Dog trainers on the west side of Edinburgh

[ericthepen]

Can anyone recommend a good one ?

I have just taken on a Podengo from Portugal, she has energy to burn. Being a hunting dog, her instinct is to look for prey.I do not feel confident in letting her off the lead on our extended walks,that I would ever see her again.

She was found at the side of the road a year ago with a broken back leg. Friends in Portugal,who have 4 rescue dogs already, took her in and got all the vets things sorted out. She was never off the lead with them and their dogs,but occasionally got away, always to return, the scent of the 4 other dogs ?

I have a fairly large yard to the front of my house, where she can go "bananas".I would though like to take her other places to run around, but trust her to return.

She is very good with other dogs,overcoming initial nervousness.

So can anyone recommend a dog trainer to help me out and give Rubi( found on a Tuesday and Portugese spelling), a bit more freedom ?

TIA

[Tazio]

Get a muzzle. A friend has one and she’s still got a very strong prey instinct that can’t be trained out of her. Rabbits are fair game but if she sees wee furry dogs or cats she presumes they are fair game as well. There were a few frantic chases around camp sites when they first got her. 

[Dawnrazor]

17 minutes ago, Tazio said:

Get a muzzle. A friend has one and she’s still got a very strong prey instinct that can’t be trained out of her. Rabbits are fair game but if she sees wee furry dogs or cats she presumes they are fair game as well. There were a few frantic chases around camp sites when they first got her. 

Good advice.

It's a great thing you've done for the dog.

You've got a Hound, both sight and scent, if it looses sight of what it pecieves as it's prey, it's then going to drop it's nose and follow the scent, there is absolutely nothing, or as close to nothing as you can get, you're going to be able to do about that, you'll be fighting against hundreds of years and thousands of generations of selected breeding for these traits.

Get a muzzle, probably better with a harness rather than a collar, and an extendable lead for when you're out for a walk. Make sure it's microchipped and the chip is registered at you're home address and keep up the contact details.

You'll be able to do basic obedience in your garden, work hard on the stop and recall, get a whistle, an Acme 210, practice your recall in your garden, I use four sharp short blasts, the stop is a single blast. Just remember, and be honest with yourself, if the dog isn't stopping when you blow the stop command and returns to the recall command EVERY TIME in your garden when there is no distractions, there's NO way it'll obey the commands when you're out and there are sight and scent distractions all over the place.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy having the dog 👍

Edited April 7 by Dawnrazor

[Jim_Duncan]

Korean lad down the street from me says he’ll make sure your dog never gives you any hassle again. 

[cannonfoda]

Look up lothlorian dog training in lithgy.  Claire the owner is a brilliant trainer despite being a hibbie.  

[Lone Striker]

Podencos are big strong beasts, but absolutely adorable at the same time.   As @Dawnrazor says, use a harness and not a neck collar.  

 

Be prepared for the disappointment of probably never being able to let it off the lead on walks  though - I'm fairly sure a professional dog trainer will come to that conclusion too.   Their prey & hunting instinct is just too strong.

 

There's quite a few "run free"  secure dog fields nowadays - but you really need to check them out for  suitable fence height first - big hounds can jump a 4 foot fence no problem, and they might try to jump bigger fences with the likelihood of injuring  their underside & legs.

 

You're doing a wonderful thing buy giving a dog in need a new home - and a combo of on-lead walks plus a  regular run-free time in a secure field will give you a lot of satisfaction.

 

The only dog trainer I've used is out in the Falkirk area - Eleanor McCall.

 

Good luck !!

 

 

Edited April 7 by Lone Striker

[il Duce McTarkin]

3 hours ago, Jim_Duncan said:

Korean lad down the street from me says he’ll make sure your dog never gives you any hassle again. 

 

This.

[Pap]

OP. Arent you an auld man? 

 

Dont know what your thinking taking this dog on

 

Once it learns English, you'll be good to be dragged 👍

 

 

[ericthepen]

11 hours ago, Dawnrazor said:

Good advice.

It's a great thing you've done for the dog. My friends hav 4 rescue dogs in Portugal,one had been in a rescue centre there for 7 years. they were looking for a "forever" home for Rubi. I went across to meet her last October, when it wasn't practical to bring her over.

You've got a Hound, both sight and scent, if it loses sight of what it perceives as it's prey, it's then going to drop it's nose and follow the scent, there is absolutely nothing, or as close to nothing as you can get, you're going to be able to do about that, you'll be fighting against hundreds of years and thousands of generations of selected breeding for these traits.That is what I am well aware of,.

