Tatze (18 months) has great recall, I followed Pippa's book to the letter and it worked 100%. She was playing with 4 dogs, including an excited Doberman pup the other day and recalled mid play roud: Now I have Gypsy (5 months) and her recall is coming on great. I tend to use Tatze as an example a lot. So if Gypsy doesn't come first time (actually she usually comes but then skips on past) I make an extra fuss of Tatze and then Gypsy is soon sitting by her for her share. Will this be helping or hindering Gypsy's recall? We do plenty of separate walks. Gypsy stays close and has never run off with any other pup she's played with. But she does tend to do 'fly by' recalls where she comes to me then flies on by! It takes a lot of persuading to then get her sitting in front of me. I have a problem in that she can only have kibble or dried sprats for treats, everything else gives her a runny tummy.
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided I realised that my new pup was tending to hear the recall whistle, look for my older dog and come to me with him. Its not terrible since at least she was coming but its not the behaviour I wanted to train/condition. ie I want - hear whistle = run asap to Mum. So I think most recall training needs to work towards that. But you are doing lots of separate training, so probably an odd "copy cat" recall won't hurt, but you will know when your individual recall training is working when you don't need the copy cat !! coming in on the recall - does Gypsy like to chase a ball? - I do a recall and throw a ball between my legs to encourage the dog to run back to me fast - then I delay the ball throw until she is closer to me and eventually until she is in front of me before I throw. But it depends on what Gypsy likes to do with the ball afterwards. Or you can teach a nose touch to your hand with the recall - toss a sprat to the right - Gypsy eats - recall cue - she comes back touches your hand and you toss a sprat out to the left etc - could also turn into a fun game with a more testing recall - ie a recall could turn into a run back to Mum for a fun chase the tossed sprat game with you. Maybe flying sprats that she has to chase/catch might be more fun than a straight sprat.
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided Obviously individual training is important but not always possible. :-\ If you are out with both dogs and you need to recall both I'd recall gypsy first then you know she's coming of her own accord. Then if she flies passed you you can use Tatze to coax her in and then try and find a mega reward, maybe a tug toy if treats are limited, which you can introduce with Tatze but might help stop her flying passed when out on her own.
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided Thanks FoxyLady and Jen! I will try all of these ideas. Gypsy is not allowed a ball, but I can do the same with a toy. (She's a Guide Dog Puppy, they are not allowed any balls )
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided I had a similar problem Mags , when we got Millie . She tended to follow Sams lead but as Jen says , you need to know that Gypsy will come of her own accord .I use a tennis ball for Millie too but as you say, its not possible for Gypsy, but maybe a toy would have the same effect ? I also use the gambling method, so she doesn't get the ball/toy/food every time , makes it more appealing if they aren't quite sure x
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided No balls for Gypsy? Gosh - I hadn't realised that. Do you know why - is it the chase issue? Lilly is a fly-byer too. That is where the touch my hand exercise is coming in to it. Early days but she seems to have the idea at close quarters so far.
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided [quote author=drjs@5 link=topic=8359.msg118372#msg118372 date=1413753543] No balls for Gypsy? Gosh - I hadn't realised that. Do you know why - is it the chase issue? [/quote] Yes - they need to be steady wherever they go - playgrounds, cricket pitches, passing kids in the street etc etc. Gypsy must recall to hand, of course, as her owner won't be able to see her on free runs. I think I will teach her 'touch' as a separate skill, then try to put them together - recall + touch.
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided A hand target is a good idea, then you can teach a body position. I used a hand target to put 2 of Charlie return positions on hand signal cues (left and front - the other is "stand and deliver"). I do think you need to train a body position to turn a fly by into a stop - probably. I use a hand target alone to make him pause to distinguish recall from change direction, but I don't think that would just translate into "bum on the floor".
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided Thanks JulieT. We are getting there. She sits in front of me 90% of the time now. As we do more walks with both dogs now I have started putting Tatze on the lead for part of the walk to practice Gypsy's recall. (Tatze doesn't mind - she gets a treat when Gypsy gets it right too!) Today Gypsy recalled from a spaniel pup her own age, after a short play. Then she was haring towards a little boy of about three, who looked very worried. I whistled and she came straight back - phew phew phew! Treble treats for that one! ;D ;D ;D
Re: Recall with two dogs - undecided [quote author=Boogie link=topic=8359.msg120501#msg120501 date=1414595578] Today Gypsy recalled from a spaniel pup her own age, after a short play. Then she was haring towards a little boy of about three, who looked very worried. I whistled and she came straight back - phew phew phew! Treble treats for that one! ;D ;D ;D [/quote] That is impressive work !! ;D
