Training young dog to follow horse- any tips?

[ilovefells]

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

[Wally]

Long line and lots of swaering

[BklynCwgrl]

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.

[wundahoss]

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!

[shandy84]

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

[Frances]

If you can do this with a terrier, I will be gobsmacked.

I have a Patterdale (with negotiable Border terrier in there somewhere) who, with the best will in the world, would like to follow but is that a bunny over there, who is that I must go and talk to them, what if I just do my own thing and you catch me up later, I think I might just go miles over there because there might be a bunny, bye, whatever...... and so on.

She wants to be good, she loves me more than anything but..... she is a terrier and not to be trusted when that red mist comes down and the bunnies call.

My lurcher will come with me and is fine but a terrier - never ever ever.

And, yes, all this started to happen at about 1 year old! We are now 2, and I would no more dream of taking her off a lead anywhere!!!

[Wally]

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!

[shandy84]

yep mines a collie and really good, although makes me dizzy herding the trap up

[AengusOg]

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.

[CER1389]

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 ;)

[minky]

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.

[shikras mum]

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

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm185/traceyb598/horses/phonepics019.jpg


alby

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm185/traceyb598/horses/puppy015.jpg

[shandy84]

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

[colettybetty]

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 !!!!'

[Frances]

I am so jealous :) I am beginning to feel a complete failure.

But could you guys get your dogs to follow you whilst on horseback through this? Could you call them off the bunny and get them to follow you/accompany you through this type of terrain?
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Frances144/IMG_0920copy.jpg
There are hidden bunnies sitting in the heather everywhere plus their tempting holes. Bunnies in Shetland have no predators - in fact there is a terrible bunny problem. You can almost step on a bunny.

There are also, in places, an abundance of these:-
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e302/Frances144/IMG_7515.jpg

[Wally]

You can almost step on a bunny.

As she so beutifully demonstrated whilst moving the mares a couple of days ago.

[Wally]

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!

[Frances]

It actually gets to the point that you can go outside the front door and the whole vista in front of you heaves with about 100 rabbits running. My lurcher can get to the stage where he just doesn't know where to go next, sits down and gives up.:eek:

Would all your dogs follow you then?

[S_F_S]

Would all your dogs follow you then?

As long as I ran damn quickly after the bunnies.

[colettybetty]

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.

[Wally]

S_F_S - I need no encouraging for dreadful mental images.....you are not helping, you know that don't you?

[Frances]

Horse can't gallop on that - too many bloody bunny holes! Horses rarely break out of walk as they are too busy trying to work out how to get across.

[Miriam]

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

[Lucyad]

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::o!. 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!

[amylou_84]

The only problem i have with flynn is that he is very friendly and thinks horses are big dogs! He ignores them mostly but he has yet to see a horse trot! I think he would try and follow us and join in! Not the safest. But i will first try him on lead with OH and then work up from there.

[dansmum]

We have seven dogs and my Oh and I used to regularly ride out with all of them when we were on the moor. None of them were particularly trained to follow the horses, they just did. I occasionally hack out where I am now with one of my lurchers but I dont seem to have the authority over them that my OH does and if they see a rabbit or a hare they are off:eek: I couldnt risk ever taking them on the roads though.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/lazylurchers/Picture216.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/lazylurchers/Picture310.jpg

[colettybetty]

Nice pics, Dans mum.
Today, daughter hacked Fox accompanied by me on foot with dog. Once we got to bridle path, dog went ahead off lead and led the way. Fox was super confident intrigued at the little terrier fearlessly in front. Nothing spooked her as she followed on behind.
Have noticed the dogs being confidence givers before, when the field flooded and we had fast flowing water cutting them off, the horses refused to cross until the dogs went over and swam through leading them back.

[Pink's lady]

They need to be well trained and reliable with you on the ground before you contemplate taking them out on the horses. If they won't listen whilst your standing right there with them, they certainly won't listen with you on a horse! It is really no different being on a horse as being the ground - they should still respond to voice. If you have a dog that needs to be on a lead, or your physical intervention to keep it under control, don't try it ridden!

I have an older black lab, Melba, who comes everywhere with me on the horses. And I mean EVERYWHERE. Busiest roads, hills, countryparks, moorlands, fields you name it, she comes.

She has no interest in chasing anything, she is extremely well trained and she will NEVER wander about the road. Like Guide dogs, she has been trained to walk on the pavement, of there isn't a pavement she stick as close to the edge of the road as possible. She always, always stops and waits at road junctions, she knows the commands 'wait' (stay exactly where you are and don't move until I tell you otherwise ), 'come' (come and walk along side the horse, on the pavement side), 'in' (if you're on the edge of the road, climb up onto the embankment) and cross (cross over the road in the shortest straight line, onto the other side) and shne follows them instantly. She also has her own road sense and always checks for cars herself before crosssing. ot be frankly honest she's so well behaved I sometimes forget about her:o She has also taught Pink's owners collie to do the same - he learnt the commands by following Melba's lead. He too comes literaly everywhere with us.

Sadly Melba is getting on now and can't keep up when we do a lot of faster work. She is also starting to get deaf as well, so it's getting to the stage it's no longer safe to take her as she can't hear me:( She does so love it though.

