I want to get a dog but I have to work, how does everyone on broadway market do it ?

Know of two labs on my walks that are chemically castrated. They aren’t calm but are cool. If that makes sense. Lots of boisterous fun. Owners reasoning for chemical vs snip is that it minimises pulling and operation seems a bit much really. Plus recovery is not easy with a boisterous dog.

We got Otto chemically done for 6 months and decided to let it wear off and not do a permanent one.

He is a little dog obsessed but can also get a bit aggy with other males…we think because he was being targeted by other entire males (especially labs). The castration has probably improved how other dogs receive him (he gets targeted less) but we think it’s made him a bit more barky at new dogs, likely because he’s a bit less confident. It’s made him less sniffy/licky with other dogs pee, and he cocks his leg less.

I would say unless you have some behaviours that are bothering you and you think this might address, it’s not worth the potential drawbacks at younger ages. I don’t think it’s the default thing to do anymore but a lot of vets still suggest it for some reason. Might be worth seeing if you can have a chat with a behaviourist about it?

Edit: I spoke to my mrs (who is a behaviourist). She reckons it might improve the ag from other dogs but unlikely to change anything else mentioned in your post. Obvious caveat that she’s not making any recommendations, hasn’t assessed your dog, etc etc

On this thread there was something some months ago from maybe @owl about what in house training should be completed etc etc.
Anyone remember it?

While all the retrieving is going well, “find it” etc and “show me”. It’s a bit on and off about “come here”. And my excuses are running out.

Do you mean recall?

Yep. Is fine in woods, big open park or when the situation is “just come here eh?” It’s touch and go.

Do you reward her when she just checks in with you in the park?

I’ve found it’s more about predicting reading where she wants to go before she starts. Avoidance is better than denial. Particularly as I’m supposed to keep her away from other dogs.

For shadow I occasionally reward check ins.
Higher value reward a recall
Very high value an emergency recall. Can start this in the house, call her with it, ours is repeated whistle blows.

Also some impulse control might help, have her sit wait by trees with squirrels, sit leave other dogs etc.

Does she have a leave command? I use that to not over use the recall.

In the park when she comes back I’ll reward her, if I’m chasing (walking after) her no.

Sometimes with food, sometimes with a fetch (as that’s a good thing! “I fucking love finding things!”).

In the woods I let her go off and then i hide, call her and she’s back (“fucking hell! Where are you!??”)

In our park it’s easier. In a bigger park it’s just overwhelmingly open and full of distractions.
So I’m trying to get to a quiet spot do some stuff get her engaged after a distracting walk along a busy road. And then let her off and walk/call back etc (like we used to in that park).

Things to note:
Off lead will get spooked by runners
On lead couldn’t give a shit
Wants to say hello to every dog by running over when off lead. This is the main reason for wanting better “control”. I don’t want them jumping in, running off, or scaring people.
I don’t want to be “she’s friendly” - it’s a cop out.
I also don’t want to pay ridiculous money when I know it’s something that is solved by repetition of things. (I’m tight)

Also:
When she’s been in the pond afterwards it’s like she’s done a couple of lines and is bananas.

Her retrieves aren’t all “lob a ball a million times”. In the woods I’ll hide a dummy while we’re walking, then after 20metres say “find it” and off she goes. Or I’ll sit her down, throw the dummy into the woods/bushes. Make her wait and then send her. Then I’ll walk off.

Recall basically boils down to 'coming back will be more interesting/rewarding than whatever else I'm doing.'

We've got 90% great recall, it's the final 10% that's really hard.

I’m just off to rub my self in fox shit.

Shadow can get excited running around especially if a dog bombs in on her.

I’d recall her and then put her on the lead walk to heal calm her, sit, reward. Get some of that excitement to cool off, before taking her off lead again.

I think I’d say just to progress the exposure to. Don’t set her up to fail.

Try going to the big park very early when no distractions build from there?

I get there around 7. There’s commuters, runners, other walkers, dogs, WATER! PUDDLES!

I’ll just start again
Long line
Quieter spots
Get the heel work in again
Mooooorree foooood
Buy more chuck it balls (can you get a subscription to these things? I joke)

She’s good, just looks overwhelmed with choices sometimes, and with other dogs everywhere….

Another approach we use with ours is to do divert them from dogs/people we don't want them near. Rather than 'come here' we'll use 'this way' (with a wave or walking a different way) to change her direction. Means she can keep running around without coming all the way back, but gives others space where needed.

Trained her by essentially randomly changing direction when out walking and calling at the same time. Let's her know we're heading this way now.

^this

And * Mooooorree foooood*
Dried liver is Shadows crack

I use “this way” .

Generally she’s good to great.
I’m just aware of her bounding in, while relatively harmless and is just boisterous puppy, is not great for non dog people or dogs.

One step forward / 2 back vibes.

What are you using as rewards for coming back when called? When we were training Crumpet we were told to use something really high value and really stinky which seemed to work really well. Mixing up the treats to keep things interesting seemed to help as well. We rotated between cut up hot dogs and sprats.

In the morning, she goes out hungry / fasted / unfed from the night before.
I’ll have a mix of kibble and tasty shit and a thing she can fetch and bring back (because that’s interesting too).

Her litter mate just went into her second season so there’s another excuse.

We got Maxi's recall (lot like yours with greeting other dogs) sorted using a pager. Worth considering if you haven't already. The pager interrupts their thought process - must bomb over to other dog, jump up etc. - then they accept recall - then treat. Didn't take long and now I don't user the pager, really only a safety precaution.

Do you mean an e-collar/shock-collar?

shock-collar

Hopefully he doesn't as these are rightly now illegal

Assume/hope just a vibrating collar. Have seen them used to good effect by a woman who walks to giant pointers near me.

No - literally like a pager. Either vibrates or makes a ping sound. Just reminds your dog that they are supposed to be listening to you rather than haring off or whatever. Dog walker recommended to us.

No shocks involved.

Interesting, not seen that. Do you have a link to the product? Cheers

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C7QDS9P3?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share&th=1

Dog walker did the initial intro, then once she was ok with it, we carried on. Like I say, almost never use it now. Recall good. Ignoring of other dogs unless they want to play, good. Jumping up on random passing people completely fixed.

Some of this may have happened with age, but not all I don't think. It just made her put our whistles / commands at the top of the list to respond to.

Never had a problem with barking so can't comment...

Just never buy a cheap paper from Gaza.