Don't Be Complacent

It's ever so easy to just assume that once we've taught our dogs something we can just sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge that that particular lesson is completely 'done and dusted'.

But it's not quite as straightforward as that. Dogs need little reminders occasionally and it's a good idea to put them through a refresher course every now and then.

Last month I told you about how I'd been a bit complacent about Tufter's heelwork and as a result his standards were beginning to slip. Well, another example's just reared its head with him.

He's now very nearly 14 months old, and is turning into an extremely energetic adolescent with a pretty strong wilful streak. He's not a bad or aggressive dog, he's just quite strong willed and likes to do his own thing (which usually involves some sort of mischief!) - basically he's just a typical rebellious teenager.

As I've often told you, I live in a very rural area and am surrounded by fields, many of which have cattle in them. One particular walk I frequently go on starts out by going 100 yards up the lane then turning into a small field of about 4 or 5 acres. A footpath leads diagonally across this field, over a stile and into a much bigger field where the footpath splits and you have a choice as to which path to follow.

The small 4 or 5 acre field often has young heifers in it and the bigger field beyond usually has horses in it.

I always used to religiously insist with all my dogs that they didn't leave the field we were in until I said they could. In practice this meant they'd wait at the stile or gate for me to catch up with them, at which point I'd tell them they could go on.

But recently I've become a lot less strict about this and have tended to let them run on if they want to. (Provided it's only into another field. I never let them go through a gate or stile leading onto a road - however small and quet - until I've climbed out onto the road first and checked that it's safe.)

However, I'm having to completely reassess the amount of freedom I give Tufter. You see a couple of weeks ago he ran across the small field and into the next while I was still at least 100 yards behind.

I didn't think anything of it.

But by the time I got closer I realised something was amiss. I could hear him barking and the drumming sound of hooves on hard earth. By the time I'd negotiated the stile I was horrified to see he was chasing the horses.

Not in a malicious way, but in - to him - a playful way. He'd bounce over to them, tail waving and barking in the beseeching way one dog says "play with me" to another.

The horses would flare up and do a mini gallop for 40 or 50 yards then stop as soon as they realised they weren't being pursued. All the while they were running Tufter was just standing there watching, tail waving and tongue lolling happily. Then as soon as the horses came to a standstill he'd do it again.

I gave him an almighty telling off. As far as he was concerned he was just having a big game. But the horses certainly didn't see it that way and neither, I'm sure, would their owner. Although no harm had been done it could easily have been a different story. Horses can be flighty fools and it's quite conceivable one of them could have panicked and run into a barbed wire fence or worse.

Tufter had been through that field loads of times and over the course of time has seen more horses than you could count. At no time in the past has he ever shown anything other than complete and utter disregard for them. So what on earth made him behave differently on this occasion?

I honestly don't know for sure, but knowing him as I do, and in light of what happened last night, my guess is it was nothing other than his rebellious teenager streak saying "what the hell!"

Last night we were headed in the same direction. In the far corner of the first field, just before the stile leading through to the horses' field, a bunch of young heifers were lying peacefully chewing the cud.

Tufter raced at them in the same way he had at the horses a couple of weeks ago. But this time he got a major reaction. They panicked badly, leaping to their feet and scattering in all directions, tails held aloft in panic. From Tufter's reaction I could see he was absolutely delighted with this - this was *great* fun and he was just about to charge at them again when he was caught offguard by my own charge directed at him!

As with the horses, I came down on him like a ton of bricks. That sort of behaviour is *totally* unacceptable. I live in a small agricultural community and understand fully the importance of livestock to the livelihoods of my farming neighbours. Whether he likes it or not, Tufter simply has to understand that livestock are not there for his personal entertainment.

You may remember I described a similar incident with sheep some months back. But these two latest incidents have taken me completely by surprise. Just as with the horses, he's been used to cattle right from the moment I got him. I honestly don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that he sees cattle every single day, and he's never shown any inclination to chase them before.

But rebellious teenagers can take you by surprise. I'd become completely complacent about the fact he was totally steady with cattle and horses. And my complacency reared up out of nowhere to bite me on the nose.

I'm not afraid to tell you of these trials and tribulations - it's all part of training a dog. You have to face up to problems in order to overcome them. Unless you live in a rural area like me you won't have to deal with the same set of problems, but wherever you live, I can guarantee you'll have to face up to problems of some description when training your dog. And remember, especially with exuberant youngsters like Tufter, they can catch you unawares if you get complacent.

So once in a while make a conscious effort to have a refresher course where you recap ground you've already covered. Don't let the dog start to slip - make sure you immediately correct any misdemeanours so you reaffirm in the dogs mind exactly where the boundaries are.

Recommended reading "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".

If you'd like to receive articles like this on a regular basis sign up for my free Dog Training Blueprint email newsletter which goes out once every month. Sign up now and I'll send you a free copy of "Top Ten Tips For Having An Obedient Dog". To join the list just fill in your name and email address and click the 'Send me the tips' button -

(If you prefer not to subscribe until you know a bit more about what sort of dog training advice you're likely to receive, you're welcome to read a typical selection of comments from other subscribers first.) This is what other readers of the Dog Training Blueprint email newsletter have to say about it. Also read through some of my other dog training articles.

Return to the main article index
Read what you'll learn from "Dog Training Blueprint To Success"

Webmasters - If you have your own dog training site, you are welcome to reproduce this article provided you reproduce it in full, without editing it in any way. Furthermore, at the end of it you must also agree to put the following resource box (without the speech marks) with an active, working link back to this site. If you are not prepared to do this you may not reproduce any of my work. Here is the wording you must use -

"This article is the copyright of Andrew Chastney, author of Dog Training Blueprint to Success. To read more of his articles and get a free copy of 'Top Ten Tips For Having An Obedient Dog' go to www.dogtrainingblueprint.com"

The section to hyperlink back is www.dogtrainingblueprint.com as I've done in the example here. In case you are not sure how to do this, simply copy the following -

(a href="http://www.dogtrainingblueprint.com")www.dogtrainingblueprint.com(/a)

and replace the brackets with the 'triangular brackets' that are used to open and close html tags.