8 February 2012, 3:07 am
I have a lovely 4 month old working Cocker who up until now has been great at coming while we are out whenever I call him. I am lucky to live in a rural area and since he was 13 weeks old I have walked him off the lead and he has ALWAYS come when I have called him even if he was having a bit of rough and tumble with another dog. Other dog owners used to comment on how well trained he was at such a young age. But this past week, more often than not he has been ignoring me when I call him and it is worrying that sometimes I need him to come back for safety reasons. I have seen other dog owners smack their dogs on the nose or the rump when they have ignored them but I don't want to do this because 1) I don't smack my dog... (who wants to beat a dog???) and 2) even though I don't claim to know much about dog mentality, I worry that by doing this it is going to make him even less likely to come back and he will be worried about getting a smack if he does come back. When he obeys me, I give a lot of praise and a little treat, when he ignores me he get none of these and knows by my body language that I am not happy with him. Can anyone give me some advice on how I should deal with this.... Read More »
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