the house and garden beyond that it gets harder. In the woods I can get away with leaving a long line trailing behind her with the end never far from my feet and little bag of chicken pieces in my hand but even so I've had to haul her back in a few times when her nose has got stuck on a scent. If there's water I can just forget it and I wouldn't dream of letting her off near traffic. So while I don't disagree with "you can teach an old dog new tricks" per se, sometimes you're fighting base instincts. In short... until you're confident in recall just know your dog and what/ where the weak spots are and don't take risks in those situations.
I do find the long line (10m) to be a good compromise.

Qualitymark

Absolutely agree that you should never let a dog off lead near traffic. You're endangering your dog, and also other people.

Apart from the danger to your dog, the person who taught me how to drive taught me to steer *towards* a running dog - in order to miss the pursuing child or adult usually following close behind.