Training young dog to follow horse- any tips?

ilovefells

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Jul 31, 2007
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Hi All, I have a Border Terrier, just coming up to a year old- she is smart little devil, and I have a good bond with her- until a rabbit appears of course!

I want to take her riding with me, and took her for a walk on a lunge while I was leading my mare, so that the pup could get used to walking at Bo's shoulder and not get trampled on! I use the command 'close' and I think she is getting the message about a safe place to be.

We even did a few strides of trot.

My other terriers are totally voice trained, but this Border can go off and do her own thing and of course that won't do near a road.

Has anybody got any tips that moght help? I am taking it slowly and carefully at this stage- my mare is 100% with dogs around her legs.

Thanks! Sue
 
I took each of my dogs on a walk ... and if they followed me....they became my trail dogs.

My St Bernard got side tracked and ran off on his own...so he can't come.

My other dog...a mutt...she just follows along. Runs around sniffing things, chasing the wildlife....but always finds me and the horse and is just FANTASTIC.

I think the good ones are just naturals.
 
In addition to starting on a long line, make sure you have plenty of special treats, to reinforce your dog for not getting side tracked.... or coming when called when side tracked!

As with any training, set it up for success by starting out as easily as possible & building gradually on successes. This means teaching her in an environment without bunnies, other dogs, etc to distract her & only moving into these environs when previous training has been well done. If you've 'programmed' the basics well and she knows she'll earn Extra Special rewards for coming or heeling, you might find you can even call her off a bunny at a distance in mid-chase!
 
My pup walked out with me when I did my walking out and long reining, she learnt being in front is bad and so is directly behind she now runs level to Bag's hip or me if i'm in the cart. She has really good recall which is essential, I also taught her to sit from up above as that makes it easier if we stop for a car. She now comes out with the cart most days and with Bramble on the other days, quite enjoys it now :D
 
Get a collie, they follow you everywhere!

While I am swearing at my dogs to bogg off, Frances is swearing at hers to come here!
 
We've got Border Terriers too, and our old bitch (now deceased) used to come up in the saddle with us; she would jump up on a dyke on command so we could scoop her.

When ours are young we walk them and make a point of hiding from them the instant they lose interest in us. Then when they look up and don't see us they get in a tizz and frantically look for us, whereupon we reappear and make a big fuss of them for 'finding' us.

Such early training is essential to keep terriers in about.

Later we use unannounced changes of direction to keep them on their toes.

When we ride out with them the early training kicks in and they keep a weather eye on us the whole time.

We have two and a small lurcher just now and they are all biddable as long as we, too, pay attention.

They have exercise time and hunting time, and they do know the difference.
 
Zappy Collar!

Friends terrier is very easily distracted by cute little bunnies that just *need* chasing. But the moment he has his collar on, he walks beautiffuly with the horses, and comes immediatley when called.

We don't actually need to use the zappiness, just so long as he wears it his hearing suddenly improves ;)
 
I dont usually post here but I had to reply to this post:D

If you can do this with a terrier, I will be gobsmacked.
I take my three Borders out with my horse and they are fine..thats all together!They are 5yrs,3yrs and 10months, two are hunters through and through the middle one is not interested never has been but if I really holler they come regardless.

I lead ned with dogs along the lane as its quite busy car wise and I just woudnt risk it but other than this they are perfectly well behaved when im on my boy.
I always take a pocket full of dry dog food and when they are just starting to come out with the I horse recall often getting them to stand at horsey's side then throw some food down.I rarely have to look or think about the older two now but obviously the younger dog is still learning so use this call and treat with him. I also do lots of short bursts of trot and canter to keep them on their toes and focused on staying with the horse.
 
