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Evie

Evie

Experienced Member
Oh! Tigerlilly also metioned about how sensitive border collies are to being in trouble and oh my, it is so true. Evie, I'd like to say is positive only trained, but that's not 100% true because there are times where she has been yelled at (eg. she thought it'd perhaps be fun to nip at my horses heels) and oh my, she instantly becomes so submissive and you just get absolutely SMOTHERED in licks, the tail goes right down between her legs and she lowers her head. When my mum, who is not all that dog enthusiastic, comes to visit, Evie greets her with trillion of licks and kisses and mum used to tell her off and tell her to get down.... until she realised that telling evie off (Not yelling at her or anything, just saying in a not so happy voice to get down) resulted in more licks because super sensitive dog had to make sure she was back in the good books lol. But seriously, I can just look at Evie with grumpy face and she's already saying sorry. I can't imagine why anyone would EVER lay a finger on a border collie or any other dog for that matter. Border collies are so in tune with what's going on, I think that's why I like them so much :)
 
tigerlily46514

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
//"I TRIED to teach Evie calm behaviours around the bunny and failed miserably because if there was a bunny in sight she'd have to be 100% focused on the bunny and she would completely ignore the clicker and completely ignore the treats and toys and ... everything."//

disappointing that growing up with a bunny didn't help...but wow, do i totally understand a border collies ability to FOCUS 3000% on something, oh do i know just what you mean!!:ROFLMAO:


yes, teaching a dog to be calm, does take some practice, i think. It can be done, though, it can be done. I'm just pointing this out---that getting a dog calm by bunnies CAN be done using only clicker and treats-------- cuz i don't want Collie23 to think leash-popping must be the way to go with this.
I have got my dog calm by bunnies using only a clicker and treats------no yanking the dog around, no scaring the dog, no force at all.



Thing is, yanking a dog's neck, only prevents a dog from chasing bunnies when you are right there, to stop him. He is not learning what you DO want him to do, instead......BUT rewarding calmness does teach him what you DO want him to do.


but teaching calmness with clicker and treats, can be done---
see reply #101 on page 6 of this thread: http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/tips-for-dogs-that-chase-prey.4492/

I have done this with wild bunnies on walks,:D and i still think (i could be wrong) that if i did have regular access to bunnies, in a closed area like dog whisperer had, that i could make even further progress with Buddy....or, maybe i am just dreaming!! lol.

I can get my dog to lie calmly and watch bunnies on leash, but, my dog KNOWS when he is on leash:rolleyes: ....i'd love the chance to be able to advance along to trying having him calm by bunnies when he is OFF leash, in a closed area with lots of bunnies, like dog whisperer had when he yanked the dog's neck around...................but, i don't have that chance.


and last night, Buddy did lunge at a bunny on a walk, (first time in eons...)
but, in his defense, the bunny darted out unexpectedly in the dark, it was just too much for Buddy......he just reflexively tried to chase it, til he remembered he IS onleash:rolleyes: ..........

.........actually, the unxpected 'something' bouncing by us in the dark kind of startled me too!:ROFLMAO:

and then, when we got home, Buddy sat outside for a few moments in his own yard
and wa-la! The now familiar noise of "bunny screeeeeams" :cautious: from the back yard, and there is Buddy running to me to drop his kill at my feet...

*sigh*
 
Evie

Evie

Experienced Member
I think that's the difference as to why buddy wont recall when bunny chasing and Evie will; Evie doesn't chase to kill, she chases to 'round them up'. She has no interest in hurting the bunnies where as Buddy does, which is where Buddy gets his super duper big reward from (as far as he's concerned).
 
tigerlily46514

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
Evie i bet you are right, i bet you are....i wonder if the reason Evie does not see bunnies as prey to be slaughtered, is cuz she grew around bunnies?
 
Evie

Evie

Experienced Member
tigerlily46514 said:
//"I TRIED to teach Evie calm behaviours around the bunny and failed miserably because if there was a bunny in sight she'd have to be 100% focused on the bunny and she would completely ignore the clicker and completely ignore the treats and toys and ... everything."//

disappointing that growing up with a bunny didn't help...but wow, do i totally understand a border collies ability to FOCUS 3000% on something, oh do i know just what you mean!!:ROFLMAO:


yes, teaching a dog to be calm, does take some practice, i think. It can be done, though, it can be done. I'm just pointing this out---that getting a dog calm by bunnies CAN be done using only clicker and treats-------- cuz i don't want Collie23 to think leash-popping must be the way to go with this.
I have got my dog calm by bunnies using only a clicker and treats------no yanking the dog around, no scaring the dog, no force at all.



