# lurcher behavour help



## Lurcher Lover (Oct 19, 2011)

hello there. My first post. Im writing about a few things my 6month old lurcher does, and a few probs i am having with her. First off all, it seems she is very much in love with me (which i secretly adore), when im in the house she will be by my side constant, i cant do housework without her following me crying, i cant sit on my sofa without her lay right up agenst me, same with in bed through the night, everywhere i go she follows. I do on an evening tell her to get down of the sofa, but then instead of going to the other sofa or hr bed or crate (introduced a few days ago) she just lies on the floor staring at me constantly. When i say in you box (crate) she will go strate in but i think only becasue she noes she gets a treat and then after 15mins of lying in there staring at me she comes out and jumps back on sofa with me. It never used to be like this, i have a son and a partner and 2 cats and even tho she still saw me as the main person in her life she would still be happy to go and get a cuddle of them and sleep by them. But past couple of weeks she is just all me. Same problem when i go out anywhere, i only leave her for a max of 3 hours a day, but am hoping soon to go back into work. I have had complaints from my landlord who lives next door to me  all she does the whole time im out is howle  loudly  and cry loudly  I shut the curtains so people outside dont make her worse, i tried leaving the telly on and i leave tretas (which she dont touch till im back) and toys everywhere. I dont make a fuss of her before i leave. She has the run of the house when im out, so i tried putting her in the crate and she was just as bad. I have recorded her and i must say it is sooooo over the top the way she acts. But im upset becasue i dont like to see her like that and plus it will coe to the point where i cant ever go out  i give her loads of love and attention, which i hae tried to cut down on but then i think well maybe its becasue she dont get enough and she is craving it. But then saying that, when we are out on walks she dont listen to me one bit. If we are on out own she will listen to me and follow where i go untill its time to go home and then she keeps running away from me as if she dont want to cum back with me. And if there are other people or dogs about. She follows them for miles, out of sight, not listening to me as if she wants to go with them. And when i finally catch up with her she runs away and then keep running back to them. So i dont no what to think. And have been in tears on walks so many times becasue of it, and getting so stressed cuz all i want to do is get my dog and go home, and people talk oh look i wounder what she does to that puppy when at home cuz it dont want to go with her  All lurchers i have met have been calm, quiet and just walking or standing next to th owner, wit no lead and no problem. My girl, runs away, runs riot, gets me stressed, pulls terribly on the lead, and my god if i tried to keep her standing for one min she crys and crys and crys. Anyone have lurcher experience, or training experience, that could give me some advice ???


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## smokeybear (Oct 19, 2011)

If you cannot separate the dog from you when you are PRESENT why do you expect her to separate herself from you when you are ABSENT?

The dog has become overattached to you and you have encouraged it by allowing her to be next to you all the time and being the centre of your world.

It is a common mistake. Dogs have to be TAUGHT to be alone.

You need to stop her following you around and becoming over dependent.

This will also be a factor (not the entire factor) of why your dog runs off.

Have you actually TAUGHT her a recall or are you just "expecting" her to "behave"?

Here a few links to help you with your problems.

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/teachingyourdogtostayhomealone.pdf

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/separationanxiety.pdf

http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/loose_leash_diagramed.doc
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/letsgoforawalktogether.pdf
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/strolling_on_lead.doc
Learning About Dogs - Walk Together, Learn Together DVD
http://www.deesdogs.com/documents/walkingyourdogwithheadhalter.pdf

How to Teach Loose-Leash Walking | Karen Pryor Clickertraining

Look under loose leash walking here:

ClickerSolutions Training Articles Contents

*Why cant I get a reliable recall*?

Come is no harder to train than any other behaviour but in real life it has a huge number of criteria that have to be raised one at a time in order to guarantee success.

Often when puppies are brought home to their new owners this is the first time they have ever been separated from their dam and siblings and so they naturally attach themselves to their new family by following them about everywhere. Owners find this quite attractive and wrongly assume that this trait will continue into adolescence/adulthood, whatever the circumstances. A dangerous trap to fall into

At some point in time, usually from around 6  10 months, depending on the individual, Velcro dog will morph into Bog off dog (this is especially true of a breed that has been developed to exhibit a high degree of initiative). This is the time when owners suddenly realize that their dog will not recall when it sees another dog/person etc. Not only is this inconvenient but potentially dangerous as the dog could be at risk of injury from a car/train/another dog etc.

