Our dog is now 5 months old, retrieves and recalls very well when not too distracted, so I'm putting time into proofing. One question however: If I throw a ball for her and on the way back from fetching it she puts it down to temporarily follow the scent of another dogs trail, then picks it up again and brings it, do I still reward her? Or only if she does it without getting distracted half way through? I'm also proofing her to train her to come when she is tempted by let's say by the BBQ drips on our porch. If I call her and she doesn't repond and I give her a gentle tug on her training line and pull her slightly away from the drippings and she comes, do I reward her? Or only when she comes immediatly without needing a gentle tug?
Reward every recall. At 5 months she's still very much a baby and is going to be distracted from time to time. Make yourself the best option x
Hi there, I would reward the dog for delivering the ball into my hand. However, if your dog is putting the ball down at any point during a retrieve you are exposing her to distractions she is not quite ready for. So you need to think about diluting those distractions, or raising her motivation, until she is able to focus on enjoying the retrieve. You can do this by going back to much shorter retrieves, in less interesting places, with higher value rewards for a while. With recall, I would not tug on her training line or pull her towards me. I would hold it steady to prevent her reaching the reward you don’t want her to have, and wait for her to make a better choice ie coming to you for her reward. Just as with the retrieve, if the dog is failing on the recall, you need to go back and practice a lot of easier recalls where you know that she can win. If coming away from food is an issue, you can practice this in a more controlled way at home. The ‘unlock game’ is great practice for dog that need to learn to make better choices.
