Hi Venturing off the puppy page into the rest of the forum for the first time, so just to reintroduce Charlie – 4 months old, chocolate lab. Champion chewer and garden destroyer, loves life, people and other dogs. My question is about Recall – of course! So without distractions of other people or other dogs, he is pretty much perfect in all locations – park, beach, countryside etc. We've done the association of "come" when he is on the move towards us, hundreds of times now. We don't use a whistle. If he is saying hello to other people with dogs, I struggle a bit. I have to try 3 or 4 times to get his attention. Once I do have his attention, and he looks at me and I call "Charlie come", he gallops straight towards me like a bullet and skids to a halt to a sit in front of me (which I love, and am very happy about). http://www.flickr.com/photos/97932779@N08/9115475442/ My question is about the getting his attention bit. I call his name a few times, sometime clap, run about and generally make a bit of a fool of myself - I call "Charlie come" once he is looking and I know he is going to come. It always works in the end, I never have to actually go get him (I do go and get him if going back on his lead is the objective). Is this ok while he is still learning? Or am I just teaching him that he doesn’t have to come the first time I call, only the 3rd or 4th? He gets treats and a big fuss when he arrives, and a tiny bit of kibble up to a hunk of sardine and everything else in between in a random way. Sardine much more likely for a quick response and away from multiple dogs. I do the about walk thing, but only on and off, I haven’t done it for a solid month like the article on the web site suggests. My time training is a bit limited, so I really have to take advantage of walk time – I don’t have a lot of other time. Grateful for any tips!
Re: recall... Wow,you,are doing brilliant! The action photo of him running back on command to obtain his sardine is text book recall I would say!and he's gorgeous x Are you training with Pippa's Total Recall?i haven't got it to hand now .....and you are ahead of me but I feel you have answered your own question about the 2,3 times of calling.I can remember with something simple like the sit.....there comes that time where you ask for the sit and only ask once because if you ask again you are basically teaching them a new response .....sit on the 3rd command..... I've read ahead on the recall and if my memory serves me,if you have got to the stage where you now expect it first time......I think you have to insist.....read so much though Julie,can't remember if Pippa's method is you go and put them on the lead and to take them to where you had asked them to be..... We'll be working on this when I get back ....Dex is brilliant up to the point of adding other distractions,then he doesn't even know his name.....he comes back when he's finished his own agenda,or he notices I. Running away in the other direction!..we were coming away on holiday so I didn't want to start the 'enforcer stage ' when we wouldn't be able to practice consistently You've done marvelously ,sounds like you are on track to sort this properly x
Re: recall... Yes, I thought as much, I do fear I'm teaching "keep playing until she starts jumping up and down and waving then go get my sardine" rather than recall. And you are right, I need to go back to the book and check what I should be doing next. I'll do that before the next walk.
Re: recall... i am using the book total recall , taking it slow, my next step is exercise 5 recall from food, not started this one yet .....been a busy house this weekend good luck with your training
Re: recall... Hi Julie, I have found the whistle to be very useful - seems to grab the attention more than a repeated 'Poppy come!'. And the tone always remains the same, so even if you are very, very annoyed that the little darling has just ignored you and jumped STRAIGHT into the muddy puddle you were trying to avoid - you don't sound cross. Obviously a good thing, if you want him to come back... We struggled with the recall for a while too when Poppy was playing with other dogs. I learnt that for us the best technique was to wait until she was quite close and/or looking at me, then two sharp bursts (pip pip) on the whistle (or 'Poppy COME,'), then wheel around and march away. That got her attention fast. Sounds as though you are doing brilliantly though. Well done!
Re: recall... I think that's a very good tip - I'll look out for the moment he is likely to come. I really want to stop calling his name over - it just sounds a bit silly having to repeatedly call. I'll also go back to the book and refresh what I'm doing. I wish I had started with a whistle now. I suppose it's not too late, but I feel I've invested so many hours in "come"... I can try and see how I get on. He is still only 4 months.
Re: recall... No Julie, its not too late to start using the whistle . I dont have an actual whistle but am pretty good at actual whistling myself : I only started using this form of seeking attention from Sam about six months ago, he is now two years old, so you can literally start at any age but the younger the better . Pippa always says that rather than setting yourself up for a fail , only use the recall command when your pup is actually coming towards you , that way, they will associate the command with coming to you . Sounds like you are doing really well
Re: recall... It is also a good idea to avoid calling lots of times, because it stops having any meaning. Labs are clever, with a surprising font of native cunning, and he will soon start to think that "Charlie, come!" doesn't really mean anything until you have said it several times and are starting to sound loud and angry!!!
Re: recall... I will read the book again... tonight. On the only using the command when the puppy is coming towards me - I'm a bit confused by that. Without distractions, Charlie will run towards me when I say his name - then I can say come. I can also say "Charlie come" and he'll come. I can't really construct people/dog distractions in small steps apart from very, very rarely when the puppy sitter brings her dog to my place, or other people at puppy school are training with us. Apart from those very rare chances, it's real life - so I have done my best by practicing by staying a distance from other people/dogs and using come - he does reliably. It's when he is actually playing with another dog (or jumping round people who are happy to play) that I struggle. That's when I'm calling his name and trying to get his attention. I have to be able to do that one way or another regardless of whether I'm trying to get him move towards me so I can say "come" or whether I'm trying to get him to obey because I've already said "come". I never sound cross, regardless, I know to make the coming back to me the best thing ever - but I don't want to have to keep trying to get his attention, looking a bit silly in the park. Sigh... hmmm.... thinking this through and it's so helpful to have peoples' thoughts. Thanks so much for spending the time to help. It's seems tricky to crack this one!
Re: recall... [quote author=JulieT link=topic=1793.msg13948#msg13948 date=1371981916] If he is saying hello to other people with dogs, I struggle a bit. I have to try 3 or 4 times to get his attention. Once I do have his attention, and he looks at me and I call "Charlie come", he gallops straight towards me like a bullet and skids to a halt to a sit in front of me (which I love, and am very happy about). [/quote] I claim dunce of the year award - there is a very simple answer to this! I don't jump about calling his name to get his attention - that doesn't mean anything to him. I just call "Charlie come" and it works! Duh.... I gave him the whole sardine in surprise. It even stops him while he is running towards another dog. Have had a very smug perfect walk this morning.
