This dog has been sent to try me I tell you!

OK Bugsy (presumed oversized GSP mix) has been doing well in the field work and for a while I thought good gracious we have finally found an outlet for his drive that allows us to let him do his thing which has made it easier to get him to do 'our' thing.

BUT as with everything with him, he loves doing it but is bored with 'wings' so getting worse at the field work and becoming more independent again.

On top of that he is also becoming a nightmare to walk again as he is hunting/tracking/ and oblivious to the leash again.

So I am looking for some suggestions to:

a) make the field work more interesting again (he has taken to hunting moles and rabbits in the process of finding his 'wings'

I am working at finding a source for live birds but admit that my budget is limited. I can't take him to hunting preserves once a week at $100 a pop and can't raise birds  in my yard (against HOA rules). I have contacted our local NAVHDA several times and they haven't responded. their website is dated and I wonder if its an active chapter.

b) I need ideas to figure out how to keep field work and basic walking/running separate in his head. I really can't have him hunting as if there is no leash daily.

Our neighborhood is rife with wildlife and there is little that he isn't interested in and much that he is intense about.

He is e-collar trained but when he gets hopped up and can ignore very significant shocks

thanks for listening

Take a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDwmvYhQW9E&list=PLCA264CD97E7CE793&index=5&feature=plpp_video

It is of a young,exuberant dog peforming single T.

You can begin with distances of 10 feet and expand to 200 feet and you can graduate to the TT.

This is a great exercise for solidifying obedience.

I've been following the thread - Lots of good stuff, and LONG POSTS! I know how you feel kpwlee! Sadie has started to pick up the same type of behavior in her daily obedience. Currently, it is a little like a "whatever..." attitude about things - particularly retrieving. Seems she is more interested in shaddows than picking up the dummy - even looses it on occasion (no-surprise, I lose it too). If she "wanders" too far, I recall her, and send her again - eventually she gets the point and brings it back. It is challenging for me to raise the bar in suburbia beyond where we currently are. We did start some "blind" retrieves - meaning I have her sit behind a car illegally parked over the sidewalk, while I go to the other side and toss the dummy (mind-you, she is illegally off the leash when I do this). She is more interested in that as a challenge. Daily obedience is difficult to maintain her energy, and enthsiasm... Of course, she is still young, and warmer weather may help as well (along with sunshine during walks)!

This, contrasted with her field-work where she is focused, energized, and responsive to commands. I understand your challenges.

This, contrasted with her field-work where she is focused, energized, and responsive to commands. I understand your challenges.

This is a dog who is being cooperative.And one who is being dominant by avoiding obedience-lack of focus,lack of energy, less responsive.

Cooperation is what a dog gives freely.obedience is what we demand.

How would Sadie respond if you began giving comands in the field? (not requests)

OH!  I do give commands in the field!  And Sadie responds with a sense of urgency (in the field).  Contrasted with our neighborhood walks (where she complies - but not as enthusiastically).

I think the difference (with Sadie) is the reward.  In the field, the reward is being able to run, hunt, and find birds (ultimately).  She won't take any other reward (like a treat - she spits them out if I give them in the field, and looks around as if she is ready to go!!).  In our neighborhood, she takes some treats for reward, but she still desires to run, hunt, and find...  God knows what...  She gets, what I would call, distracted - which is subsequently corrected.

Compliance is not an option in either area, and Sadie complies with every command.  I can see, however, the difference in the enthusiasm when she is in the field (where the reward is greater, as she gets to hunt some more!).

Part of my challenge (admittedly) on our obedience walks is finding the R+ , or, for contrast, repetition and discipline to drive her focus.

At Sadie's age, I think she is doing pretty well.  If I choose to trial her, or compete with her, she has a ways to go (admittedly), and I will need to tighten things up a bit.  Then again, if I compete, or trial, I probably have already maken a slew of mistakes (including hunting her during retrieve training!).  What can I say?  I am still an amature at such things - but working on getting better!

OK, I am going to walk the mutts in a few.  Been a while because I have been working late so Lou walks them as he is home before me.  Out of the 2 Velvet is good at walking now but Windsor has always been a tugger, puller, nose to the ground, tracking everything - weaving back and forth so I won't let his nose touch the ground today.  I will use the traffic handle with him - he hates it but he's gotta learn who is boss.  Velvet doesn't track - she walks well.  E collar worked with Velvet but never did with Windsor so the traffic handle it is today!  Both leashes have those handles so that's how I'm going to do it.