Hi there, we have an 8 month old labrador and his recall has always been great - until recently. We use either 'come' for short distances, or the whistle as a bit of an emergency recall (we trained him with a super high reward treat on this). But now, as he comes into adolescence, it's becoming really hit and miss. When we are out, he will happily have a sniff other other dogs and then continue on, but with some, it's hopeless and neither 'come' nor the whistle work. It's always around distractions when he wants to play but was also once when he approached a dog on the lead that had to be restrained because it didn't like other dogs. Frustratingly, neither 'come' or the whistle worked and I had to go over and put on a lead. Any ideas welcome on how to get him back on track!
hello, in my experience my young dogs learning was never quite linear and not always progressive, especially in the teenage months! I learned from experts on this forum that at times you have to go back a step to success and build again. As my girl has matured she has become much less interested in dogs, which makes it all so much easier! I also have a hierarchy of rewards, the more tempting the distraction the more tempting the reward, I have some of her normal kibble food for general reward, dog sausage for more of a challenge and her ball for the most tempting of things. You will get there over time.