Get a muzzle, probably better with a harness rather than a collar, and an extendable lead for when you're out for a walk. Make sure it's microchipped and the chip is registered at you're home address and keep up the contact details.She is the medium sized Podengo, they come in three sizes the largest used for hunting boars etc the most. She is very good around other dogs and given a treat I can hold it it 3/4" big and she will bite off the part not in my fingers. I use a harness and an extendable lead. To come from Portugal, she had to have 6 different,vet approved passport stamps. Chipped, wormed,flea vac, neutered, and myself as UK owner,and not a dealer,obviously rabies as well. The  checking was extremely and rightly so strict , all had to be time stamped to be relevant and allow her out of Portugal.

You'll be able to do basic obedience in your garden, work hard on the stop and recall, get a whistle, an Acme 210, practice your recall in your garden, I use four sharp short blasts, the stop is a single blast. Just remember, and be honest with yourself, if the dog isn't stopping when you blow the stop command and returns to the recall command EVERY TIME in your garden when there is no distractions, there's NO way it'll obey the commands when you're out and there are sight and scent distractions all over the place. Good advice on how to use the whistle, which I have, with her.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy having the dog 👍 For my mental as  well as physical health, the responsibility having a dog entails,making sure she is happy is tantamount, my needs are secondary.

 

[ericthepen]

Rubi is the medium size Podengo, not the larger size,which I would not have considered, taking on.

[ericthepen]

11 hours ago, Tazio said:

Get a muzzle. A friend has one and she’s still got a very strong prey instinct that can’t be trained out of her. Rabbits are fair game but if she sees wee furry dogs or cats she presumes they are fair game as well. There were a few frantic chases around camp sites when they first got her. 

Terriers can be as bad, Jack never wanted to get back in the car,after having a good run and walk. He was ever only on the lead,where I may have encountered motorbikes.

3 hours ago, Pap said:

OP. Arent you an auld man? 

 

Dont know what your thinking taking this dog on

 

Once it learns English, you'll be good to be dragged 👍

 

 

Definition of auld ? :-) 

[PortyJambo]

15 hours ago, Dawnrazor said:

You'll be able to do basic obedience in your garden, work hard on the stop and recall, get a whistle, an Acme 210, practice your recall in your garden, I use four sharp short blasts, the stop is a single blast. Just remember, and be honest with yourself, if the dog isn't stopping when you blow the stop command and returns to the recall command EVERY TIME in your garden when there is no distractions, there's NO way it'll obey the commands when you're out and there are sight and scent distractions all over the place.

Good luck and I hope you enjoy having the dog 👍

We've got an 8 month old Collie/Retriever cross, and her recall is getting pretty good, and we've now trained her for an "emergency" recall with a whistle and a pouch of cat food as a reward (she only gets it with the whistle, so knows what that means).

 

That's worked well, but our trainer (Borders area, so not what the OP is looking for) who suggested that also said you have to realise that there are times when any recall and reward are just not going to work, when the dog's instinct will take over. All you can really do is try to avoid situations when you know it won't work (once you know what they are) and not take the dog off the lead if you know the distraction is likely to be there.

 

With the OP having a dog with such strong hunting instincts, it's going to be hard to find a situation where they can be off lead. As others have said, they might never be able to outwith a fenced secure area. Luckily there are quite a few dog parks set up now where you can safely let your dog have a good run about off the lead.

[Spellczech]

I was checking out cars with the wife at Eastern Toyota a week ago and this dog growled at me as I walked past. The owner moved towards it in a reflexive way, and I thought "that's unusual". 5 minutes later a sales guy came to the that group and the dog immediately bit him!  Too many unsocialised, untrained dogs around - get a muzzle or you could lose the dog.

[Jim_Duncan]

22 minutes ago, Spellczech said:

Too many unsocialised, untrained people around

FTFY

[Dawnrazor]

1 hour ago, PortyJambo said:

We've got an 8 month old Collie/Retriever cross, and her recall is getting pretty good, and we've now trained her for an "emergency" recall with a whistle and a pouch of cat food as a reward (she only gets it with the whistle, so knows what that means).

 

That's worked well, but our trainer (Borders area, so not what the OP is looking for) who suggested that also said you have to realise that there are times when any recall and reward are just not going to work, when the dog's instinct will take over. All you can really do is try to avoid situations when you know it won't work (once you know what they are) and not take the dog off the lead if you know the distraction is likely to be there.

 

With the OP having a dog with such strong hunting instincts, it's going to be hard to find a situation where they can be off lead. As others have said, they might never be able to outwith a fenced secure area. Luckily there are quite a few dog parks set up now where you can safely let your dog have a good run about off the lead.