Gonna follow this thread with great interest

I have 2 dogs, both Griffon Bruxellois (or brussels griffons). danny is 8, alby is 10 months

danny is great round the horses, has no fear whatsoever

alby is terrified of anything bigger than him so you can imagine what he's like with horses

he shakes violently whenever he's near them, so i'll be interested to read further posts on how to get him used to them

danny

phonepics019.jpg



alby

puppy015.jpg
 
Elle my collie used to be terrified, I have just had to keep taking her up and making her sit in the field and reassure her while they come up, she doesn't trust them but she is now safe to be around them and no longer tries to run off
 
I was wondering the same thing too with my terrier X, shes very good out on walks, comes back from the bunnies when I whistle, each time she comes back she gets loads of praise, so hacking on bridle paths isn't a problem. We have to go down 1/2 mile of country lane to get there and while she'll stand on the verge when I stop and say 'over', I'm not confident enough on horseback to know that she would stay until traffic has passed. Maybe I could carry her in a sling til we get off the road ?:rolleyes:

Talking about the 'red mist' coming down, I had a collie/lab cross who was totally obedient until he spotted a fox. Then he was blind to anything else, remember my 6yr old daughter flying through the air horizontly like Superman when he spotted one, with me hollering 'Let go of the lead !!!!'
 
I was wondering how the Beanbag was still within camera range........then I saw the long line! attached to said beanbag!

By the look on her face there be bunnies, and she's seed them....and is desperate to go and snip a few heads off.......Thought Fly, my collie, had a ballie the other morning and the other one was desperately trtying to get it off her, .....wasn't a ballie, it was a rabbit's head, compete with ears!
 
Yes, Frances, dog would follow, but horse sure wouldn't. In that beautiful landscape, once we'd parted company at a gallop,my mare would be off looking for a nice stallion.
 
S_F_S - I need no encouraging for dreadful mental images.....you are not helping, you know that don't you?
 
Frances

From this to this:

Cute were they not as pups. Middle one is a bog off I'm visiting my mum and wont come back. 2 year down the line we have a recall. She still dithers if there are any other dogs around but she is getting the hang of down and stay whilst I'm close to her so she wont go off and slowly follow me and not them on an open field. Not sure I'd trust her in the area beanies in though. Too much open ground for my likeing at the moment. Starting to think they take after mum who used to jump the wall and escape. However no matter how much Paul has tried to teach Fi to jump glad she dont know what to do :D

Think i got the best of the two :p Kidding I love them both

P.S. Watch out daughter wants your lurcher. Looks like you can keep beanie though :D
 

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I have a german shepherd cross collie who I take with me. She has grown up around the horses so is quite confident around them - when she was young her friend was a welsh section A filly I had, they used to run around after each other having great fun. Consequently she doesnt think of the horses as much different from other dogs. Luckily my horse is of the same opinion, and gets on with her unless she steals his food!

I used to take her out riding my share mare, along farm tracks where you would rarely meet a vehicle (and if you did they would be crawling along over the rocks!). There she wasnt at risk, so our training didnt have to be up to much. The short section of road (literally a few meters) we had to go along could be hair raising though - if a car came and slowed for the horse she had a tendency to think that she knew them, and would jump up at the driver's window:eek::eek:!. I ended up getting off and leading them both most of the time.

Needless to say when I got my own horse at home, she didnt get to come with me, as we have busy roads nearby. I concentrated on teaching her a few basic commands - she already knew 'wait' (for junctions, road crossings etc..), and OK, (ditto). 'In to the side', 'onto the pavement' and 'onto the grass' are our othere essentials, along with 'on you go', and of course 'sit' and 'get down!'. Now she can do these she has graduated to hacking out with me, and always stays just in front of my horse (so I can see her), which actually gives the horse a lot of confidence. if there is anything very spooky ahead, I can send her infront with an 'on you go', and my horse will follow, believing the dog that there is no danger. They make quite a good team. If a car comes I can get her to sit or lie down, though through the villiage she goes on the pavement while we are on the road.

The only problem we have is roundabouts, where the pavement is too broken for her to understand where to go - we have to wait until it is very clear ahead (basically no cars to be seen), and dive across as fast as possible! Luckily they have just opened a cycle track next to our house to horses, so we can now bypass the roundabout for most routes.

She even jumps to heel, gallops to heel, and has done a couple of star turns at local shows doing horse and hound clear round jumping in unison! (though she gets very excited and misses out some!).

Unfortunately she is rubbish at bunnies - will chase them but never catches them. So I had to buy the one I have simmering in the pot just now from the farmer's market!
 
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