I realize I set myself up for failure here, so it was bound to happen sooner or later.
Every morning Kaiser gets SUPER excited to go outside, not only to potty but also because its training time. He loves playing fetch, so I intermix that with some basic ob stuff. Its all off leash unless we are walking through the neighborhood on a walk. During the off leash portion, this is generally what will happen. I do some focus work, sits and downs, waits, stays, and recalls. We do this sometimes in the afternoon as well.
I've had several people comment on how well Kaiser listens to me and how they could never let their dogs off leash like I do. Well, Kaise HAS always listened to me, because I always had something he wanted.
Except this morning.
His girlfriend came out (she's a cute GSD/Chow/Golden mix) and they played for a little while. I brought out a new fetch toy, his Kong, to see if I could build up some interest in it (I normally use a ball). After ignoring the Kong and going for a stick, he didn't realize that his girlfriend and her person had walked off. All of a sudden, he perks up, figures out where they are (across the parking lot and around the side of a building) and he TAKES OFF running.
I tried to restrain myself but I couldn't help it. I yelled "NO" Kaiser, "COME!" Ugh...3 strikes right there. I gave him a free ticket to ignore the "no" command, I used his name during a[n] [attempted] correction, and I gave him a free ticket to ignore the "come" command. Ugh ugh ugh
I will say, I only use "here" command during obedience work. "come" is used the rest of the time. I want him to be able to differentiate when we are "working" (when he has to be serious and focused) and the rest of the time (not that I DON'T want him being focused, because I do! But I'm talking about the focus you get in a heel or watch command versus the dog behaving in a non-obedience setting, such as while in the house or just on a regular walk). At any rate, I refrained from using "here" because I didn't want to ruin that command.
Oh, and I should add that his recalls with "here" during ob are awesome (his sit at the end is too far away and cockeyed, but at least he comes tearing after me at full speed). Same with "here", though I don't use it during obedience, he still understands that I want him to come to me.
I realize I should have him on a long line (which I don't currently have) and I realize that I should have KNOWN he would do this sooner or later. I was just so proud that he always ignored other dogs/people if I asked him to, and even in some scenarios where he would run toward them he would still come back to me if I used my "mean" voice (and I would reward him with the ball so he knew it was a good thing to come back).
Sigh...so did I just ruin my dog? Any suggestions, aside from a long line?
Every morning Kaiser gets SUPER excited to go outside, not only to potty but also because its training time. He loves playing fetch, so I intermix that with some basic ob stuff. Its all off leash unless we are walking through the neighborhood on a walk. During the off leash portion, this is generally what will happen. I do some focus work, sits and downs, waits, stays, and recalls. We do this sometimes in the afternoon as well.
I've had several people comment on how well Kaiser listens to me and how they could never let their dogs off leash like I do. Well, Kaise HAS always listened to me, because I always had something he wanted.
Except this morning.
His girlfriend came out (she's a cute GSD/Chow/Golden mix) and they played for a little while. I brought out a new fetch toy, his Kong, to see if I could build up some interest in it (I normally use a ball). After ignoring the Kong and going for a stick, he didn't realize that his girlfriend and her person had walked off. All of a sudden, he perks up, figures out where they are (across the parking lot and around the side of a building) and he TAKES OFF running.
I tried to restrain myself but I couldn't help it. I yelled "NO" Kaiser, "COME!" Ugh...3 strikes right there. I gave him a free ticket to ignore the "no" command, I used his name during a[n] [attempted] correction, and I gave him a free ticket to ignore the "come" command. Ugh ugh ugh
I will say, I only use "here" command during obedience work. "come" is used the rest of the time. I want him to be able to differentiate when we are "working" (when he has to be serious and focused) and the rest of the time (not that I DON'T want him being focused, because I do! But I'm talking about the focus you get in a heel or watch command versus the dog behaving in a non-obedience setting, such as while in the house or just on a regular walk). At any rate, I refrained from using "here" because I didn't want to ruin that command.
Oh, and I should add that his recalls with "here" during ob are awesome (his sit at the end is too far away and cockeyed, but at least he comes tearing after me at full speed). Same with "here", though I don't use it during obedience, he still understands that I want him to come to me.
I realize I should have him on a long line (which I don't currently have) and I realize that I should have KNOWN he would do this sooner or later. I was just so proud that he always ignored other dogs/people if I asked him to, and even in some scenarios where he would run toward them he would still come back to me if I used my "mean" voice (and I would reward him with the ball so he knew it was a good thing to come back).
Sigh...so did I just ruin my dog? Any suggestions, aside from a long line?