Has anyone used training discs? If so did you get training first and what was your experience?

I have had it with Morse and the hi ho silver as he flushed and chased a cat out of bushes where we walk in the mornings, pursued it into its garden and had to be hauled off. Had a car come down that road hed be dead, if I were less fit the cat would be dead. You all know Ive put serious work into being the most fun person on the  planet, training his recall and it works till the blood comes up and the chase is on. Just to let you know the cat had no injuries and I did chap the door and tell the owners what happened.

Yes Lorelei - I've used them :) (MIKKI dog discs) they should come with a booklet and you habituate the dog to them before trying to use them to stop him chasing etc.  The Booklet explained things very clearly and was easy to use :)  

The length of time it takes for the dog to understand what they mean varies with the dog, my dog cottoned on really quickly(matter of minutes)  but my B-in-law's Sheltie took days to "get it"   Once they understand the 'message' the discs are merely moved in the hand and are very effective.

I understand what you are talking about, my Bedlington has a very high prey drive and would also probably be dead (along with a few cats) if I hadn't used these  

Good luck with this, it can be so demoralising when all your training seems to out the window at the mere smell/sight of a cat or fox.

Hi Lorelei
I know from reading the posts that you have worked hard with your dog, just keep hanging in there. I have to admit my ignorance here and ask what are training disks??

It can be very difficult when you know you are working hard to train your dog - but sometimes they don't oblige. How old is your dog?

Hi Manxpat, hes 2 now. Training discs are little metal circles that chime when thrown but dont chime in your pocket. John Fisher developed them but the principle of aversion is very old - casting chains were used before to startle a bolting dog into running back to the safety of the owner. I have chucked his lead over his head before now to arrest the hi ho, so now he tries to take off even faster to get out of range ! Hes no daft. He dosent run to other dogs or people without permission or even trot into undergrowth without checking for a signal now but when theres game about or cats get close enough to be exciting he really goes for it. I want the consequences to happen when hes at a distance so I dont say anything when I t=get him back,just pop him on lead then do something I can praise him for before letting him off again when the coast is clear. Ill have to talk to my mentor again.

We were shown by a behaviourist how to use the discs.  We started to use them straight away and to good effect for the first two weeks. Sadly, by week three in spite of not 'over using' them, Barney had grown accostomed to them and started ignoring them - after all, nothing bad happened if he didn't react to them. We referred the problem back to the behaviourist and she said that she had wondered if this may happen given Barney's personality and we are trying other things now.  Unfortunately, we are stumped so far when it comes to finding a way to prevent unwanted behaviour in a true rebel like our dog, but you may find that they work for yours - a lot seems to depend on the character of the dog and whether it is effective for that character type. Worth a try.