Went to the trails near my place, my happy-doggy place, and let Simba off-lead. The trails consist of 4 loops, you can walk through them all and get back to where you started if you just keep going right when you get to a fork in the trail. So...I went out in mid afternoon yesterday, when it was likely no one else would be there, and didn't unsnap the leash until we got past the first loop, as most people using the trails tend to stick to that, it seems. The trails are just on the boundary of town, wooded, edged by a couple of acreages at the beginning and the river valley for the rest. So. I wanted to see where we were at. When we first got a Simba he would have been gone, and would not have come back, certainly would not have responded to calling. The experiment went well-ish, I would say. Although it was interesting, at the beginning he stayed fairly close, although I didn't let him get TOO far away before calling him back, and HE CAME! So, good. But, as time went on, he started roving farther, and I needed a little more encouragement for him to come. Then, finally, we were at a section where there is a little incline, and he went ahead and just vanished. I called him, but nothing. At the top of the incline, was a spot where he could have gone either way, so I stood there calling for a minute or so, but nothing. Great. So I picked the direction I wanted to go, started walking, after a minute or so finally saw him up ahead, roving through the trees, so I called him, but he ignored me. Tried again a few times, nope, he can't hear me, apparently : Finally he stopped and actually looked at me, I tried again (happy voice!!) but he stood there, so I turned and started running away, and of course that worked. Hmm. So. Reinforced a couple things in my mind: 1) The whistle is a must. He has selective hearing to the voice. 2) I really want to get him engaged in some kind of retrieve/fetch stuff that we can do on walks, to keep him focussed on me. It does raise a question for me, though: My two previous dogs were Border Collies, as you all know. They would never get that far from me while off-leash, almost always within sight. And I never had to call more than a couple times for them to come back. Simba has a much larger radius that he's comfortable roaming from me-is this a Lab thing? Do they tend to go far away from their owners while off leash? Or is this just Simba, a product of his upbringing?
Re: Well, I did it... Well done Lisa! What an adventure for you both ;D Lilly is a roamer.....although I don't think that is typical of a lab. Remember though she will also only retrieve on the beach : Knowing Simba's love of food, constantly doing little short recalls with tasty.....sardines/cheese/garbage .....as a reminder that you are the source of all things interesting would be good. Works for Lilly (at least until there is something MORE interesting such as a deer or pheasant : : : ) Good on you!!
Re: Well, I did it... I think that sounds pretty good! You have hardly had the chance to do anything off lead really, and it sounds like he was pretty managable! A bit of Total Recall practice and he'll probably be as good as gold. Well done Simba!
Re: Well, I did it... Yes, on the whole I was quite happy, but I certainly didn't like that hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as I'm calling and calling and all I can hear is the rustling of the branches in the breeze....
Re: Well, I did it... [quote author=Lisa link=topic=5012.msg62821#msg62821 date=1395504314] but I certainly didn't like that hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as I'm calling and calling and all I can hear is the rustling of the branches in the breeze.... [/quote] Aye, that's not a good feeling, is it? :-\
Re: Well, I did it... Good for you letting him off see where you stood with Simba's recall, it's a scary thing as I well know Firstly, in my opinion I would not call him any more if he didn't respond the first time as you are encouraging him to ignore your recall and he knows where you are even if you can't see him. Secondly, and this is what we do with Charlie now, we drop the long training line just letting it drag and every so often it is picked up so he does not have 100% freedom and this is working well for us - just a thought ??? Build Simba's off lead very slowly so as not to give him full freedom just yet, see how he goes and then up his off lead over weeks and then before you know it, hopefully mostly off lead. Also, hide behind trees etc. so that he has to come and find you, take OH or anyone that is willing to help you, call him between two people and when he is coming towards you blow your recall whistle to reinforce he is doing what you want and reward him well for a return. This again has worked really well with Charlie I think it is a product of upbringing if he was allowed to do as he pleased, we think this is what happened to Charlie and we didn't help as we had no experience of a dog like Charlie before , old habits are hard to break BUT you can do it just slowly, it really pays off. I have had to learn patience, not easy : If you can get Simba interested in fetch it will help you so much to keep him interested and close to you. Does he like to fetch a ball or frisbe? It has taken us absolutely months and months to get Charlie interested, but finally he is and today he was hunting for his ball when thrown in the woods and stuck to David all the way on a dropped lead for the entire walk, so happy You are lucky that you have a dog park that you can practise in safely, maybe start there first would be good. I wish you all the luck in the world, it's certainly not easy owning a dog that wants to leg it Just my thoughts Lisa. xxx
Re: Well, I did it... [quote author=Lisa link=topic=5012.msg62821#msg62821 date=1395504314] Yes, on the whole I was quite happy, but I certainly didn't like that hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as I'm calling and calling and all I can hear is the rustling of the branches in the breeze.... [/quote] No, well, you need a bit more practice is all. But it's not like he legged it, is it? I reckon you let a dog off his lead, without much in the way of recall training, and he reacted like a pretty normal dog who wants to go home with his owner. Solid foundations on which to build. Good for you. You've come a long, long, way with that dog.
Re: Well, I did it... I know that hollow feeling Lisa. Ive now had three labs all male, all roamers I'm afraid. sorry I do think it's a lab thing certainly a male lab thing unfortunately. Of course I could be wrong but from my experience and from what I've read and been told its common with male labs. Bitches don't tend to do it as much. I was told by a gundog handler that was why the majority of working labs are bitches, dogs are harder to train. How much truth there is in that I don't know but shoots I've seen certainly have a predominance towards bitches. I also think the hunting instinct takes over to some extent so they get a scent and start doing their job. : They are completely different, as you've found out, to border collies in their behaviour. Their instinct to herd perhaps is what keeps collies nearer. ??? Apart from the hiccup at the end he did well. Getting him to focus on you by playing fetch on the walk will certainly help.
Re: Well, I did it... All sounding really good Lisa , good work Simba Sam will roam in the woods, but then panic sets in if he cant see me when I hide behind a tree , luckily he doesnt seem to go far, apart from the couple of times that he disappeared and was missing for half an hour, scary stuff : Ironically, since the last time he did it , he seems to stay much closer . Just stick at it Lisa, you`re doing really well Just reading what you wrote Jen , I must have the exception to the rule , my last Lab Tess was much harder to train than Sam has been , I`ve always found the boys to be easier x
Re: Well, I did it... Sounds really positive Lisa I'm sure with a bit of recall training it will get even better x
Re: Well, I did it... Well done Lisa,it's scarey letting them off for sure and even more scarier when you lose sight of them....Dexter will jump a dune and go out of sight ( freaks me out still ) even with a pretty good recall though I'm still a bit of a scaredy cat with my comfort zone of distance between us.you are coming up to better weather where you can get some good practice in,you have got Simbas appetite for all things tasty in your favour xxx
Re: Well, I did it... Thanks for the tips, all, I will certainly be keeping them in mind and will have more of a plan in place other than "well, let's give it a go" the next time. On a positive note, I blew the whistle outside in the yard for the first time today, and it worked like a charm! Pretty pleased, especially since pooch was chewing on a purloined BBQ tool at the time.....but at the whistle he took off like a shot towards me...
