Hello! First post here. I've walked my puppy off-lead whenever possible, and he always recalled. Still, I always put him back on-lead when I saw another dog, people, or a car. But recently he started running into every single backyard or driveway we passed. I can recall him every time, but its a pain. And in the farm fields, he started running off to hunt for poop or old corn to eat. Once he's ~20 meters away, he ignores the recall, so I have to walk through the field to get closer (then he comes to me, or I grab his leash). I posted this issue on Reddit, and everyone replied that I was an idiot for ever having a 6 month off-lead and I should wait another year before I put him off-lead. Anyways, I now do 5 mins of 'heel' training, followed by a loose (~4 meter long) leash walk for a while, then another 5 mins of heel training. And I've stopped off-lead entirely for the last week. As we walk past the fields I can see the puppy desiring to run off and eat old corn (or whatever it is)... I thought I'd ask to see everyone's thoughts on the matter. I don't want to only go on-lead for the next 6 months, and find all ability to go back off-leash gone when he's 1 year. Thanks!
Welcome from Hattie 10 years and our rescue boy Charlie 7 years. How unkind of people to call you an idiot for having your pup off lead which is rubbish. Try to keep him close to you by engaging with him playing games, some retrieving, tug, rewarding him everytime he looks at you, play hide 'n seek, run in the opposite direction, train a handtouch. Maybe keep him on lead when passing the backyards, driveways etc. could he run into the road? Use high value treats for his recall, let him off lead and occasionally put him back on lead and so on so that he knows his fun is not always going to end. I highly recommend Total Recall, work through the exercises which will help to strengthen his recall. What's your pups name? x
Hi and welcome. Your pup is starting to gain independence and needs to go back to basics with recall and staying close. As Helen says above, playing games, having high value treats with you should help. My girl was off lead from 10 weeks old. We have had to go back to basics sometimes but consistency has helped. I play a lot of games which keeps her engaged with me,
I have a couple of points from your initial post: This is absolutely fine, of course, to keep your dog safe and out of trouble, but I would also put your dog on lead at other times, and unclip him immediately, or walk a few paces and unclip him. Make sure he gets a reward for having the lead attached. It's very easy to end up with a dog who plays keep-away when he starts associating the lead with restraining him from something exciting, so you need to reinforce it more than you use it as a potentially punishing experience. The fastest way to break your recall is by over-using it. I aim to never use my recall, and constantly train it. By that, I mean I set up training scenarios for it in every walk we do, where I can guarantee my dogs will recall, they won't find it punishing and I can heavily reinforce. Every time you call your dog away from doing something he wants to do, you are effectively punishing your dog for coming to you, even if you give a treat. We think of behaviours in terms of a bank account. Every time the outcome is favourable for the dog, it's like making a deposit. Every time the outcome is unfavourable for the dog, you're making a withdrawal. You need to keep the bank account in very healthy credit so when you need to make a big withdrawal, there is enough in there to cover it. Each time you recall him from something he likes, you are withdrawing, even if you make a small deposit of a treat or a play afterwards - the net worth to the dog for that experience will be negative. So we play lots of fun recall games that don't have any negative element, the dog gets released to play afterwards and we build up the complexity gradually. This means that when I need to use the recall in an emergency, I can do. This happens once in a blue moon. Meanwhile, I am constantly working on my dogs' choice to stay close and engage with me. Among many other things we do, I mark and reward check-ins, even if that's a glance from a distance. My boy, Shadow, is very chasey and there are lots of roe deer around at the moment, so he is itching to chase them. I watch him when he's mooching and every single time I see him look at me, I shout, "YES!" and he'll come running for a reward - the chase of a pine cone trumps food for him, so that's what we're using as it's a tricky environment for him. I can also use the deer scent as a reward, by marking him when he looks and me and then releasing him to go sniff where they have been. So you need to practice recalls at a greater distance in a less distracting environment. In training, we talk about the three Ds: Duration, Distraction and Distance. These at the things we need to proof any behaviour against. When you make one more difficult, you have to make the other two easier and then gradually build them up. So, with a greater distance, you need to ensure it's a far less distracting environment you're practicing in. Or, if it's a distracting environment, reduce the distance. Again, beware grabbing him when he comes to you every time, because he will learn to play keep-away. I second having a look at the Total Recall book. It gives you a comprehensive training plan which will give you all the steps needed to build a solid recall. The danger with simply trying to be the most exciting thing for your dog is that it will fail when the environment becomes more exciting - which it invariably will at some point - and then you're left feeling deflated that you just weren't exciting enough, or your dog doesn't value you enough. I'm not saying you shouldn't be engaging, that's something we should all aspire to, but it's not a replacement for a solid training plan.
I had this issue with Finn at around 6 months. Is your guy food motivated? I carry treats with me. Every time Finn came back: treat. Whether I called him or not. Every time he looked at me: treat. Call him back: jackpot of treats if he came right away. He's not perfect but he has very decent recall now at 1.5 years.
He's extremely food motivated (extremely). So much so that when he gets a mouth full of rotting corn stalks from the field, he becomes so focused he doesn't recall. I guess he feels mouthfulls of rotting debris is better than one piece of chicken...
HA! I have that problem slightly with Finn but we don't live near any farms. He just likes to eat every gross thing off the ground imaginable. I also have a problem with recall if he's found something more tasty and nasty than his usual treats.
I always keep a 10 foot lead trailing from him, so I rarely recall him to put a leash on him. I try to just run up and grab it from the ground So that's one problem avoided. But when he gets his nose on something rotting and smelling good to him, he's off in his own world.