I'd not agree with that for the dog you have, both Collies and Retrievers have for hundreds of years and thousands of generations been bred to listen to and obey signals and take directions at long distances, you've got a dog made up of the two most trainable and obedient breeds ever produced, you've only to watch a Hill Shepherd work a Collie up and down a hill to see the obedience levels attainable, the same for a Labrador or Golden Retriever, you can watch some field trials on YouTube, a handler lining up a Lab, sending it out for blind retrieve (a bird down that the dog never saw fall) then blow the stop whistle and direct the dog, send it left,  right or further back, or slow it down and instruct it to hunt a small area all on whistle commands at up to two hundred plus yards.

 

[PortyJambo]

10 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

I'd not agree with that for the dog you have, both Collies and Retrievers have for hundreds of years and thousands of generations been bred to listen to and obey signals and take directions at long distances, you've got a dog made up of the two most trainable and obedient breeds ever produced, you've only to watch a Hill Shepherd work a Collie up and down a hill to see the obedience levels attainable, the same for a Labrador or Golden Retriever, you can watch some field trials on YouTube, a handler lining up a Lab, sending it out for blind retrieve (a bird down that the dog never saw fall) then blow the stop whistle and direct the dog, send it left,  right or further back, or slow it down and instruct it to hunt a small area all on whistle commands at up to two hundred plus yards.

 

The trainer did say it to a class of several types of dogs, so could be it was more a general comment rather than specific to our dog. She has been good so far at recall, with no instances where the whistle didn't work, so hopefully that is the case that she'll be fine.

 

She did say too that our dog is a pet but, the same as you, said the breeds are some of the most trainable types around so, if we wanted to train her to a greater degree, she could be highly responsive to all commands and actually wants to be trained, unlike some dogs.

 

We've noticed a huge difference in how quickly she picks up command compared to our last dog, a Jack Russell cross, who was a stubborn little bitch

Edited April 8 by PortyJambo

[Dawnrazor]

6 minutes ago, PortyJambo said:

The trainer did say it to a class of several types of dogs, so could be it was more a general comment rather than specific to our dog. She has been good so far at recall, with no instances where the whistle didn't work, so hopefully that is the case that she'll be fine.

Good to hear she's doing well👍

Over the piece, the trainer is probably right, especially when you lump in the Beagles and Dachshunds, they're just Hounds, bred to follow their instincts and be gathered up at the end of the day!

It amazes me that people will spend thousands of pounds on a totally unsuitable breed for them without doing any research on the breeds history, then stand back, scratch their arse and moan that their Beagle/Dachshund never listens and just buggers off into the distance 😆

Edited April 8 by Dawnrazor

[Tazio]

48 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

Good to hear she's doing well👍

Over the piece, the trainer is probably right, especially when you lump in the Beagles and Dachshunds, they're just Hounds, bred to follow their instincts and be gathered up at the end of the day!

It amazes me that people will spend thousands of pounds on a totally unsuitable breed for them without doing any research on the breeds history, then stand back, scratch their arse and moan that their Beagle/Dachshund never listens and just buggers off into the distance 😆

Someone I work with has a dachshund (she one of this trendy types) lovely wee thing, really friendly but a lazy wee sod. They were picking up a camper van they were hiring and the dog vanished. They eventually found it hiding under a shed next to the hirer’s house. With the remains of the family’s pet rabbit 🤣. So instincts are indeed there no matter what you think of a dog. 

[ericthepen]

Rubi,got out my "enclosed"yard area yesterday and ran around to the big park behind,where I have been taking  her daily,to familiarise her with the area. With the help of another couple we eventually "caught" her, she's not daft,she knows the lead is going on and avoids it, treat or no treat.

Today in the park, there were a lot of other dogs, so I let her off and she played with them. Had  a whale of a time,she is very sociable, brought up with four other dogs. She did not come back freely, to be put on the lead again. She'll take a treat, but know how much distance to keep from the lead being put on. I led her to an area,I knew I could catch her, but I might not get away with that again.. My friends who rescued her,could only get the lead on her ,when at their gate and all the dogs were ready to go for their walks. Where they live in Portugal,surrounded by forest there are wild boar and deer, Hunters allowed in there on a Thursday and Sunday, dogs, apart from the locals ones (who are mostly wild anyway,or treated as such) always on the leads

In an unfamiliar place, I would never dare take her off the lead. We do have long walks, through the likes of the Dell and yes, I have her on the extending lead, so she can sniff about at will. Also long pavement walks as this is good to wear the claws down naturally.

 A lot of good and informed information here,that I appreciate, also knowing certain breeds have to be kept active and interested. Rubi,will never be a "ball" or "stick" dog, so it is a question also of, making sure her life is not too mundane ?