Hi all Been a viewer of the forum for .a while but this is my first post. I have a nearly 11 month old black female called Nia. Just as context Nia is a classic lockdown puppy I suppose. I work from home so she gets 2-3 decent walks a day. We signed up for puppy classes right from when we got her but they had to go online. We are currently on the second class face to face and she is OK at these but certainly no high achiever! The issue is last 2 days Nia has refused to recall. Yesterday's walk was pretty stressful as my youngest daughter was with us and started crying (she's 9 and loves Nia to bits) as she was doing 'fly pasts' but not stopping and ended up chasing ducks in the river. My daughter managed to grab Nia when she ran up to a passing dog. I tried to put that down to a one off and thought I won't let her off at the little park in the village again. This morning was different and to be honest really quite stressful and scary. I took Nia for a walk up the local hill where we don't tend to see anyone and I normally let her off the lead and she always recalls for a treat. Today was totally different. She ran past me numerous times and as we returned down the hill we were getting close to a busy road. She seemed to be having a prolonged bout of the zoomies and was coming close but then running past me. In desperation I pretty much rugby tackled her to get her back on the lead. I've always enjoyed my walks with her and letting her off the lead to run. Now I can't imagine letting her off the lead again in any setting. It was a horrible start to the day and I feel like such a failure as a dog owner to be perfectly honest. Has anyone had similar experiences and any tips for how to try to address this. Thanks in advance
Hi tdkjonx Buy a 10m long line. Don't take it off until you have rock solid recall. Use high-value treats to reinforce the dog when she recalls properly. Get a copy of Total Recall and work through the exercises in the book.
Do you do any retrieving training with her? It helps to get them keen on the retrieve item (a ball is fine and practical to take out on walks). When she is slightly ahead of you (on her long line if you follow Michael A Brooks' valuable advice) and not looking, recall and throw her ball when she's coming. Then try recalling her and hunting her onto a ball you have tucked into some long grass. Make every recall for something great (sometimes a treat is just not good enough). Also try walking her before meals when she is hungry and take her whole meal with you on her walk. Reward every retrieve with a handful of her breakfast/dinner. Mix this up with the ball. Make sure you always send her off again to sniff after a recall.
New to this forum. But my girl is 2 1/2. Her recall is 95% of the time and the 5% she’ll come if I run away and blow whistle. She has had 3 seasons now. Every time she is in season there is no recall. Nothing works. Until she has finished her season then her recall goes back to how it was before. Has she been in season ?
