Good Afternoon,

It is amazing to me the intelligence of the Chesapeake. I have been following the video "Gun Dog" in my of my 11 week old pup, and with the help of the video he has taken numerous steps forward.

He has almost completely stopped nipping at me during training, with the exception of the occasional play. He has learned to stay until i call him with "here, here." He has almost completely mastered "sit." He is truly an intelligent dog.

I guess this is just a bragging post, but it is important to me that his accomplishments be posted! Im not quite sure why anyone would buy a lab?

Josh

Josh

We all brag on our buddies...we feel your pride..we have them too...

Keep up the goodwork and have patience. Gauge will do you proud.

Do us all a favor and fix your avatar, it only shows half a picture. We would like to see what gauge looks like, you know put a face to a name.

Later and have fun, they get big so fast.

Jeff

Sorry it took so long, I couldn't figure out the avator changing thing!

Well here is gauge! He is bird crazy and loves to retrieve in the water. Probably the most intelligent pup I have ever worked with, and he is my first chessie!

Josh

Josh

He looks like a nice buddy...at least you realize you are now ruined for life. They tend to be very intelligent dogs or at least very in tuned with their folks. You will be amazed how closely they bond with you. I hope you have many years of enjoying your brown clown....

Jeff

Thank you for the compliments. I have a couple new photos, and I am going to be changing them daily. Here is the first, it is of todays pigeon retrieves.

I just realized how silly I sound bragging so much! I am sorry if I sound redundant, because I am sure all of you have been through this before!

I guess I am just so use to labs, that I am sort of impressed with the dog himself! This is an intellectual breed, and I am kicking myself for spending so much time hunting over labs.

Josh

Josh, No Problem!! Glad we have another "Chessie for life" member to our "club". Remember, 'Chessie, it's not just a dog,
it's a way of life'. I too am a first time owner of a Peake (lab before) and constantly amazed at their abilities. You will find you are more and more impressed each day that passes. Once you are hooked...no other dog will do. Charlie

though i am still concerned about what i consider aggression. For example, a few minutes ago I took a sock out of his mouth and he groweled meanly and nipped at me. But I am trying my hardest to teach him.

I guess that should get better with age and wisdom

Josh, That example is not really aggression to worry about now. I'll explain. If he (you never mentioned his name?) would
growl or bear his teeth at you without removing the sock then you have a concern. He growled because you took away his toy
or plaything (sometimes a puppy views such as a security blanket). Remember he is young, 11 weeks, and doesnot understand.
Does he growl, nip, bite, unprovoked? Does he show 'aggression' (loose term -might not be aggression at all) at anyone just because they are near, in his area (space)? Tries to bite when approahed? These are AGGRESSION problems that must immediately be addressed.However, taking away a toy (this young) isn't something to panic about yet. Also, if he will try to persue or chase you after removing the sock would be a concern.
Approach to this unwanted behavior to correct is extremely important. You do not want to instill fear in him my correction
or you will truely have an aggressive dog. You will want to correct his niping/biting when taking a toy, ball, whatever out
of his mouth early because if left unchecked and allowed to continue, this response/reaction with him will intensify. You
also do not want him in the future maintaining this behavior (besides obvious reasons) but if you want to hunt with him, you will never get the game/fowl from him (atleast unshredded - term called "hog-mouth").
When you said you removed the sock, did you just try to pull it out or away from him? Suggustion. Try talking to him, siting beside him, then remove i. (if you just approached him and pulled it out of his mouth compared to petting/comforting
him, then removing the sock makes a big difference in his interpretation and response. Good Luck - Charlie

quote:

Originally posted by gauge:
I guess I am just so use to labs, that I am sort of impressed with the dog himself! This is an intellectual breed, and I am kicking myself for spending so much time hunting over labs.

Josh

Given all the "common knowledge" out there about Chesapeake trainability, I was floored by my first, which was like working with the smartest, most eager to learn kid in the class compared to the good pointing dogs I'd brought on before him. And the three Chessie pups since have all soaked up their training like sponges, as well. Maybe just lucky...

He is great with kids, and strangers! He is wonderful with other dogs. He only seems to growl when I am taking a toy from him, or if when he trys to have rough play /which i don't allow/.

I am trying to avoid all corrective discipline, and i am praising him for everything done right! All in All, he has gotten better every day. Even his puppy chewing seems to keel a little bit daily, so I am not extremely worried about it!

So far, I think I am doing everything close to right! Even the trainer i go to two times a week thinks he is amazing, and that is the same guy that tried to talk me out of a chesapeake in the first place! Don't get me wrong, he has never talked bad about the breed. He was just concerned I would get in over my head.

All in All, he is really fitting up to my expectations. And he is in a loving, comforting home!

