We have a lovely 3 year old GSP dog with a wonderful temperament but just wouldn’t do what we wanted, when we wanted him to do it i.e. he only really return on his own terms whilst out walking. We had also recently had a couple issues with livestock where he jumped over or crawled under fences to chase packs of sheep, which is of course totally unacceptable. Frustratingly he/we had been through a variety of training in the last 3 yrs, including a 4 week residential with a specialist GSP trainer in Wales, but for some reason we just couldn’t get all the basics instilled and with a baby on the way we couldn’t risk my partner to be out walking him off lead if he ran off/after sheep and wouldn’t come back on command.
Enough was enough and time for a change. We did our research and read about Ingrid and her training successes and coupled with the fact she also did livestock training, we thought we would try once again. We travelled up from Cheshire, a reasonably long round trip but we thought it would be worth it if it worked, and we needed it to so we travelled up and met Ingrid who did a brief assessment and we decided to sign up for the training course which included the livestock training at the final stage. I must say at this stage that the thought of instant recall or off lead heel sounded great but I really wasn’t sure if we would actually get it instilled and have it stay after we finished the course.
Upon starting the training it was clear he’d had a level of training instilled previously that we simply hadn’t kept unlocked as he responded almost immediately to Ingrid when it came to a basic such as heeling on lead. Typical I thought, no he’s showing off and showing us up!
In all honestly over the various sessions Ingrid taught us as much as we taught the dog. Its hard work, in that you must do the 4 training sessions a day and not take the dog out for walks until the programme is complete, but stick with it and the results really will happen if you actually apply what Ingrid tells you and in the manner in which she tells you to apply it. Basically don’t be soft, be firm but fair and ensure you keep things consistent with the dog and that each person that trains the dog does it the same way. We also had our dog walker come to the sessions with us and do half of the training sessions in the week as we both work long hours.
After all the hard work by everyone we were amazed that we had a dog that would sit and stay at distance, walk on and off lead to heel and had an almost perfect recall each and every time, even with distractions.
So to finish off we did the training with the sheep. I must admit we were worried about this but it worked with no stress to him or the sheep. Best of all he didn’t (and hasn’t since) shown any interest in sheep. In fact he also takes a wide berth with cattle now and it hasn’t changed his temperament in anyway ie he still enjoys himself running through the woods on the scent of anything with fur or feather, but now if we want him back, he responds to the whistle every time.
What we are most pleased about is that it’s now 3 months since we finished the training and we are so glad to say he gets better and better. We often say that it’s like having a wonderful new dog who still has all the lovely traits he’s had from a puppy. This training really has shown us that it’s as much down to us as owners/handlers to put in the time and always be consistent. The training has also helped us with our other furry friend, a 6 yr old Vizsla.
Thanks Ingrid!!
Sam Light and Jaegar, Cheshire
