Hi, New here so apologies in advance! I have a training conundrum and I’ve run out of ideas. I have a 3 year old lab cross springer. Lab in looks but all springer personality from working lines. I was one of those idiots that didn’t research the breed. But I’m making up for that now. We do a lot of dummy and scent work he’s trained to the whistle and we’re building up a good bond. I hand feed him all his food and he’s very focused on me during training. He recalls away from dogs and other distractions really well. The main difficulties we have at the moment is slight over excitement with certain dogs when they’re very close and I don’t let him greet which we’re working on and heel. These things are improving though. The only thing that I am absolutely stumped on is occasionally he will just get completely stuck on a scent and ignore recall. This is always dog wee to my knowledge as I’ve not actually sniffed it to find out myself. I’ve tried the stop whistle, recall whistle, turn whistle and voice recall to no avail. Before this he’d never ignored me so it’s come as abit of a surprise. He is entire still as he’s a nervous soul around people but would this be a factor? And am I best just going to pop him back on the lead in these scenarios when i know he’s past the point of no return. He does always come back just in his own time on the rare occasions the scent takes over his brain. But I want an instant recall every time especially if there is a distraction approaching. Hope that makes sense sorry it’s so rambling!!! Any advice appreciated we are seeing another trainer tomorrow.
Hi there, It sounds like your recall may need proofing against distracting sniffs a bit more gradually. For now, when you're on land that might be distracting, I would put a long line on him (trailing behind him), and work with him closer to you. Use the long line to walk him down to get him back if he ignores you, and walk him down with the long line instead of calling if you think he won't come . And use some jackpot juicy treats when he does come! Once he's reliable from short distances on 'lightly scented' land, build up the distance on that land. Then go back to close work on 'smellier' ground before building up again If you'd like more detailed instructions, Pippa's book Total Recall is fab I hope that helps! x
