I was just wondering..I am slightly disturbed that my Toller puppy seems so independent that even when I am in the garden he takes himself off, over next doors fence, or under the conifers and won't come out. Recall in the house is good, obedience on lead is good, this pup is clever!!  I took him for a short walk across the fields which I do when my pups are young, and call them back to me, hide and call etc..  BUT this one.. he is off, and I had to run in the opposite direction fast for him to come back. I am sure he would have just wandered off forever. HELP please....he is 16weeks old, I have two very obedient bitches of a different breed......

Sounds quite normal for a Toller :)

Daisy

Def. sounds normal for a hound but I thought gundogs were born well behaved :D

Tollers are definately one of the more independent of the gundog breeds, but also one of the most intelligent i think. THey like to be active so he will definately want to run. The best advice i can give you is to make yourself the centre of his world. When out on walks take a toy  out with you that he enjoys and every so often have a game, then stop. Then shortly later call him back again and play again. He will then learn that staying with you is more fun that amusing himself. You are lucky though, i have the opposite to yours, both my dogs can be a little nervy and this is very hard work at times, so the independence signals a very confident pup. :-)

I have seen tollers out working and they are superb, fast and accurate and very obedient.
I do try beleive me to be interesting for him, but his attention span is short and he is off again.
am i to suppose that this is just a toller thing.
I thought of keeping him on a line and keep calling him back and giving lots of praise, and then someone said that when i take off the line he will be off again...
has anyone experience in training tollers ?
thanks

From what I've seen of friends who have 5 or 6 tollers, they are very responsive to training, but are quite hard work and need almost constant work/play

Daisy

It may be that he is going through a "phase" which at 16 weeks would be about right :D

I have a friend with tollers and they are for the most part  not unlike BCs but not so intense. One of her males is very strong minded and i believe went through a similar phase to what you are describing, however it's not unusual for any breed. I guess you are worried about the independence more than the actual not coming back; I would persevere with the training and also make sure your youngster does not get the opportunity to "practice" his behaviour at all. It may be worth keeping him on a long line for a few weeks with plenty of recall practice and games, then lettinghim off somewhere with his long line actually trailing for a week or so so's you can catch him if need be. Remember to make it worth his while to return toyou.

Good luck

Lindsay
X

thanks linsay. I will do that. When I sense that he is off over the fence i say ahghh ahghh in a gruff voice which he doesn't like then have a treat in my hand as he comes towards me. I put a line on him, but find it gets wrapped round everything. I think I am going to have to be one step ahead all the time.