Return issues

[RShockley]

Archer is 8 months old and has been doing great with training. He is through FF and in the middle of CC at the trainers. While starting to stretch out his marks he started to want to parade areound with bumpers after retrieves trying to get someone to chase him. Have never played chase with him before.. As soon as he started doing this we took a step back and went back to the check cord to keep it from becoming a major issue. Trainers feel it is just him being a defiant puppy and have suggested we keep the check cord on until we can get him through this stage. They have a good amount of experience with the breed and said they had the same issue with one of his current chessies that Archer behaves very similar to. He is a very smart, independent, and headstrong pup. I have been working a lot on the here command with CC and he is getting much better. On land he doesn't even seem to need a tug on the cord to get him to turn and return. In water he always seems more distracted but is slowly getting better. Any other recommendations on things we can be doing with him to improve return.

[Tim Carrion]

As you work thru and complete CC you will have the means to correct his "playing". A quick toot-toot low grade nic will help him regain his focus. Later just a come in whistle will remind him. While this type of behavior can be annoying it is not the end of the world. Some grow out of playing some don't.
Had a dog that played his whole life on the return of the land go bird by tossing and catching it a few times, especially when he knew he had done well. One of my favorite pictures of him is of the catch of a pheasant on his return. It was taken at the National Amateur.

Pick your battles. It is suppose to be fun for them too!

Tim