Thing is, yanking a dog's neck, only prevents a dog from chasing bunnies when you are right there, to stop him. He is not learning what you DO want him to do, instead......BUT rewarding calmness does teach him what you DO want him to do.


but teaching calmness with clicker and treats, can be done---
see reply #101 on page 6 of this thread: http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/tips-for-dogs-that-chase-prey.4492/

I have done this with wild bunnies on walks,:D and i still think (i could be wrong) that if i did have regular access to bunnies, in a closed area like dog whisperer had, that i could make even further progress with Buddy....or, maybe i am just dreaming!! lol.

I can get my dog to lie calmly and watch bunnies on leash, but, my dog KNOWS when he is on leash:rolleyes: ....i'd love the chance to be able to advance along to trying having him calm by bunnies when he is OFF leash, in a closed area with lots of bunnies, like dog whisperer had when he yanked the dog's neck around...................but, i don't have that chance.


and last night, Buddy did lunge at a bunny on a walk, (first time in eons...)
but, in his defense, the bunny darted out unexpectedly in the dark, it was just too much for Buddy......he just reflexively tried to chase it, til he remembered he IS onleash:rolleyes: ..........

.........actually, the unxpected 'something' bouncing by us in the dark kind of startled me too!:ROFLMAO:

and then, when we got home, Buddy sat outside for a few moments in his own yard
and wa-la! The now familiar noise of "bunny screeeeeams" :cautious: from the back yard, and there is Buddy running to me to drop his kill at my feet...

*sigh*
Click to expand...
Lol Buddy needs to come visit us for a while. We have the most dog friendly rabbit around. It's so used to being stalked and chased that it doesnt even react anymore :p

Think I posted on here a while back a video or pictures of Evie quivering around the bunny because I had the bunny on a harness OUT of it's cage with Evie. He didn't care that Evie was using every last bit of self control not to pounce on him. He was busy eating. He didn't even seem to care too much when Evie DID put a paw on him (he went back to eating the moment she removed it)

Lol yeah, here it is. Poor bunny. Considering he's not the most people friendly bunny, he did well. To be honest, I think me picking him up out of the cage and putting the harness on him stressed him out more than Evie did lol.


So yes, moral of the story is, growing up with small speedy creatures which look like fun to chase will help their self control in chasing wild ones later in life if exposed to them early and under the right circumstances (with training).
 
tigerlily46514

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
rofl, yeah, Evie's playing with, or checking out the bunny,
looks NOTHING like what my Captain Bunnykiller acts like, nope....
That was actually adorable!

Eviemom, you did something right raising Evie, that Evie does NOT act at all like my Buddy around bunnies, wish i had done what you had done....

*sigh*

.........he killed another one last night.O_o
 
bekah1001

bekah1001

Honored Member
Wow long read!!! :) First thing: welcome!!! Tigerlily I know that feeling of the bunny problem. Brody goes nuts over squirrels. This is exactly what Brody is like when he sees a squirrel from a distance or if you say the word squirrel :
Brody nearly ripped my arm off when a squirrel ran buy us on a walk one time. It is mostly my fault why he is bad around squirrels...I let him chase them when he was a puppy. He was just too cute.I regret ever doing that. Now he is our squirrel control. He never caught one yet. I dont know how I'd react to that.
 
tigerlily46514

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
//"I dont know how I'd react to that."//

Well, don't scold a dog who brings you his dead creatures,
or dog might just hide them instead. I just silently take all kills, and throw them away. Actually, i tell Buddy "drop it" and then bring Buddy indoors,
and i go out alone to get dead bunny. It took a while for buddy to learn to drop the dead bunnies, but, now he often drops them prior to us even asking him to drop the dead bunny.
I did not praise Buddy dropping the dead bunnies much, just an occasional "good drop-it" when he finally learned to put the bunny down again.

Then we drop the dead bunnies off in the woods down the street, so our trash doesn't blow up from stench.

 
tigerlily46514

tigerlily46514

Honored Member
not sure if i've linked this already,
but below is thread for those of us working on dogs who chase prey.
http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/members/forums/threads/tips-for-dogs-that-chase-prey.4492/page-7#post-44749

Only reason i do NOT want Buddy killing bunnies
is
cuz i think THAT activity is going against allllllllll my efforts to regain
my ability to recall my dog back to me when he is chasing prey. I USED TO be able to call Buddy back from chasing prey,
but, i messed that up,:oops:
and now, i can NOT call my dog off of prey anymore.
ANY OTHER TIME, i can call my dog to me,:D
even from far away,
even if other dogs are around,
even amidst distractions,
only time i can NOT call my dog to me, is if he is chasing prey...:(
 
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