Hi all, My name is faye and me and my partner have a red fox lab that will be 3 in October called Bailey. We have had him since he was 8 weeks old and socialising him was the biggest thing we concentrated on during the first few months of him being with us. This being our first dog, and our first experience of a lab, this has led to several issues in regards to his obedience. Overall, he is a lot better now than when he was still a puppy and is much more attentive to me than he used to be. He understands basic commands such as sit, lay, and come back but everything he has learned he only does when he wants to and when there are no dogs and no distractions. I am very keen in beginning clicker training with him and I have spent a while now researching every aspect of training that is available I am hoping to train him to heel walk, retraining on basic commands in all situations, RECALL in all situations as this is what is causing me the most anxiety and generally being a much more obedient dog. I know this is going to take a lot of work and perseverance because i have allowed him to self reward but I am willing to put the work in. I just wanted some guidance on what aspects of training I should concentrate on first. For example, Bailey is used to a lot of exercise from playing fetch in a secure area but i don’t want to let him off the lead until im training his recall as I know it’s an opportunity to ignore me when able to run free. Should i just train him indoors for several times a day without taking him out and then obviously take him out on the leash when training him to heel walk with distractions ? Sorry for the long thread but I’m just very keen to get this right from the start, Thankyou in advance, faye
Pippa has written a very good book called 'Total Recall' which will be very helpful. You could start recall training when you feed Bailey, recall him to his meals either with your chosen whistle signal or the word you want to use. Recall him when you want to put his lead on and he is excited about going for a walk, so the recall is always worth doing for something rewarding. I let my dogs off the lead when puppies, would take them out and either keep hiding or kept changing direction so that they always kept their eye on my in case I disappeared! When they were coming toward me I would recall. Never call your dog if he is so interested in something else, only recall when you know he will come. I am sure there will be others who will advise you re the training you should concentrate on.
I also would encourage you to work your way through Total Recall. My little girl Joy is not quite 16 months but her recall's pretty good. ....... I probably shouldn't have said that! Just watch it go totally haywire tomorrow! Seriously though, Pippa's book really did help. Good luck.
Have you thought about obedience classes ? Training with constant distractions is how Meg and I got through these issues ...she is 4 and has an awesome recall. I put it down to perseverance and the classes...
