# Fixing owner created problems



## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Yes I've made some mistakes. My dog's performance issues are created by me and not by anything my dog did. It's strictly my fault. Now the hard part is fixing them. Anyone else out there made a mistake training and now you have to FIX your problem? At Sunday's hunt test I saw some dogs make mistakes. All owner induced. So after the test, several people said they were going to take their dogs home and have a long talk with them about their mistakes. I'm not sure exactly what they meant, but my response was, I'm going to review MY mistakes and figure out what I need to do to get my dog trained better. 

Lucy's problems are:
1. pulls on the leash too much. She responds well in a pinch (prong) collar, but not on a slip leash at events. She is too excited and I have let her be wild for too long. Her FF is coming along nicely now, which I hope will deal with some of this issue.
2. will not re-call as well as she should. I've not worked as hard with her on re-call as I should have when she was a pup and now she's visiting the gunner stations on the way back to see what they are doing. She always comes back, but on her terms, not mine.

Reilly's problems are:
1. holds the bird too firmly and it's difficult to get out of his mouth.

Anybody else have owner created problems they would like to get past?


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

Alaska, don't beat yourself up. I am of the opinion that half the dog problems are owner induced and the other half may have been there but were made worse by the owner.

Yes, I have made mistakes and created problems. One of the reasons that I keep notes is so I can look at what I did at a later time and plan how to overcome the problem.


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## sterregold (Dec 9, 2009)

Hell yes! And with your first dog you make so many mistakes because your timing is not as good, you do not know how to read a dog as well, etc etc. 

For the longest time I though I would never get Winter to sit to a whistle. A large part of it was the upland hunting we had done, where he got to go out and work the birds on his own. But the other part of it was not reading him well enough to know what his pressure limits were so he was really not properly collar conditioned at an appropriate level (he was working me and pulling a lot of avoidance crap!) I finally went to a pro for a week of day-training and we redid his collar conditioning, and by the end of a week he was sitting to the whistle. Turns out he was tougher than I thought he was, and the corrections I was giving were nagging. We had been stalled at JH and WCI for two years. Once this issue was fixed we spent a year doing work to build his confidence on blinds, and the year after that he got his CKC WCX (which has blinds) and then his AKC and CKC SH's as well. While he could do the marking, the residual baggage is that his water blinds will never be strong enough for MH. Had I trained him properly in the first place, he would have been able to do MH work. That is where Evan's advice about not getting into a hurry to run those entry level tests comes into play, and instead train to the level above before you run. It is so easy for a dog to get into trouble at a test and build bad habits that will come back to haunt you later.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

I rarely venture into this section, but I saw your post and had to read it. It gave me a new perspective on the things Max and I are working on - things that are entirely my fault. So you've got me thinking, too - what am I doing that I should change? We are working with a trainer, but I think you've given me some motivation here to expect more of myself. 
Thank you


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Alaska7133 said:


> Lucy's problems are:
> 1. pulls on the leash too much. She responds well in a pinch (prong) collar, but not on a slip leash at events. She is too excited and I have let her be wild for too long. Her FF is coming along nicely now, which I hope will deal with some of this issue.


More heeling drills. In the yard and in the field. In the yard her off leash heeling needs to be ****** near perfect because the precision will drop off in a test environment. Set out some buckets or traffic cones and start doing some heeling patterns. 

This is a big deal and it will translate to dramatically improved overall obedience when she finally connects with you and "gets it".



Alaska7133 said:


> 2. will not re-call as well as she should. I've not worked as hard with her on re-call as I should have when she was a pup and now she's visiting the gunner stations on the way back to see what they are doing. She always comes back, but on her terms, not mine.


Another obedience issue. Go back and revisit the long line and pinch collar to ensure that she really understands what "Here" means. Then work on some basic obedience drills in the yard that focus on Sit, Here and Heel. Remember that these have to be nearly perfect in the yard before you attempt to take it to the field. 



Alaska7133 said:


> Reilly's problems are:
> 1. holds the bird too firmly and it's difficult to get out of his mouth.


FF will help deal with this problem. It is part of the process with which to teach proper mouth habits. If you haven't taught them what is expected, it's pretty hard to get after them for not doing it right.


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

I have used Rose's heat house arrest period to work on the heeling. On-leash walks I do not make her heel for long periods/distances. I just work it gradually up. Off-leash we only practice towards and after field training in the back yard and play time outside. Each time she is rewarded - either play or get to retrieve the bumpers or a veggie snack when we get back in the house. 
Do not beat yourself up - it takes time and time and time and practice!


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

WOW what a great post! I too always have had problems with my Golden's that were my fault, both handling mistakes and training mistakes. Sometimes I knew it was my problem when it happened, sometimes someone had to tell me...people at hunt tests are great about this if you seek feedback from them. Things I recall doing poorly, over-handling on a blind, calling for the bird when my dog was being distracted by a wounded bird in the rack behind us, not working my dog on his habit of stopping short, before I tried him at a hunt test....etc. etc. etc. In each case my goal has been to not make the same mistake again! We all have been their and done that..


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