Proud owner alert!

Just a couple of small brags, if I may!

As it was a lovely day today - dry, cold and sunny - I decided to go up the hill for a walk along the town's cut this afternoon.

http://www.conneryscottishwalks.co.uk/greenockcut.html

We were all walking along, me and the dogs, the dogs walking ahead a bit and suddenly this deer appeared, it looked like a young one to me. It was scrambling around trying to get over the fence to get back on the hills but it wasn't succeeding. Molly and Roxy had just heard the noise and my immediate response was to shout "down!" very loudly, as I didn't want them to frighten the deer any more than it already was! They both went straight in to a down and stayed there till I got to them to put their leads on! Roxy sort of raised herself a bit, like she was in a Collie crouch, but I only had to tell her to "get down" once and she did. The three of us just stood there and watched the deer as it managed to scale the fence and bounce back over the hills in the distance. I was so pleased with their distance command.

Also, on a slightly different note, Molly has always barked at the postman from a distance if we see him on our street when we're out. It's mostly always the same wee man and he always makes a fuss of the dogs and speaks to Molly from a distace as she won't go near him! Roxy loves him and follows him down the stree give half a chance! But, on Saturday morning when we had just left for our walk, the postman appeared. As usual, Roxy went to see him and he made a big fuss of her, talkng to her and giving her a rub. Molly just stood and watched him, not making a sound. As I approached him to talk to him, she gradually came over to us and let him stroke her! I couldn't believe it! I had been getting to him to try and give her a treat, she was never interested but on Saturday she came over on her own accord and took the treat!

brilliant westie n
weldone to you weldone to the dogs (they suprise us all the time dont they )

Thank you, Tracey!

Yes, they certainly surprised me! I thought they'd have thrown a deaf ear! I don't reckon they'd chase it, as their recall is very good and Roxy is scared of deer and sheep usually!

Just goes to show that the distance commands are really worth having cemented.

now what you mean , you like to think they will listen ,which they do ,most of the time .its just if they ,have somethink else to distract them

I think they only listened because I bellowed at the top of my voice! They must have thought I meant business!

That's fantastic and a huge well done to you as you can only get obedience like that with a lot of hard graft It's all very well being well behaved in a class environment, but until you get a test as hard as that you never know how well trained they've become!

Scary stuff... I would lie down if I heard that......

Thanks, Anne-Marie.

It just shows how that if you plod along with training it can reap rewards when the need arises!

It was an instant response from me to stop them in their tracks incase they went after the deer. I would have been guilt ridden if they had frightened the deer more than it already was. Though they would have had to cross some water and a bit of high ground first! Molly wouldn't have done it but Roxy just might have as she can run over really bumpy ground better than Molly can. Mind you, Roxy is frightened of sheep!

Well, you know me!

I wouldn't normally shout at them, but in this case this was more shouting to them for their safety and the safety of the deer. The poor thing was frantic, but it managed to get away unharmed, thankfully.

its makes a massive diffrence what tone you use ,our dylan allways trys to push me and push me ,which (dos bring a smile ) till i can see he is (laughing at me ) then i will raise my voice ,just to show him ( cockey little lad )