So things have been progressing along nicely with Simba and the recall department. When I go to my Happy Place Trails I have my long line, which for the most part I let it trail along after him. We practice recall quite a bit and he's probably 99% on a recall with mild distractions ie an interesting sniff. But not a lot of opportunities to practice with stronger distractions. I thought I would try him completely off lead in a different place, at the edge of town where a field borders a line of trees which borders some houses. There's a short section at the edge of the field where the trees are on one side and the grass has grown up on the other, a bit of a corridor which, although open on the one side doesn't feel like that to the dog. It's only about 50 feet or so? I did this once, great success, thought I'd try again the other day. We were half way along the path when, drat, what do I see but a cat near the end of the trail. Of course pooch saw it at the same time and before I could snap lead on, off he went in full flight. So, I learned: 1) Whistle recall not good enough for a full-blown chase...didn't think it really was, but what had I to lose at that point as the alternative was Simba chasing the cat all over town. I will admit I blew it twice, whoops....desperation does strange things to a person's self control..... 2) Whistle recall works great once dog has given up the chase and is looking for you....he and cat disappeared into the tree belt, and I could hear rustling of leaves for a bit, but then nothing, so I figured they might have run through there and then back towards the houses. So I tried my whistle one more time, as it carries farther than my voice, and he really doesn't respond to his name, anyway, and he came bombing around the trees behind me, where he obviously had doubled back to where he had last seen me. So he was only gone a couple minutes, phew. I worry about him taking off after a deer, or moose, or coyote, or worse, bear or cougar when I'm at the trails. I'm not sure I can stop him (yes, yes, stop whistle...train, train. I have started that...not got too far yet...) but at least I know he will respond to my whistle once the chase is done. If he's close enough to hear it, I guess.... Sigh. One step at a time, we've come a massive distance, and I'll keep working on it....
That really is a huge step forward from how he was just a year ago though Lisa! I think you can give yourself a pat on the back. Very difficult to call any dog back from a full-blown cat chase... If it were a bear or cougar, I bet he wouldn't really chase. Dogs aren't stupid. I know Poppy pretends she can't see, smell or hear wild boar, though she will chase foxes and squirrels!
It's a really difficult thing to stop a dog, who is seriously chasing, with a recall. It's easier with a stop. I wouldn't think too badly of Simba at all. At least once a month I make a mistake and Charlie "goes" (usually for a football ) and I have to wait until he gets there to recall him. I'm lucky, in that it is just footballs (and I have the advantage of being able to train with footballs) and the main risk is I have to pay to replace someone's nice football if he damages it (hasn't happened yet though) - but still, once he "goes" it's dratted difficult to stop mid flight.
Great steps forward . Simba might not have recalled when he set off chasing the cat, but he did recall and come to find you when he could have great fun off lead. Celebrate that he came back once he stopped chasing the cat
Well done on getting him back. He didn't run too far, and was still aware of you when the chase cooled off, which is a great thing.
All of that is such a huge step from where Simba started from. You should be proud! I know you'll keep improving too
Yes, on the whole I am pleased. I know that recall from a full blown chase is probably not realistic. I was very pleased to see him coming around the corner of the trees when he did appear, though! I don't think that would have happened a year ago!
Sounds really positive Lisa compared to where you were a year or so ago . So good that he came running, even if it was after a few mins
Great to read this Lisa and excellent that Simba came back quickly. Recall from a full blown chase will happen, we thought it never would but we have managed to recall Charlie from a Pheasant chase and you could have knocked us over with a feather when it happened because we thought it wouldn't. They do surprise us these rescue dogs and considering where they start from and what has happened to them it's all the more special Well done xxx