A lot of chessies are unjustly corrected for growling or raising their lips in an alleged snarl, when, in fact they are actually taling and smiling.....they will often do it if intimadated, and especially if they have something in their mouth, so it's important to be able to read your dog and don't judge what they are doing just on the basis of other breed behavior or noise! With a puppy it's harder to tell because they may be just testing this endearing behavior, then they get punished when they were only doing the chessie thing by vocalizing!!!

Please read your dog, and contrary to what Knight Rider suggested, alpha rolls are not necessaryly the best correction for chessies, esp. puppies, as it can caused them to fight back if you don't know what you are doing when you do it.

A field trainer told me years ago, the best corrections are quick and without verbalization. Usually a good NO! works with perhaps an ear jerk, then get on with business, esp. with a puppy.

You have to be fair with a chessie or you can create more problems than you will fix, so make sure you are reading your dog correctly and proceed accordingly.

Hereagain, these are not labs or goldens and usually don't hold up well to the same type of corrections.

Kathy Miller

Josh, your statement "He is great with kids, and strangers! He is wonderful with other dogs. He only seems to growl when I am taking a toy from him, or if when he trys to have rough play /which i don't allow/." confirms my suspicions that his behavior is not aggression. As I previously said, and Kathy as well, how you choose to 'correct' what you perceive is a problem can cause more harm than good. Night Train advice is UNAPPROPRIATE when dealing with a Chessie. Chessies are strong
willed, self-secure dogs who will not fair to corrective measures that will challenge him. The "alpha" approach will not do
when trying to instill behaviors. As Kathy said, "You have to be fair with a chessie or you can create more problems than you will fix, so make sure you are reading your dog correctly and proceed accordingly." Mis-interpretation of the dogs body language, vocalization, intentions, and such will impede your training and most likely cause irreversible problems.
Also, a point worth considering - when trying to remove a sock, ball, tug toy, bumper, etc from his mouth; if the dog, esp a retreiver & esp a Chessie, does not want to release it, DO NOT pull on it (Tug-Of-War game) or you will inadvertantly be 'challenging' the dog. Again, a Chessie is NOT to be challenged this way because of the nature of this breed. Charlie

quote:

Also, a point worth considering - when trying to remove a sock, ball, tug toy, bumper, etc from his mouth; if the dog, esp a retreiver & esp a Chessie, does not want to release it, DO NOT pull on it (Tug-Of-War game) or you will inadvertantly be 'challenging' the dog. Again, a Chessie is NOT to be challenged this way because of the nature of this breed. Charlie

Well said.....also don't pull up when trying to remove something from a dog's mouth as they will just hang on tighter! The lower jaw is hinged to move downward. If you pull up, it's the dog's natural inclination to hold on tight. If you PUSH down, you will push the jaw down and open, and can easily remove the item from their mouth.

Most people try to pull the item up and out of the mouth, so only make the problem worse.

Kathy Miller

I notice with my pup that he was reluctant to come to me with something in his mouth. I then went to my knees (more his level) He never hesitated to come to me after i did that. Just remember like i told you in the other post, he is just a baby at this point. A little pup looking up five to six feet at you! Puppy training is not hard. In fact put yourself in his place to the extreme and tell yourself, what would you react to, physical abuse,(even minor) yelling at, a beating, ect. I am not suggesting you have done this, however use this analogy as a tool for puppy training.

Wolters or Walters???

Wolters! He sort of looks like a wolf, you would know what i mean if you ever saw the video!

And just so everyone knows. Gauge has started showing a ton of affection! I think he finally got the clue that he has a "family" and that we arent going anywhere.

Josh

I will disagree with Kent, I like Wolter (Gun Dog, water Dog etc) and I usually will refer first time puppy owners to his books. I use a little bit of his, little bit of about everyone elses for what will work the best.

I think what Kent was eluding to is that Wolter's has the cookie cutter lab program. Chessies will march to the beat of their own drummer and some people get into problems by trying to make the Chessie fit the lab mold (time table etc.) Chessie learn quick to please their owner and they can get confused if you try to push too many things on them at one time.

Once they learn something (correctly or incorrectly) it is hard to get them to change their tune..like some of us on this forum...LOL...

They are not too big on repetative drills. I try to keep the drills short in duration and always try to end positively even if it means after some stress... we shoot some flyers or use the dummy launcher....

Anyway read and watch various training videos especially Chessie training and take what you can use and lose the rest.....IMHO...

There is a Walter that was a very good old time trainer and I am sure that is who Kent was not refering to...

Later and good luck

Jeff

I hope that wasn't aimed at me

gauge, FYI everyone here is an expert! In their own mind. Every dog is different and you must adapt to the individual dog and make adjustments. My 9 year old chessie that just passed hunted for some of richest people in america in the california central valley by invite! My suggestion would be to take all information here and use what works for your dog and his personality in bits and pieces. Everyone here has great intentions and thinks they have the perfect dog. In fact my dog wasnt registered or titled. She could hunt though! Make it work for you and the dog! that is what makes a great hunting team!