Hi - we have two lovely, male labs - one nearly two and the other about 18 months. They have both had fairly extensive formal training and their recall has never been an issue - until now. The older dog is pretty perfect and no complaints at all with him. However, the younger dog has recently begun to ignore the whistle and not come back immediately. We live in the middle of nowhere and they are off lead in the woods by my house so they are not in any particular danger, but I do want to nip this problem in the bud. He will come back nine times out of ten every time, pretty immediately, but now there is always that one (or two today!) time that he will not come back straight away. He continues to mooch about sniffing deer poo and will often look up, see me and then just carry on until he is good and ready to return! In fairness, we have never had to wait for more than 5 minutes, but that is still way too long for my liking - especially when the other dog comes back immediately. They were not treat trained, they just came back out of respect although we have recently been treating them for doing 'good' things and I now wonder if this is a mistake. Any advice? I was taught at training to do something odd if this happened, like fall to the ground or hide etc. and that has worked a few times, but is not perfect. Walks used to be a pleasure, but now I feel my stress levels rising as I know he will go off and not come back immediately at least once and this then spoils things. I was taught never to be cross with the dog when he did return, otherwise this would just make him even less likely to come back so I am always still pleased to see him lol!
This is frustrating, but very normal. Basically the motivation for coming back isn't as great as the motivation for having a good old sniff in the bushes. You are totally right, do make sure that you absolutely never tell him off for returning late. He'll only see that you are cross that he arrived back, not connect the punishment with the act of being slow. Secondly, get some very tasty high value rewards (cooked chicken, bit of sausage, that sort of thing) and offer him bits when he checks in the next few times you go out. Finally, stop your usual walking pattern for a while and instead do an About Turn Walk every time you go out. It makes you less predictable, so he won't be confidently expecting you to be carrying along a route. Similar to the hiding thing, but involves less falling into bushes in my experience You might also like to check out Pippa's Total Recall guide, which has some great advice for proofing the recall. Hope this helps! Let us know how you get along.
Hi - thank you so much for replying! It is quite disheartening when you post a cry for help and no one responds! Thank you for your advice which is spot on! I actually downloaded a copy of Total Recall and put Chapter 20 into practice. I now have a dog who won't leave my side!! I made some very tasty treats (with sardines so very smelly) and he has been perfect after only one session. I took him again today and we bumped into my neighbour up in our woods which is quite unusual and my dog was even able to follow me past their little girl without leaving my side (keeping our 2 metres distance of course!). I also decided to push him a bit further by 'proofing' the training and took him on a track which runs alongside our house. It is not somewhere I normally go and I let him off the lead, he ran ahead all excited for new smells, but immediately turned away from them and followed me when I went in the opposite direction. This happened a couple of times, until he was back on it and followed me at my heal the rest of the way. Hoorah! I also took a ball out with me and we did some retrieving on the walk to keep him interested. All very good tips! The challenge will be at the weekend when I go back to taking both dogs out together. Also, the only thing that might now be a problem is that he won't go running off into the woods at all - even though I am happy for him to do this (as long as he comes back when called!). I don't like the thought of him not having a really energetic running about. We shall see what happens! Thank you once again.
Great progress. Keep up the training. Total recall is a great support in addressing your issues. That said, a comment in your initial post made me wonder, the fact that you think the dogs come back to you out of respect?? What do you mean?
Well, when they were puppies I took them to a gun dog trainer who didn’t believe in giving dogs treats. So, they just came back when they were called and they got a cuddle and a good boy for doing it. Like I say, that has worked until now (although the older dog’s recall is still great at 2 years). It’s just the younger one who started to go a bit ‘deaf’!
I definitely think you should be using amazingly tasty treats, generously. I usually recommend people use: Sardines, smoked mackerel, paté, gourmet wet dog food and similar wet squishy stuff - doled out with a spoon from a little pot because it's too messy to touch. My Lab is now 6yo and I go out daily with a little pot of tasty stuff for her... If you still have issues after increasing the tasty food, then try using a 10m long-line to remove him gently from whatever alternative thing he is finding is reinforcing...
