Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2006 10:43 pm Post subject: How do you out a slip lead on? :?
Well I took Rolo out with her first dummy today, a lovely bright orange one. She soon got the hang of carrying it but swings it round by the toggle!! Is this something she'll grow out of, and is it the 'done thing'? It's now caked in mud and leaves, didn't stay clean for long
What I would like to know is, with a slip lead, does the ring go on the bit that comes across the top of the head? or does the ring come up from underneath her chin? I don't want to choke her too much (although sometimes I could cheerfully throttle her, but not in public )
not sure as I don't have one, but one that I used the other week I tested on my wrist first to make sure that it was the right way round, then put it on the dog the same way.
The end you hold goes over the neck and yjr ring end comes up from underneath.
As to the dummy. Try to hold it where you want her to hold it so your scent there is the strongest. They often try to hold where we hold. Other tips.
I never use a puppy dummy. I go straight from a stuffed sock to an adult dummy, because an adult dog finds this harder to hold incorrectly.
I have even tied two dummies together for an older dog to make it more uncomfortable to hold it wrong.
With a young dog, I sometimes remove the toggle and tape the flap down so there is nothing to hold.
There is some suggestions for you. Don't make a big thing about it and she will soon find it easier to hold it right. Particulaly as the distance builds up. We all go through that stage.
As another thought for you, concerning dummy colours. I like to have some green and some orange. I can then use which is best under the conditions for what I am doing. Orange is great for a simple marked retrieve on grass. On dead leaves in the wood a greed is easier to see. Later I would use the orange in the leaves to encourage my dog to use it's nose. Likewise a green dummy on grass.
Using the right colour can make a retrieve easier or harder as you require!
Sorry to ask a silly question and crash this thread but what actually is a slip lead and why would you use one? Is it like a fabric version of a choke lead???
Just curious.
Another silly, what's the dummy for? Is that for practicing a retrieve instead of a ball or for starting proper field based training
I only ask because our pups are a similar age and i'm always looking for new things for Basil to do!
Thanks John, I did have it on the wrong way then!! Oh well, she survived! (no wonder she kept looking up at me, lol)
The dummy I have is a 1/2lb one. Not puppy I don't think. I'll try to hold it from the body from now on, although it turned VERY squelchy! Yeuk! haha
She just nudged it around the field for about 5 mins, I wondered if it was impregnated with essence of duck or something! But I couldn't smell anything. Also, today I received your book in the post, and had never thought about stuffed socks! Great for in the house
Sarah, I saw a man doing gundog training with his dog in the park the other day, his 6month pup was beautifully behaved walking like a dream on the lead, and very obedient. Anyway, he had her on a slip lead, and took Rolo off me for a while but by the time he walked her back alonng, she wasn't pulling. I also had a go of his pup and she was so easy to walk. Yes, it is a sort of choke lead, but slidey shiny rope which is soft, ans slips through easily, I think the point is that it is irritating for it to keep going tight, and so they learn to stop pulling. He gave it a gentle 'yank' every time Rolo pulled. I ordered it from a gundog place recommended by John called Turner and Richards, but I see your in Singapore!! Still, they might deliver!!
I ordered the dummy on Di's advice, it's a canvas soft thing you can get in different weights, and I THINK it floats. It was because I wanted to join a gundog club, and I want her to have some experience of what she night have to do. I think it's supposed to mimmick the feel and weight of a bird.
I know what you mean about needing new things to do. The older you get, the more stimulation they seem to need, and as John mentioned, you can make it more challenging by changing the colour of the dummy to suit the environment, something I hadn't thought of. It's just something to make walks more fun
Thanks for the lead description - my mum is getting very good with buying and posting dog stuff from the uk for us now! basil doesnt pull (yet) so we probably don't need one.
Field training does sound like fun, Basil certainly has the retrieve instinct.
I'm not sure if there is a gundog club here. Thinking about it i'm sure all guns are banned so it probably wouldnt work. Shame as i guess it's one of those things they need to start young??
Basils nearly 8 months, we still train in new commands and practice the old but I was kind of looking for something we could do together. I've quite a while to wait until he can do agility (and by the looks of things so far he may not end up a small ,agile lab )
One of the big things with dogs Sarah, is not correcting the faults, rather preventing them from ever happening in the first place. Working gundog people use slip leads for a number of reasons, not the least being that we never use collars with our dogs. The problem being that a dog running fast into cover could so easily get a collar entangled and hang themselves. It has happened plenty of times in the past!! When working, a good picking up dog is expected to sit beside it's handler off lead ready for anything needed, hence the term "A no slip retriever."
As to gundog work, yes, it is great fun and I believe brings dog and owner closer together because we are always working together. There is no reason to shoot to train gundog work. The last real gun I fired was a Bren machine gun nearly 50 years ago! (Although I do pick up on a shoot.) Gundog work is trained using canvas dummies, and many dogs never go further. Gundog working tests are held using only dummies, although whether there is anything like that where you are is a different matter. (Maybe you could be the founder of gundog work over there?) A good book and a couple of dummies and you are in business.
Thanks John, that's a very simple explanation on why to use the lead and makes perfect sense now.
I didnt realise the absence of guns was ok in the training (although at some point he would need to be used to gunshot i guess?)
I have tried to google and can't yet find a gundog club over here. You're right I could set it up - although many dog owners are a little different (polite, they are odd) over here. Some dogs never see the outside and others spend more time at the groomers than they do in a park running around getting dirty
Lindsey - sorry for interrupting your thread. It's very intersting to me
Not at all, Sarah, anything you ask is interesting to me too! I hope you get on well over there. Strange what you said about the grooming parlour, eh?
I probably won't het further than the dummy stage. It's just a bit of fun I'm looking for and doggy company on a weekend. I think it's a very exciting activity for the dog and after all, retrieving's what their instinct tells them to do.
I think Rolo needs to learn some manners when around other dogs first though she seems to have developed the habit of jumping right over the top of any dog who is smaller than her, how rude!
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Is this something she'll grow out of, and is it the 'done thing'? It's now caked in mud and leaves, didn't stay clean for long 
but not in public 
Is it like a fabric version of a choke lead??? 
I hope you get on well over there. Strange what you said about the grooming parlour, eh? 
