Am I going to make his prey drive stronger by using a dummy/training scent?

[Lavenderteal271]

Our cocker terrier cross is 14 months old. We're having a really hard time with his recall. He'll walk off lead for about 20 mins and then his instinct to hunt kicks in and he'll bolt. We don't 'lose' him for long, 5 mins max.

Anyway, I'm thinking I need to get him engaged in chasing fake prey instead of the real thing while we walk. I've been looking at gundog training dummies and scents but am I going to make things worse? Make him more prey driven?

The idea is that the training/ play/ 'work' with the dummy keeps him focussed on you and the dummy. You'll need to teach him to retrieve if he doesn't already, otherwise he'll sod off with dummy and probably destroy it. And at the age he is, his prey drive will be developing, whatever you do.

I have a high prey-drive dog and if I get a dummy out on a walk I will get 100% instant focus unless the ground is laden with fresh scent - and even then if she gets to a scent when already focussed on the dummy, the dummy will usually win. You won't need any extra scent ( those are usually used to train tracking) - the dummy will be smelly enough.

By the sound of it you'd also find it useful to tighten up your recall (longline, high value treats, loads of practice) and also teach your dog the stop whistle (lots of videos on YouTube). A dog is often more willing to stop and then recall rather than just recall, and it also gives you control at a distance - you can stop and redirect rather than have to recall every time.

Many thanks for the information. We've been working on his recall since he was a puppy and he's great except when he's on the scent of something and then his hunting instinct kicks in. I've only just started looking at gun dog training (I dont want him trained as a gundog, I just want to be able to walk him off lead with confidence that he won't bolt). The idea that he'll focus 100% on me if I've got a dummy is what I'm after.

I've got a lot of research to do!

Most gundog trainers will be perfectly happy to train a pet dog. They will start with getting the dog 'steady' (able to sit and wait, walk calmly on the lead) and learning to focus on you.