*How and when do I start with a puppy?*

My advice is to prepare for this inevitability from the day you take your puppy home. If you are lucky the breeder will have started this process whilst still in the nest by conditioning the puppies to a whistle blown immediately before putting the food bowl down during weaning.

Dogs learn by cause and effect ie sound of whistle = food. If you, the new owner, continue this from the moment your puppy arrives you will lay down strong foundations for the future. 
By using the whistle in association with meals/food you need to establish the following criteria:
	Come from across the room. 
	Come from out of sight 
	Come no matter who calls
	Come even if you are busy doing something else
 Come even if you are asleep. 
	Come even if you are playing with something/someone else
	Come even if you are eating

Once this goal has been realized in the house, drop all the criteria to zero and establish the same measures, one at a time, in the garden.

Once this goal has been realized in the garden, drop all the criteria to zero and establish the same measures, one at a time, in the park/field etc.

To train this, or any other behaviour:

1.	Make it easy for the dog to get it right
2.	Provide sufficient reward

Do not expect a dog to come away from distractions in the park until you have trained it to come to you in the park when no diversions are around. Be realistic and manage your expectations; your sphere of influence/control over your dog may be only 20m to begin with, therefore do not hazard a guess that the dog, at this level of training, will successfully recall from 50m or more away. Distance, like every other criterion, must be built up over time.

Some simple rules to follow when training the recall:

	Whistle/signal/call only once (why train the dog to deliberately ignore your first command?)
	Do not reinforce slow responses for the dog coming eventually after it has cocked its leg, sniffed the tree etc (you get what you train!)
	If you know that the dog will not come back to you in a certain situation, go and get him rather than risk teaching him that he can ignore you. (If you have followed the programme correctly you will never put your dog in a position to fail).
	Practise recalling the dog, putting him on the lead for a few seconds, reinforce with food/toy etc and immediately release the dog. Do this several times during a walk etc so that the dog does not associate a recall with going on the lead and ending the walk or being put on the lead with the cessation of fun.
	Eventually, when the behaviour is very strong, alternate rewards ie verbal praise, physical praise, food, toy and also vary the value of the rewards, sometimes a plain piece of biscuit, sometimes a piece of cooked liver etc so that you become a walking slot machine (and we all know how addictive gambling can be)!

In my experience recall training should be consistent and relentless for the first two years of a dogs life before it can be considered truly dependable. You should look on it as a series of incremental steps, rather than a single simple behaviour, and something that will require lifelong maintenance.

*What about an older or rescue dog?*
Follow the same programme as outlined above however for recalcitrant dogs that have received little or no training, I would recommend dispensing with the food bowl and feeding a dog only during recalls to establish a strong behaviour quickly.

Your training should be over several sessions a day, which means you can avoid the risk of bloat. It is essential that the dog learns that there will be consequences for failure as well as success.

Divide the days food ration up into small bags (between10  30), if the dog recalls first time, it gets food, if it does not, you can make a big show of saying too bad and disposing of that portion of food (either throw it away or put aside for the next day).

Again, raise the criteria slowly as outlined in puppy training.

Hunger is very motivating!

For those of you who believe it unfair/unhealthy to deprive a dog of its full daily ration, not having a reliable recall is potentially life threatening for the dog 

*How do I stop my dog chasing joggers/cyclists/skateboarders/rabbits/deer?*
Chasing something that is moving is a management issue. Do not put your dog in a position where it can make a mistake. Again you need to start training from a pup but if you have already allowed your dog to learn and practise this behaviour you may need to rely on a trailing line until your dog is desensitised to these distractions and knows that listening to you results in a great reinforcement. Chasing is a behaviour much better never learned as it is naturally reinforcing to the dog, which makes it hard for you to offer a better reinforcement. If you want to have a bombproof recall while your dog is running away from you then use the following approach:

Your goal is to train so that your dog is totally used to running away from you at top speed, and then turning on a sixpence to run toward you when you give the recall cue.

You need to set up the training situation so that you have total control over the triggers. For this you will need to gain the co-operation of a helper. If you have a toy crazy dog you can practice this exercise by throwing a toy away from the dog towards someone standing 30 or 40 feet away. At the instant the toy is thrown, recall your dog! If the dog turns toward you, back up several steps quickly, creating even more distance between the you and the toy and then throw another toy in the opposite direction (same value as one thrown)..

