just how strong a rott is....

[peachesandchubby]

I have been working with my two rottins since they were young pups and both are on the way to becoming "trained". Peaches my female (15 months) does the best with walking, healing, and basically listens best intill....BUNNIES decide to come out at night!!
Last night hubby and I are doen our nightly walk with the two (Chubby also 15 months) and Peaches was doen so good I decided to take off the "halty" and just hook her lead to her collar. (she hates the halty, because it rubs her face) She was doen great healing and following other commands (I mix up their walk a bit with sitting, healing, and sitting while we are on our walks) when Peaches spots a damn rabbit and it seems all the training goes out the window.... she "bolted" and ran after the rabbit, caught me off guard, I fell down and she literally dragged me across the yard !!!! I regained my composure yelled for her to sit. I have scape's and bruises on my shoulder and back but I never let go of her lead.
How do you work with overcoming the prey drive in them?? Its not like you can put them at the perfect situation where you have a bunny to train with.
I dont have any problem with her except when it comes to her wanting to chase the rabbits or squirrels. I guess the main mistake I made was taking off the halty because I dont think she could have bolted the way she did if she would have had it on, at least I think it would have been more of a deterrent then just the collar and lead??

[sweetlee]

OH boy that prey drive. I am sorry you got pulled down and I know how scary that can be.
After it happened to me I got a prong collar and started using it, it's like a different dog at the end. You do have to know how to properly fit one, so I would go to a trainer, and have them show you. It can't hang down around the neck like a normal flat collar, it needs to be fit way up under the chin and ears or it won't do much good and may even cause harm. But properly fitted a very small person can control a very large dog. I use it at school and when we walk around the neighborhood where dogs may charge us, I NEED that extra control, just in case. It only takes like one time of the dog trying to pull against that, they learn very quickly. It doesn't pinch them unless they pull, and they don't pull hard, believe me.
They are not expensive, and very effective. My boy doesn't even think about pulling towards other dogs, cats, rabbits or even deer. Now yesterday he was very interested in a plastic grocery bag blowing by. LOL. Go figure.
I would highly reccomend one for just this situation. You can't be pulled down by a huge dog, their strength is amazing and I know the feeling of helplessness when this happens.
A few people here object to pinch collars but I think they are a very humane way to train the dog not go after things, and do offer extra control and extra piece of mind.
They are to be used as a training device, and I can take Dodge out on his flat collar other places, but if there may be a dog charging us, I need to make him turn around QUICK and this does the trick.

Sharon

[GypsysMom]

In the winter I took my American bulldog(85 pounds) and Gypsy (65 pounds) out together potty like I do everymorning and the neighbors dog charging his fence and my dogs ran towards it with me attached I didnt let go of the leash because I didnt want them knocking the fence down (real flimsy fence) and I suffered Ice burn on my calf I couldnt walk for a week, and I have a nasty scar, also I haev 2 herniated disc from being pulled, I know have better control over Gypsy and I learned only to take 1 dog out at a time

[Troodie's Mom]

I too went flying once when my Gretchen took off after she saw a rabbit. We had just arrived at a house we rented on the Cape, we had just disembarked the minivan, kids and all, and I put her on a leash so she wouldn't wander off, and next thing I knew I was airborne when a rabbit ran right across the backyard. Ouch!
I had some success with overcoming Troodie's prey drive recently, which actually surprised me. She had captured a shrew and was pouncing on it kept trying to pick it up. I had to yell at her "drop that! leave it! In the house!now! a couple times, but she listened and sulked all the way back to the house.

[Gunsey'sMom]

I have also gone flying. I'm sure I looked like the granny on that flexi lead video, although it was a cotton webbed longline. I was playing in the yard with Gunner and it was totally my fault. He saw a cat in the neighbors back feild and started his gaze on it. I unsuccesfully tried calling him to me- wich at that point I should have picked up the lead and reeled him in with a pop for not listening. I did have time to get him before his next move wich was taking off like a bat out of hell.

I grabbed the quickly escaping longline and it burned through my hands but I did manange to get a painful grip on it. Gunner was already running full speed ahead and I actually flew through the air a little, hit the ground with a thud and had to ballast my weight to the ground to stop his momentum. I wasnt about to let go remmebering a night where he had run off after chasing after a cat while going up to the house (we had him off leash) when he was younger. So I managed to keep a hold of him, but playtime was over!!!!

As for working on the prey drive. Try to work on attention exercises- I find that has been good for Gunner and I. So now when I find him fixating on something that I can tell he shouldnt be I cut it off at that point by directing his attention towards me so he cant take it to the next level. I also have found that working him around distractions (lawmower- he HATES the lawmower) where I can mange him safely while he is engaged in something that he has more drive for (favorite toy) has been helpful.

Lately he has been nuts about herding around this empty 50 Gal plastic feed barrel. so I had him on the longline while the neighbor was mowing the other day playing with that holding the end of the line. He was completely immersed in his activity. I usually have to take him in when we mow and the neighbors mow because he goes so bonkers- he never made a peep the other day when we did that.

Yes our Rotts are strong!

