I have just started teaching recall to my six month old English black female lab, Bonny, using the method described on the Labrador Site. I am confused about how to do the five minute training sessions. I am good up to the point where I have gotten her attention, she follows, reaches me and I reward her. At this point do I go back to by business and let her do her own thing then reinitiate the sequence when she is not expecting it? What I have been doing and what I am now thinking is wrong is as soon as she gets rewarded I walk off with her close at heel, walk for awhile, turn reward her then repeat. We do this for five minutes. With this routine she doesn't have a chance to come to me but is always right there when I turn around.
Hello and welcome to the forum. I guess you're looking at this article here (for the benefit of others) :http://www.thelabradorsite.com/train-a-puppy-or-dog-to-come/#stage-1 If you're on stage 1, then you shouldn't be encouraging your puppy to you, just walking away with purpose and waiting for her to chase after you. Then making a fuss and giving her a lot of food. A good way to get some distance once you've done that is to either scatter a bit of food on the floor, or toss a treat a few feet away from you. Then you can start again.
