Pharaoh used to be like that.. He'd catch a mixy bunny, or find half a rabbit on the field and then run around with it in his mouth and refuse to give it up. If I went to make him, he'd eat it rather than give up his prize YUK... It took me about 2 years of patient training to get him to bring me the dead animal and drop it! So long partly because Pharaoh is bless him not bright, partly because it was not a regular occurrence and there was nothing else he acted this way with and partly because he is not the least bit food motivated! There was nothing I could find in his word that had a higher value than that stinky rabbit...

Sorry to say but I'm afraid the only thing that worked for us in the end was making it a game.. If he brought me the bunny I would play tuggy with him with it and throw it for him... Thus making the bunny with me more fun than the bunny on his own.. Eventually I was able to just take the bunny away and throw a ball, but that took time... I got a very strong stomach over that time

Good luck with your training. Maybe if you work on holding and bringing you high value food, like sausages you might be able to replicate the situation at home so that you can work on it? As a gun dog, it should be in the breed to be able to hold something yummy and bring it to you without eating it.. I mean it's what they have to do on a shoot isn't it? Maybe gundog training would be good... You don't have to hunt to get enjoyment out of the training part!

Oh and you know you're going to forgive those big brown eyes and snuggle later!

To be honest, if you wish to reprimand a dog it needs to be done imediately they do something wrong, regardless of the methods you use.

OK so Pepsi went to sleep on her bed and no doubt probnablty worse herself out.

But had she not slept, would you have kept her there once home? To send her to bed after getting home as punishment is worng IMO in this case as the "bad deed" has been and gone. whatever you were going to do (take her home, not let her play with your aunt's dog, remove her favourite toy, stop giving treats for that time etc) needed to be done at the time she disobeyed you.

If you punish afterwards, she won't understand what she's supposed to ahve done wring.

Laura xx

Val, I think you've been abit harsh on her too, but I can understand.

Woody has been doing my head in all weekend (heel work and wanting to eat ''everything'' he sees) and I totally lost it today, but he doesn't know why, it's down to me to teach him why.

What I do is give the command 3x, if he hasn't done it then I remove him from the situation (however that may be) and go back to it later. I never punish him though, I just give him ''that''' voice/look.

I have to keep telling myself that it's not his fault it's mine from not teaching it right.

Sometimes though, just like us, they just have ''those'' days.

tbh i really think its just one of those days. ive only actually told her off about twice and she is 9mths old now so she is doing really really well. but i think as she does so well all the time, i dont expect her to misbehave as i think she should know better. not really, she is going thro the 'teen' years lol.

never mind. i just feel really crappy now, plus i had a migraine at the time which prob didnt make things better

Don't worry, I feel exactly the same sometimes so you're not alone. He seems to have completely forgotten his ''leave it'' command and has spent the whole weekend completely ignoring me and eating ''everything'' he can. He ate so much crap today I had to put him on the lead and hold his head up to stop him. Then, he spent all afternoon retching. It's seems OK now, but I've jsut lost it with him today.

Hayfever doesn't help ;o)

Awww bless, sounds like your having just as many probs as me. Its not nice when you lose your temper with them, but sometimes things just boil up too much.

Oh and i def know what you mean about the hayfever, the pollen is sooo high today. Ive got a runny - stuffed nose, blocked sinus, blood shot eyes and a really sore throat lol. It just never ends. But like i said she did pass her Bronze kennel club today so im just trying to focus on the good things she done today. And not the two bad things.

What things does woody go for and eat?

I've just seen that post, well done you and Pepsi ;o) Like you say, best to focus on the good eh. We're doing pre-bronze but I don't think we'll try the tests I think he would like agility though!

Val, he's a nightmare. Usually we'll walk into the park, meadow, woods, fields and he'll charge about having a whale of a time running and sniffing and playing fetch games. Lately though, within 2-3 minutes now he just scavenges and will show no interest in us or the game, or even his surroundings, choosing instead to lie down to eat sticks, leaves, weeds, grass, stones, paper, rubbish whatever is in his path!! It's an absolute nightmare! We taught him ''leave it'' and ''drop'' but none of these work now as he is so obsessed.

It's even worse because we're having to watch his diet for an allergy thing so he shouldn't be eating ''anything'' except his normal food. Yeah right!!!

As for the hayfever, don't get me started!! This year is the worst ever!! I can't bear it, it's making me so low and grouchy!! ;o)

Sorry, I guess you got me started ;o)