If the dog ignores you and continues toward the thrown object, your helper simply picks the ball up and ignores dog. When dog eventually returns (which it will because its getting no reinforcement from anyone or anything), praise only. Pretty soon the dog will start to respond to a recall off a thrown toy. You will need to mix in occasions the toy is thrown and the dog is allowed to get it ie you do NOT recall if you want to make sure it does not lose enthusiasm for retrieving.

For the food obsessed dog, you can get your helper to wave a food bowl with something the dog loves in it and then recall the dog as soon as you let it go to run towards the food; again if the dog ignores you and continues to the food, your helper simply ensures the dog cannot access the food and start again. (It is extremely important that the helper does not use your dogs name to call it for obvious reasons).

Gradually increase the difficulty of the recall by letting the dog get closer and closer to the toy/food. Praise the moment the dog turns away from the toy/food in the 
early stages of training. Don't wait until the dog returns to you; the dog must have instant feedback.

Once the dog is fluent at switching directions in the middle of a chase, try setting up the situation so that it is more like real life. Have someone ride a bike/run/skate past. (It is unrealistic to factor in deer/rabbits however if your training is thorough the dog will eventually be conditioned to return to you whatever the temptation in most contexts).

Until your training gets to this level, don't let the dog off-lead in a situation in which you don't have control over the chase triggers. Don't set the dog up to fail, and don't allow it to rehearse the problem behaviour. Remember, every time a dog is able to practise an undesirable behaviour it will get better at it!

Most people do not play with toys correctly and therefore the dog is not interested in them or, if it gets them, fails to bring it back to the owner.

Play the two ball game, once you have a dog ball crazy. Have two balls the same, throw one to the left, when the dog gets it, call him like crazy waving the next ball; as he comes back throw the other ball to the right and keep going left right so that YOU are the centre of the game and the dog gets conditioned to return to you for the toy. Once this behaviour is established you can then introduce the cues for out and then make control part of the game ie the game is contingent on the dog sitting and then progress to a sequence of behaviours.

HTH


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## AmberNero (Jun 6, 2010)

well, wow, the above post has an awful lot of info there! Not sure what to add! Instead of using the daily food amount rationed into parts as a reward, you could use high value treats- liver or chicken, which she would not otherwise have.

Not all lurchers are well behaved! My girl has been a terror and still has her moments.

You might find getting a 1-1 training session will help?

DAP diffusers are a godsend!

Be firm about only letting her on the sofa when invited, or not at all. If she whines or badgers you for attention ignore her or the behaviour is being 'fed'. Build up slowly to leaving her alone. start with her not being next to you all day, aim first that she does not follow you from room to room- and go on from there.

You could try leaving her in your bedroom when you go out? Mine are much happier in there 

and DON'T give up  xxx


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## Lurcher Lover (Oct 19, 2011)

hi, thank you for all your replys. I an new to all this, i have never had a pup before or even a lurcher, i had a bordie collie dog previously and she was the same, she loved me and followed me everywhere, but at the same time was no problem left on her own and never left me side on a walk. So all this is so new to me, and ov not doing a very good job . All the info given to me as been very interesting and usefull, im on my way to the local pet shot soon to get a doggy whistle. the only thing is when younger i tought her recal, drop it, leave, sit and other tricks from paw to beg to limp (so she is clever) but then all got put on hold when she seemed to not want to work for treats anymore, even chicken. When out she will come for chicken or something just as tasty (not a doggy treat) but will not be remotly interested in anything i have on offer when another dog or person is around, she wont even aknowledge i have anything. And in the house after 3mins or trying to train with her she just walks of and goes to lie down (on MY sofa). and i do vary the treats so she dont no what she will get. The same with toys when out in the field. She will play with a toy when thrown but wont necessary come to me for a play. And the same if there are others around she wont ecen bat an eye lid at what i have to offer. And the same with when she noes we are leaving eg walking back upto the exit/entrance, she likes to run through there and into the alley and wont let me put the lead on, i have to walk back into the field to make her think we are going back for another walk so she comes running back else she will keep running through alley till she on path, and thatis scarry. So now I have to trick her and throw her a ball or still when near the exit so she runs to get that so i get to the exit first and so she has to run past me to go through and so i get her on the lead. But now she trys to trick me and every so often she will run to the exit and stand there for abit, i presume so i cant get there first. I just dont no what to do. Like i said she noes when its home time and so wont come to me no matter what i ave to offer. Also when i do get her on lead, when she has not willingly come to me or has took a while to, how should i react, should i praise her, should i ignore that i have got her on lead ???? Just dont no what to do.


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