Training a kelpie pup. Questions

Discussion in 'Australian Kelpie' started by Shona Lawrie, Aug 28, 2021.

  1. Shona Lawrie

    Shona Lawrie New Member

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    Training a kelpie pup.

    Hello everyone.
    I am in desperate need of some help. We have had 5 Australian kelpies over the years, male and female and have never had any problems training them until now. We have 2 kelpies at present - an 18 month old black and tan male who is the teacher's pet. Loves to please, obeys every command and is generally the best kelpie we have ever owned. As we live on 154 acres we wanted to give him a friend so we bought a little female red and tan at Christmas time. She is now 10 months old and in all honesty is untrainable. She will only come when she is called when she wants which is rarely. Usually if I call her she will run off in the opposite direction. The farmer next door runs cows and she runs over to bark at them and generally make a nuisance of herself although there is no meanness in her. She has her affectionate moments but refuses to do as she is told. She had a tough start health wise but we love her but want her to be obedient. I am at my wits end with her. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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  3. Queensland blue

    Queensland blue Member

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    Hi , well they have my vote for the smartest breed , so it sounds a bit unusual yes .

    Not knowing the situation there ,
    All I could do is throw out ideas that come to mind .

    I’ve seen the second “new” dog companion for another dog become the problem before , however being that you’ve had this one from a pup , you’d expect it would be free from bad habits before it arrived.

    so how it has learned them would be worth delving into , or how much discipline has been given and at what times (age for example). Also if the dog has been taken aside separately , on leash if need be to learn the ropes away from the other dog , so you have it’s attention .

    Sometimes having 2 dogs can make your ideas secondary to the dogs own agenda as it can see your place in the pack as such .

    again don’t know your experience for training , they are certainly easy dogs to pick up on things.

    so again it does seem unusual .
    Could it be it has been given more than an inch , and has taken the mile Instead ?

    when I train a pup I always say I have to give it an inch at first , so it won’t take a mile later .

    what I mean is , I have to gradually introduce it to having the freedom to go beyond my command for its own safety .

    before I gradually build up to giving greater room for that trust to be returned like when being called back , and so on .

    so things like the long lead and treats to come back to begin .

    for the dog to progress , it must show itself to be obedient .

    simple stuff however , again I don’t know your situation , I am saying if it was a free spread from the get go with the pup , then trying to rein it in later after the boundaries were blurred , and became unrecognizable may have occurred .

    so a rewind and start back at the start .
  4. Shona Lawrie

    Shona Lawrie New Member

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    Thanks for responding so quickly. We will endeavour to spend more one on one time with her. She is so very easily distracted and once something catches her attention she turns deaf!! She had very short boundaries to begin with and we gradually opened up but we have had to shorten them again. It's just going to take longer with this one I think. She is a beautiful young dog but stubborn as a mule with a will of iron. Thanks for the help.
  5. Queensland blue

    Queensland blue Member

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    No probs , the older pup I have now took a longer time to train also .
    As the other dog I already had had picked up things so easily , it was a surprise to get a pup to keep her company that needed to be slowly taught.
    He didn’t know how to come either Which I thought was strange .

    anyway he is good as gold now .

    I took him aside by himself in the afternoon to learn .

    loves learning for treats , schmackos he likes , or dried liver treats .

    he was so enthusiastic to do what I asked , I’d get a sit with an excited bark even with it sometimes .
    His bum would hit the floor super fast when I discovered the treats he liked .

    another thing I have for them is a whistle , it’s a bushwalkers type rescue whistle . About the pitch of a smoke alarm beep.

    so if the dogs were 2 hills away they could find their way back , a couple quick toots gets their attention really quickly .

    this with the treats when in the open and the dog is free is another trick we worked on .
    A couple suggestions I can recommend .

    once they’ve got it they’ve got it .
  6. Shona Lawrie

    Shona Lawrie New Member

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  7. Shona Lawrie

    Shona Lawrie New Member

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    Oh yes they love their treats! Every pocket we own has liver treats in them and they get filled up daily! The whistle idea sounds really good - thanks again.
  8. Shona Lawrie

    Shona Lawrie New Member

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  9. Queensland blue

    Queensland blue Member

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    A couple of real beauties !
  10. Chris

    Chris Member

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    What training have you done with her so far?
  11. Queensland blue

    Queensland blue Member

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    well they remind me of Batman and robin with their masks on in the pic :)

    add some capes and it would be a real howl .

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