Hamish McKahn is growing up, testosterone and selective hearing , humping....whatever happened to our playful pup? There doesn't seem to be so much time for doting over him taking lovely piccies. Here's one from this morning though. A Vizsla Narcissus in love with his own reflection.
He's mostly on the long line at the moment to try and improve his behaviour at this crucial time, but here's a moment of time-out with girlfriend Ruby.
And another with mentor Radio and Doby Flo - oh and a wee Ruby in the background. This is a new café in our park. They're still learning how to make coffee but they put water bowls out for dogs so we like them already.
Hamish used to sleep for hours when he came to work with me, now he's into everything and wants to be at the centre of it all.
Luckily I kept his puppy crate which he still likes to squeeze in to for a power nap.
He's mostly on the long line at the moment to try and improve his behaviour at this crucial time, but here's a moment of time-out with girlfriend Ruby.
And another with mentor Radio and Doby Flo - oh and a wee Ruby in the background. This is a new café in our park. They're still learning how to make coffee but they put water bowls out for dogs so we like them already.
Hamish used to sleep for hours when he came to work with me, now he's into everything and wants to be at the centre of it all.
Luckily I kept his puppy crate which he still likes to squeeze in to for a power nap.
11 comments:
oh hamish, we miss you, can't wait to see you all!!!!
Hello Hamish,
I don't blame you for admiring your reflection,after all you do look like me.
My boss takes me to work too,but it does not take long to get there because he works from home.
We usualy go to the offic after our walks when I just like to sleep next to him while he works on the computer.
When I was just turned one year old,I decided to have a day off to celebrate.
All day I ignored commands even though I am usually very good.
My friend Fudge was the same when he was one.
When he reached one year old Taffy decided he should decide when playtime was over and it was time to go home.
Dylan was fourteen months old when he moved up here from Surrey and he did whatever he liked then too.
Though my boss does not know if he was always like that or not.
When he got to eighteen months old Dylan could not control himself and became rather fond of chocolate Labrador boys.
One day he ran across the park,out of the gate and across the busiest road in the area (Bury New Road in Manchester,one of his friends was killed on the same road and another hit by a car and lived) in rush hour.
He had never left the park on his own before.
After that he had a little operation at the vets to calm his urges.
He has been much better since.
Diesel.
Narcissus. Our fave alter ego chap ever. Well after yourself. And Radio. And Diesel. And Charlie. And Dexter. And Rufus. (In chronological order. Redgirls don't want to be accused of favouritism ) XXX
Dear oh dear, Diesel I am loathed to even think about 'the little operation' for my boy. I know it can be cruel not to also so I am monitoring behaviour very closely. He's not shown any aggressive tendencies, so far he's been assertive with a couple of boys the same age as himself and does get carried away to a heightend state of growliness when playing with his best mates but I think this is all normal behaviour - yes?
I've been training him on the long line for the last week and getting back to basics. He didn't like it much at first but his listening is improving and recall is getting better already.
One problem which isn't improving unless he's on the lead is jumping up on us. I'm making him sit nicely for folks who want to say hello in the park but it is a real struggle as every fibre of his body wants to jump around and say hello! But he's knocked one lady over and it's coming into the muddy season now so it would be great to get him to keep four paws on the ground around us wimpish humans.
Any suggestions very welcome.
Have you trained Hamish with a whistle? A good old acme 210 and a half. I listen to mine - three pips on that and i come running like mad from wherever I am. Mainly cos I know that if I do I will get something REALLY yummy - like those lovely dried liver treats by Wainrights that I'm MAD about at the mo! Or chicken. Mmm. Then if you whistle every time he wants to go say hi to someone he might even start looking at you when he thinks of running off....fingers, sorry paws, crossed!
Oh Charlie, I've been meaning to get him a whistle for a while now . Did you get yours online? Didn't you go through a not listening phase too when you were growing up? Seems that the smells in the park are much more interesting now than us humans. Thanks for the great suggestion.
No worries! I got mine from this shop in Winchester, but they do sell them online - acme has a shop and you can listen to sample sounds of the whistles and everything! Mum wants a charity one - pink whistle and black lanyard in aid of breast cancer. try http://acmewhistles.co.uk/
http://www.blackgundog.com/
Hello Hamish,
I have a spray collar which my boss uses to distract me when dogs sniff me.
It also works well with a lot of other training scenarios.
Some of my friends have borrowed it for a few minutes and they became much better at coming when called.
There is a beep sound which is supposed to be a reward but that frightened me the first time I heard it (though most dogs don't seem to be bothered about it),now I am used to it I know it means I should pay attention to my boss.
Then there are two sprays which I only get if I am not friendly when a dog gets up close and personal with me.
My friends seemed to need the spray to get their attention.
I wore my new collar for the first time today,it does the same things as my old one but is more expensive and is waterproof so it won't matter if I go swimming with this one on.
The new one has a range of three hundred yards which is about as far away as I ever go from my boss.
Dylan and I are both very obedient and calm now and never run away (though the odd rabbit or pheasant may detain us sometimes).
I had just had the operation when my boss picked me up and he says I was no problem at all.
But a month later my scent changed and then I got lots of dogs sniffing me like I was a girl and being a he dog I do not put up with that.
My boss often wishes I had not been to the vets but on the otherhand he was looking after Dylan the day he decided to run away and nearly got himself killed.
As we walk in a park which is next to a dual carriageway with no fence between the two he would probably have taken me to the vets himself if I had not been already.
Lots of my friends are big dogs who have not had the operation and they are not aggressive and don't run away,in fact I have been bossing most of them about since I was ten months old and they are a lot older and bigger than me!
I am very friendly but don't let dogs push me around and I often play rough with my friends.
When I play with Jake everyone thinks we are fighting because of the faces we pull and the noises we make.
Sometimes we go a bit too far and our bosses call us so we stop and make friends and get back to playing again.
It is normal for dogs to assert themselves a bit just to sort out the pecking order and let everyone know what is ok and what isn't.
Young Taffy (just turned one)recently told off Dylan the black Labrador (six,entire and quite dominant especially over balls) when he went near his ball,Taffy had never done that before but he is growing up now and learning how to be a big boy.
I hardly ever jump on anyone (so my boss is never expecting it when I do!) I prefer to waggle my body and bring presents for people.
But if I ever did jump up when my bos was expecting it he would probably squirt water in my face or beep my collar or even do the spray on my collar if all else failed.
Which is why I don't usually risk jumping on people.
Except for a few friendly dog owners who really like me and let their dogs jump up on them (and my boss),I can work out when it is ok to do things!
Diesel.
Hello Hamish,
I forgot to mention,my boss has a silent whistle which he prefers because he doesn't bother anyone with the noise,he also trained me on hand signals as it is much nicer to do things quietly.
Diesel.
Hello Diesel,
I like the idea of quiet. At the end of these 8 weeks then I'm sure I'll be investing in a collar like yours if Hamish still doesn't have good recall.
We're going to do lots of gundog training with mentor Radio soon and hope that helps too.
Thanks for sharing your tips.
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