I have been inexcusably lax about coming on this site, because I have become complacent. Ted has been such a joy over the past year (now 22 months old) that I've not felt the need. Little problems about obedience have been more or less ironed out, or are less troublesome. Ironically he is not allowed on the furniture but his new avatar wouldn't give that away would it? My son sent a photo to show what Ted does when I'm not in the room. He had in this instance just settled down for the Crufts final! He does jump straight off if I go into the room though. No, the big worry right now is a new thing that's just started yesterday during our walk in the park, and it happened again today. He is usually off-lead and pretty good with recall. He tends to come back on the whistle, but yesterday he ran right out of the park and across a road. He ignored my recall. Luckily it was Sunday and the traffic very light. Today he ran out of another gate, ignoring my recall again. Heart in my mouth each time, I managed to get him back on the lead, but I cant understand why this is happening now. There are a few places in the park I havent been able to let him off the lead, like where the anglers sit with bags full of bait, or two guys feeding the ducks with a ton of bread. He would never come back then either. How to reinstate recall? I'm sure it's not rocket science, but any tips would be helpful, plus any ideas why he might suddenly have started making a break for it out of the park.
I wouldn't have any idea why Ted wants to leave the park, but do you have the book Total Recall? It is excellent, and gives you allsorts of excercises to work through for different scenario's we might find ourselves in and proofing against distractions. Cassie's recall is pretty good but I find it beneficial to work on it specifically from time to time, she is also nearly 2. I'm sure that must have been very scary indeed.
I had similar yesterday - Snowie took off at lightening speed in the direction of a very busy road with morning traffic. As he got closer to the road I was screaming his name, not that I thought he’d listen—he was too intent in his pursuit—but because by this stage I could see a person and a brown dog, and I wanted them to wait cos I realized he was racing to them - it was too far to make out who they were. My heart probably stopped as he crossed the first carriage way. He was stopped on the traffic island by the person with the dog. It was his best friend in the world, a choc Lab. How Snowie saw him from such a distance, I’m guessing it was his scent or a sound. Oh my word, myself and the choccy’s owner were both in a state, the worst had been so close. Perhaps your boy is picking up a scent? Is there a bitch on heat in the vicinity? It took me the whole day to let my husband know what’d happened. But I can’t keep anything from him. I’ve now made a promise to my husband never to let Snowie off lead in this very popular off lead spot. Unfortunately we’ve not been strict enough with ourselves to train a solid recall. Snowie will come when called, but only if there’s nothing more appealing... It’s got better with age, but clearly not 100%. Thinking I need to go back to basics with that book, too...
Hi there!! Is Ted intact? Could he have got a whiff of a bitch in heat somewhere??? That's the most common reason for a male dog to go walkabout...
Thanks for the responses, and understanding. Ted is neutered so wont have been on a scent from a bitch. I have become so complacent that I gave away my copy of Total Recall so I'll get it again. I realise that I have to go back to basics with Ted (or Remedial Recall as I told my daughter this morning). Higher value treats, long lead, repetitive stuff I thought we'd put behind us.
