I currently have two GSP's.  The older one is only 17 months old and the new one is barely 4 months old.  Kerney, the older one, does not listen when I call her.  She either just runs faster the other way or stops looks at me and then continues to run.  I know that they are bred to hunt and I know that they like to wonder.  However, I know it is not safe for her to roam around everywhere.  She is spayed and she does know several commands, including here!  She gets regular excercise and still feels the need to do this.  My new puppy, Bailey, is the opposite.  She stays right around where I am.  Kerney has always wondered a little and her not listening has just gotten worse and worse.  I have tried several different things with her to help her understand that when she is called she should come back then not at her convience.  I am considering finding her a new home that maybe has a fenced in back yard.  I take her to my cousins with 40 acres to run on or my boyfriends with 7 acres.  The 40 acres isn't so bad because no close roads or neighbors.  I also take her running with me.  So I know she doesn't do this out of lack of excercise.  Anyway, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

It sounds like she needs to get a reminder of who the boss is & that she must come when called. You should get a check cord (15' to 30' leash) & evey time you take her outside have her on it with a pocket full of treats. Let her go to the end of it & call her back ONE time. Dogs learn to count so if you keep calling & calling without pulling her in she will start thinking she can wait till you've called several times before coming. If she doesn't come to you, start reeling her in, saying come as you pull her towards you. Reward her when she gets to you. Do this every day for a week or 2 & she'll get it. You can also keep her on a leash in the house & do the same thing. If she doesn't come to you when you call her grab the end of the leash & tell her come & start reeling her in. ALWAYS reward her when she gets to you even if you had to pull her in. NEVER chase her because it becomes a game. Also, NEVER punish her when you have called her. I hope this helps.

Dottie J

Dottie's right on with this one. Hard headed dogs may have to be trained with a shock collar, but I've only had to resort to this once.

I've never had to use a shock color & from what I've heard you really better know what you're doing with those before you just start using 1 or you can damage your baby. It doesn't sound to me like she needs a shock color, but does need consist reminding of who is top dog in the house.

It's true that an e- collar is a sophisticated training tool, but it's not rocket science and using one beats a dog running away or getting hit by a car by a long shot IMO. If you can't get her consistant enough w/ a check cord et al I'd say either quit turning her loose or get a pro to help you with the e- collar.

First let me say that it sounds like know your dog, and dogs in general and what's going on with her. The only person that can really say what the best thing to do for your dog is you.

Since she's already is wise to the fact of when the C.C. is on or off changes things. If it were me, I'd buy or borrow an e-collar. Like MegC said it isn't very complex, and can get your dog to come no matter what, perhaps saving there life as with passing traffic or even in a hunting situation where fast moving water is a danger or a predator is involved. Some of the stories of the guys that have had their lab eaten by an alligator while chasing a wounded duck are horrific. Or in such a case that was in Gun Dog this last month "Ruger and the Cougar". The E-collar isn't as harsh as what some people think, and like I said I've only had to use it on one dog to teach 100% recall. This was a very high energy dog that had spent most of it's life in a crate with no training whatsoever. If you gave him the option of a treat and a scratch behind the ear (positive reward method, good for a lot of dogs) for listening or to sprint through an open field, you guessed it, if he got daylight in a field he was gone.

It's not like you're strapping them up and laying down all the juice you can, just to punish them. Punishment is not what the e-collar is about, like a lot of people believe.The lowest settings are so low the dog may not even feel them. I can turn mine up to 3 in my hand and not even flinch, and a dog is more tough than any person. All the e-collars come with instructions on how to properly use them, and if you can read or watch the video they are just about fool proof. Once the dog knows what to do, or what the command is, use the lowest setting the dog can feel. She might only flick an ear or look around for a non-existent fly. Issue the command and apply the stimulation and when they obey, stop the stimulation.

For a lot of dogs the e-collar is much more humane than yelling and using a harsh or dominant attitude and tone of voice that some use to get them to obey. For a dog with a soft emotional state this only scares them, destroys their confidence, and stresses the bond they have with the owner/handler. If they are taught that they can turn off the stim. themselves by listening it makes things go a lot faster and less difficult.

Regardless of what you hear a dog is not your Baby and treating one or trying to train one like a human is not the best approach. Any trainer will tell you the same, dogs may be in tune with us and be able to read our emotions but are not human and don't learn like we do. I'm going to stress that I don't want to start a fight b/c a lot of the the people here don't agree with any of what I said. I'm just saying what worked well and quickly in a similar situation for me. I took a completely out of control dog and in just a few sessions taught him that the human is the one running the show.

I'd second this observation, although it seems to be rarely mentioned publically. My sister and I both happened to own soft/stubborn dogs at about the same time that were quick to mend their ways and move along quite happily if calm, immediate physical correction was applied, but went into total shutdown mode- sometimes for an entire day- if raised voices or other negative emotional reactions were involved.

the way I do it is I click on the little icon on the task bar above reply box with the mountain and sun (to the right of the achor) and an image box will pop up. You will need to have your pictures uploaded to the internet somewhere first, right click on the image you wish to post here and click copy image location, then paste the url/link into URL spot in the image box from Shorthairs.net. A preview of the image will then appear in the box and you can resize it to your liking. Hope this helps I am not very good at explaining things. If you still have trouble just ask....I didn't figure it out for the longest time!!