Spot the black dog. She is also not the slightest bit interested in sheep. A couple shot right in front of her (when running from us) and she completely and uttterly ignored them. I would trust her implicitly not to chase them. In fact she never chases anything - it just don't interest her.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Pinkslady/Pink/Ridden/westerkinleithshow21stapril2008156.jpg

[sancho]

If you can do this with a terrier, I will be gobsmacked.

I have a Patterdale (with negotiable Border terrier in there somewhere) who, with the best will in the world, would like to follow but is that a bunny over there, who is that I must go and talk to them, what if I just do my own thing and you catch me up later, I think I might just go miles over there because there might be a bunny, bye, whatever...... and so on.

She wants to be good, she loves me more than anything but..... she is a terrier and not to be trusted when that red mist comes down and the bunnies call.

My lurcher will come with me and is fine but a terrier - never ever ever.

And, yes, all this started to happen at about 1 year old! We are now 2, and I would no more dream of taking her off a lead anywhere!!!


Can I join the club pls?

K's only 10 months (JR/Lakeland cross but looks like a patterdale X) and theres no way in hell she's stay close whEn that exciting world beckons!

[Wally]

Patterdales are not Jack Russels, or Borders, they are the skinhead of the terrier world! (and I expect the Lakeland is not far off, from the ones I've met)

Friend use to have borders, and she'd take 6 of them out at once and not one would put a foot wrong. They were ruleable.......... with an iron rod mind! But there were no wabbits where she took them.

Patterdales are the most popular dog for the illeagal sport (for want of a better word) of badger baiting.

I have worked with Russels & Borders, but the Patterdale has made me sit up and take notice, tencaity doesn't even begin to go there!

But having said that, even when Frances' dog is telling you all about how he's going to disembowel you and wear your bladder as a swimming hat, under all that bravado he's a sweet little dog, uses language that would take paint off. The bitch is a verty socialbe little person, but I am afraid wascally wabbits hold too much temptation for them.

......and we have WABBITS. They have been brought up the same as her lurcher who you can call off a wabbit in mid chase, but terriorists........sometimes they will, sometimes they wont.

[Jenni]

my wee border follows me but he is just learning about being round sheep (the hard way i might add!!) so i wouldnt take him up into the hills at the moment.

he will come for a wander with me though i do have to shout on him to keep up as he stops to pee/sniff every blade of grass. Until you trot or canter then he runs alongside me. He is good round horses. even better since he had his first little trod on.
I wouldnt ever consider letting them off the lead around horses if the chase/jump up.

As far as not chasing stuff, he will stop if i roar/growl at him in an evil tone, but the has his border terrier deafness moments. but i have a secret weapon for that! :D

but i never really had to do the getting someone to walk with him/me on the horse thing. He does what he is told (if you use the right tone) so its never been a problem really. I just got on one day and shouted on him and he toddled alongside.

[Miriam]

Patterdales are not Jack Russels, or Borders, they are the skinhead of the terrier world! (and I expect the Lakeland is not far off, from the ones I've met)


I have worked with Russels & Borders, but the Patterdale has made me sit up and take notice, tencaity doesn't even begin to go there!

But having said that, even when Frances' dog is telling you all about how he's going to disembowel you and wear your bladder as a swimming hat, under all that bravado he's a sweet little dog, uses language that would take paint off. The bitch is a verty socialbe little person, but I am afraid wascally wabbits hold too much temptation for them.
.

Lakies are very unrully. Had one and never yet managed to get it to recall. At least the Patterdale is starting too (however what on earth possessed me to take her) Have to agree they are very sociable. Would make friends with a burgler. Deffinately friends with rats. Kills the post however

[annareeves0]

I have a 12 year old slightly arthritic Border Collie who would not be up for a long walk but loves a potter around the field - I am always so worried that one of the horses is going to get fed up or he'll get in the way and they'll kick him - which he is not likely to survive or certainly do some hefty damage which obv I dont want.
When I take him up there I am stressing about this, so he is stressing about me stressing, and horses want to know what Im uptight about and get fidgetty and round and round we go.
Am I worrying unnecessarily? Should I just leave them to get on with it? Dog doesnt really know what to make of them - isnt terrible interested but does try to make himself as little as possible while they are close! Horses just want to check him out.
Horses and dogs seems so natural - are injuries common?

[BklynCwgrl]

Here's Mikki the Wonder Dog. She was a natural trail dog from the day I got her.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o93/bklyncwgrl/mini-HPIM1877.jpg

I do think some breeds are better than others. She does run after rabbits and other trail animals...but she always comes back.

[ilovefells]

Thanks everybody, for the chuckles!! Been busy so I hadn't checked in for a day or two, and the posts are so funny!!:)

I will try very hard to get Metoo (BT pup) to pay attention and stay close to Bo- it isn't going to be easy as she is very used to doing her own thing.

My other 2 terriers (JRT and JRT x) are fabtastic and I would take them anywhere off the lead, but the BT...I dunno.

My daughter laughs as I got in the habit of saying 'show Mummy' when Metoo had something in her mouth that she shouldn't have (usually my glasses- I had to buy 2 new pairs) and now pup knows that instead of 'fetch'!!

Bit embarrasing at obedience when everybody else says 'fetch' and I say 'show mummy'..hmm :rolleyes:

Sorry, gone OT- thanks for the tips and the laughs!!

Sue