Our six month old is pretty good with recall, she always comes back when called. Although recently the past couple of times we have taken her out we have noticed that if she has a sniff under her nose she will just completely ignore us and stay where she is until she has finished sniffing that spot and then come back when she wants. Due to her being so young and us still working on our recall we take her to places where there aren't very many dogs to do this, although if she does see the occasional dog though she's gone and no matter how much we call her she just won't come back and just runs straight for the other dog. This isn't good as we have been lucky so far that all the dogs she has met have been nice and wanted to play but we do know theres nasty dogs out there. Is this just an age thing and will she not be so phased by dogs when she's a bit older as she is only a puppy? We do know we need to keep going with the recall and practicing but could there be anything were doing wrong?
No, sadly it's not an age thing. It needs training. My 3 year old will still run to other dogs. I am struggling to train him because I avoid dogs . We do get practice at our weekly training class. Have you read Total Recall - I thoroughly recommend you do - excellent step-by-step guidance to brilliant recall. We've just stumbled at the "other dogs".
Hi yes, I agree with @edzbird, get a copy of Total Recall if you don't have it already. I'm still working on recall from others dogs with my 17 month old
Running to see other dogs and ignoring recall will not improve with age. If anything it will get worse once your girl realises that she doesn't have to come when called and adolescence starts to impact. Recall is training, training and more training and proofing in many different environments with many different distractions. Whilst you work on the recall and proofing you may want to consider using a long training line to prevent the running off as it is so important that she doesn't get the opportunity to practice ignoring her recall.
I agree with @Jojo83 a long line will but only used with a back fastening harness will help prevent your dog from self rewarding which is extremely difficult to undo. A copy of Total Recall will help you too. Don't forget to up your treats to chicken, sausage, ham, cheese anything your dog likes for recall training. Toys help too. x