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by peachesandchubby

I have been working with my two rottins since they were young pups and both are on the way to becoming "trained". Peaches my female (15 months) does the best with walking, healing, and basically listens best intill....BUNNIES decide to come out at night!!
Last night hubby and I are doen our nightly walk with the two (Chubby also 15 months) and Peaches was doen so good I decided to take off the "halty" and just hook her lead to her collar. (she hates the halty, because it rubs her face) She was doen great healing and following other commands (I mix up their walk a bit with sitting, healing, and sitting while we are on our walks) when Peaches spots a damn rabbit and it seems all the training goes out the window.... she "bolted" and ran after the rabbit, caught me off guard, I fell down and she literally dragged me across the yard !!!! I regained my composure yelled for her to sit. I have scape's and bruises on my shoulder and back but I never let go of her lead.
How do you work with overcoming the prey drive in them?? Its not like you can put them at the perfect situation where you have a bunny to train with.
I dont have any problem with her except when it comes to her wanting to chase the rabbits or squirrels. I guess the main mistake I made was taking off the halty because I dont think she could have bolted the way she did if she would have had it on, at least I think it would have been more of a deterrent then just the collar and lead??

Since dogs do not generalize things like we do, we need to train dogs in various environments, with various stimuli and distractions as the dog's comprehension of your commands grows. In order for your dog to listen when the stakes are high, you need to train in these scenarios, in a controlled environment, where she won't be at risk of becoming road pizza, and you won't risk wearing a body cast.

This is why group obedience classes are good, especially once your dog is familiar with the 'basics' at home. They offer distractions, and hands on help for issues like you're having.

The halti is a nice training device, like many others, but to rely on it soley for your dog's respect is unrealistic, and as you can see, without it, she couldn't have cared less what you said to her, as the bunny was a stronger stimulus item than your voice or physical power. The respect is not there.

My oldest male used to take me for a drag all the time, as his breeder insisted that show career came before obedience. Never again. He learned to walk nicely on a leash in about 10 minutes once I was frustrated enough to do something about it, and sought the help of someone who knew a lot more than I did.

Since you have two dogs of similar age, I'd recommend seeking the help of a qualified trainer who is versed in operant conditioning techniques, and is familiar with working group dogs.

Hope this helps.

[princesssnichole]

Last week I had Tank sitting on the front porch with me. He never leaves my side there. Our neighbors have dogs that roam their front yards without a leash. Tank will stand straight and sniff.

When it comes to a squirrel it is a different story. I thank God didn't get pulled by the strength.

We were sitting on the porch, Tank sleeping and a squirrel approached. It took a few seconds longer than I thought it would for him to pick up the scent. He did. He jumped off of the porch. I raised my voice and said " Tank!" He stopped looked at me and came back.

Just wish he wasn't a biter!

I started Tank out with a prong collar. He had zero leash manners. PLus I wanted the comfort and security when out in the park walking or when I took him to the kids' games. He no longer pulls, and heels nicely.

[Ayoka]

It happened to me too...now I am a lot better at being aweare of my surroundings and of Bear's body language. It's rare for him to just lunge at something without getting alert, stiffening up or staring it down. so when we are in areas with a high squirrell popoulation I get his attention BEFORE he has a chance to spy anything or when I notice him locking on on something and sometimes this means literally stepping into his line of vision or herding him away. This way it seems easier to keep his attention.

As pooh said, these things aren't just learned and a dog has to be exposed to many different things with many different levels of stimulation befgore you can expect it to turn that prey drive switch off and with some dogs I think it's harder than others.

[groupieindenial]

Originally Posted by peachesandchubby

Peaches my female (15 months) does the best with walking, healing, and basically listens best intill....BUNNIES decide to come out at night!!

LOL, i'm sure many of us have been there...I know I have! I'll tell you about the last time I ever took Vegas jogging with me. We were on these trails that are in city limits, nice dense treed area, with a little ravine.. So I have an 8 ft line attached to my waist, cuz I hate jogging with the lead in hand. HE spots a rabbit, and me attached yelling NO and LEAVE IT! I've got both hands on the lead, leaning back and squating trying to hold me from going head first into the ditch, but he's lunging to inch forward as I lose to fight to stay on the trail. People walk by and see me being dragged into the bushes by my dog, and I'm at this point kicking his ass flailing like a mad woman. Pretty embarrasing I tell ya.

[jlaack]

We have rabbits all over the place here. We just moved from an area with mountain lions, deer, free range cows, coyotes, etc. so I really needed to impress upon them to not to chase the wildlife.

Therefore I taught them LEAVE IT. If an animal darts past us on a walk and I tell Magnus to leave it he looks straight up to my face and completely ignores it. Ditto for squirrels. When I trained the leave it I let him start to move towards the object gave him the command pulled a 180 and took of in the other direction for a significant distance. We have done that enough that now he'd much rather ignore the furry animal at the verbal command than have to go through that production. If I give the command and he so much takes a second look we go back to the full scale I meant leave it activity. Here we pass about 20 or so bunnies a night god knows how many squirrels during the day. It is rare that he reacts to their very enticing antics and he also has a very strong prey drive. I would also recommend switching to either a prong or martingale type collar. The gentle leader creates dependency and the dogs know the minute you take it off. And if you work on the fast changes of direction as I described above you could damage your dogs neck and spine with a gentle leader.

Good luck and I am glad to hear your wounds will heal!