Remind me why all this is rubbish please

[belindarose]

My beautiful springer has just been at a home stay boarding for a week. It was a last minute placement as our usual house sitter was unavailable.

He is fine and was well looked after but the carer has given me all manner of advice which is dominance theory based (I imagine).

I should never use balls or other throwing/ retrieving games. This is his favourite pastime and ideal for me as I have small children so long daily walks aren't always possible. According to her, this makes him too excitable and dogs don't need to run He should be attending to me (as 'pack leader' all the time). She thinks I've 'encouraged him to race around'. I probably have, but didn't see anything wrong with this, especially as his recall is instant and bombproof.

When we trained him as a pup, it was only balls that could get his interest, so we built on this to get his attention! If there was another dog nearby, he would come to us to wait for the ball.

Anyway, he won't be going back there, but I need reassuring that I haven't got it all wrong!

You haven't got it all wrong. He's an idiot.

Have you read the culture clash by Jean Donaldson? That will remind you why you're right.

I would give anything for bombproof recall and a dog who'd could be distracted with a ball!

I really don't see what the problem is? Aren't Springers meant to flush game? So surely the running around and recall part of the breed function?

Thanks. Yes, I have read The Culture Clash. Before I got the dog though. I'll read it again.

Perfect springer is happy to sleep all day when we're at work and deserves his running around when it's possible.

Thanks

Yup they are the idiots are you by me at any chance in Hertfordshire as there one local here and is s fan of ceaser milian(spelling ) Bloke

We joined fur a group walk once left after 5 mins when told I need show my dog who is boss because he barked at seeing his friend (good recall friendly nature well behaved to point he about does not jump up unless invited (has to occasionallypass something dropped as training as assistance )

i can understand them having that take on a working ddog not do ball work, because if you took those antics to a serious game crowd they'd all be saying the same, BUT, you have brought your ddog under your control using the ball work, and if its worked for you to get instant recall (nice one ! ) then i don't think it was worth the carer proferring the unasked for advice, or appropriate to give it where's there's no problem.

However, in her experience she may have seen ddogs behaviour as a problem and acted with best of intentions to help out? who knows, but you said your ddog was well looked after, and thats worth everything so i would consider that far more important than a bit of unasked for advice ending up wuth you never going there again!?

don't think it necessary to start calling these people who clearly cared for your ddog very well 'idiots' - she's taken great care of your ddog and clearly not an idiot but a ddog lover. Just ignore! there's far worse blimey, and so important to find good care.

He sounds like an idiot with out dated ideas.

Well ... The pack leader stuff is rubbish but there's quite a lot of positive trainers who are not keen on dogs chasing balls constantly as they find it mega-arousing and means they can find it hard to calm down. This is quite a good explanation.

Gundog trainers tend to be very anti ball-chasing as they need their dogs to be steady when objects are thrown and then to retrieve in a controlled manner.

My dog would happily chase a ball all day but we limit it and don't take it out on every walk. We do lots of games like hide and seek or bits of training on walks which tires him out more effectively than charging around after the ball all the time. It also means that the ball never gets stale - on the walks when he gets his ball thrown its only for a few throws and then it gets put away while he's still wanting more

ChairRide4r would you mind pming me the name so I can avoid? I'm in Herts and looking for a trainer atm. If you have a recommendation for a good trainer that would be much appreciated too! :)

Think my dog would go a bit nuts if she wasn't allowed a good run and she's small and definitely not a working dog. Occasionally I can only manage an on lead walk and I can definitely tell the next day that she's missed her run.

She loves her ball but will stop after a while and sit down in front of me waiting for me to do a bit of training with her; training involves treats so is something she's more than happy to do and when she's doing it she's completely focused on me.

Bit miserable if a dog never gets to run. Surely, it's possible to have a calm dog that's also allowed to run.

Well I think so, as he IS calm!

When he's chasing a ball, he's fast and excited. He doesn't bark though. He brings it back and waits patiently for it to be thrown again. He searches for it if it's lost. He shares it with other dogs.