hi guys, our boy Max is 5 months old and his recall is just not there. He comes when not distracted but no chance if a dog is there for him, we most likely made mistakes to get him to this point. Mainly off leading him and letting him go play with unleaded dogs. Our trainer told us to continue to walk and he would follow... no chance. Off lead, he will just run to dogs if he sees them and will walk off into the sunset with them if we didn't go and get him. Hes friendly and all that but its stressful and hard to enjoy walks. From now on we are leading him on any dog encounters and putting him into heel while we pass which isnt that bad if we have high value treats. We might introduce a long lead while we attempt to teach recall. Any tips for recall guys, is this the best process stopping off lead as hes getting to his reward? Also what acme whistle do you guys recommend, we bought the 210.5 already but looking on the acme website, it shows the 211.5 is best for labs? We haven't started training with a whistle yet and im wondering if i should get the 211.5 instead??
Buy the book Total Recall. It has a complete programme for teaching recall for those starting from scratch and those who have a "damaged" recall. I use a 210.5 with my Labs and it's fine. The 211.5 travels over greater distances, but I don't want my dogs to be that far from me anyway
At 5 months they are bound to get distracted easily, Maisy was the same and still is but it is getting better. She is nearly 1 year and in the last few months I have noticed the change in her, she is less distracted by other dogs, she will come to me rather than hold her interest in the other dog. Every time she pays attention to me I reward her and we make it very exciting walking away together. This is really making a difference but what also helps is mixing with other dogs regularly and therefore (I think) losing the novelty value of other dogs. I know what you mean with the stress, a walk is only just becoming enjoyable for me as I was always so worried she would see another dog and I would have to give chase armed with apologies. I tried a whistle but she was so good on the recall I used otherwise (when we were alone) that I stuck with it rather than change things. Some may say they have excellent recall from a very early age but others will have exactly the same problem, so don't worry it will get better for you as Max gets older, he is still learning. One day you will be watching other pups do the same thing and feel really proud of your well behaved dog.
Every time you feed your dog, blow the recall whistle and it will become a habit that he will return automatically when older because he will equate it with good things.
I would do this but my wife complains that the whistle hurts her ears. I can't use it anywhere near her. Fortunately Cooper has a great recall anyway, and while Tilly is mostly deaf, she doesn't wander far.
