Re: Labrador behaviour problems Hi there! I wonder if you have any advice? We rehomed a labrador recently from a rescue centre. He is lovely, 3 years old, very friendly and sweet around the house and great with our other dog and little boy. He is neutered. We don't know a great deal about his past except he had an 'incident' with a sheep so can't be allowed near them. The only problem we have - and it could potentially be a big one - is that he won't come back to whistle/name if we let him off the lead. He seems to go into a blind frenzy of running and won't listen or doesn't hear us call him back. Even when he sees us and makes eye contact he still keeps running. Obviously we are keeping him on the lead for the time being but would in time like to get him under sufficient control that we can let him off to have a run in the knowledge he will come back to us. We haven't had him long so appreciate it is very early days but see this isn't usual behaviour for a 3 year old dog. Any ideas? Andrew J
Re: Labrador behaviour problems I'm sure someone will give you some great advice, in the meantime have you looked at the recall articles here http://www.thelabradorsite.com/?p=317 Does he come back when you call him from the garden or in the house? getting him to come every time there is a good first step. Also giving him a good incentive to come back - make sure you've got some really good rewards - whatever he loves most and make sure he knows you have them. You'll probably need to practice with a long line in the field at first until you're more confident that he will come back. When I first got Barney from the rescue place he too would run at full speed - he was so extremely excited - and would pull like a train too. What was also helpful was making everything calm - me first then calmly getting the lead out and waiting until he was completely calm again until I put it on, then wait again before approaching the door etc. It did take ages to get out of the door but it did increase my chances that he would hear me as he was less frantic at the point I unclipped the lead. good luck with him - I'm sure you can crack it before long.
Re: Labrador behaviour problems Hi Andrew, I can't claim any rescue dog experience but I certainly agree with Carole's comments. We had issues with Riley(11 months old) starting to ignore recall commands and self rewarding by getting to play with other dogs or doing laps round us. It's still very much work in progress but we've had some success with an 8m flexi and harness to just try and control his initial reaction if we haven't spotted another dog(potential new friend in Riley's eyes) once we break his focus on whatevers distracted him he returns willingly for massive praise and treats. We've worked hard on rewarding successful recalls in a variety of situations and we've also chosen our walk locations carefully too. One other minor comment about flexi leads......I'm not a massive fan but a long lead was hard to manage on everyday walks so chose a flexi that's made of webbing rather than cord as you do hear stories of people and dogs getting deep cuts and burns from cord leads.
Re: Labrador behaviour problems Hi Andrew and welcome to the forum Your problem is very common with rescue dogs and I agree with the advice you have been given already. You definitely need to use a long line/training lead and yes, they need to be used with care. I'll find a link to an article about using a training lead. Get your recall bomb proof at home using some very special rewards. Reduce the frequency and value of the rewards once the dog is repeatedly successful at home and then gradually experiment in new locations using your special rewards again. Each new place you go, train initially whilst holding one end of the training lead. Once he is bomb proof on that, you need to begin to let it trail. At first for short periods of time. Avoid all distractions to begin with an add these carefully as you progress. Expect to take several months getting this right. You will get there. Good luck
