I have been working on his recall with him with treats and consistency, he used to be brilliant respond very quickly to me.
However, now there are distractions! If a bird flys by he will be utterly distracted and ignore me.
Yesterday, he saw a dog ahead and went running after them and took a long time to come back.
This was the end of our walk, we had done recall/ training and I was very pleased with him, and then that! I am just not sure what to try next to ensure that doesn't happen?
I also am struggling with him being so excited when people come to visit, I can separate him, I do get him to sit and praise/treat good behaviour, it is just he can't seem to contain himself.
Any tips appreciated!
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What else can I try? 13 month old, male Golden retriever.
24 replies
PurpleWithaMysteryBun · 13/04/2014 18:04
OP posts:
PurpleWithaMysteryBun ·
13/04/2014 19:58
Thanks Punter
Definitely teenage, he turned 9 months and has been pesky ever since! I just find this tricky, I am pregnant and don't have the usual energy right now.
Walking away does nothing, he is literally on his singleminded route and that is it, I suppose I should be grateful he comes back, then sits wagging like 'what's the problem?' 
Just so used to his recall being great. I will try a whistle! I think my biggest worry is that there are a lot of dogs on leads that he will approach and get snapped at so I have to be really vigilant.
He is getting better with visitors, I think the visitors are worse as they will fuss him. Even when he is calm and I let him in to the living room he will randomly pester for attention and I think I am just finding it a bit draining.
However, he is so great in other areas and doing reading on some of the problems people have I am very grateful.
OP posts:
PurpleWithaMysteryBun ·
13/04/2014 20:12
twooter that is what I did, although I think he came back mostly because he had stop sniffing his buddy 
dinnae he is usually desperate for his breakfast, I can try shifting it later and walking first though. I am carrying treats, I can get the liver ones from the vets to try as this bag is nearly empty.
Thank you, all suggestions gratefully received! There doesn't seem to be training classes for teenagers around here either.
OP posts:
Whoknowswhocares ·
14/04/2014 15:14
Any good training centre will accommodate teenager training. Due to the very nature of them, they are often those most in need tbh!
We usually put them in an adult dog class, which often has a mix of pups who have now learnt a little and rescue dogs who are just getting started.
Ask around and I'm sure you will find a suitable class.
In the meantime, get yourself a longline and stop allowing your dog to practise ignoring you!. Practise in lower level distractions areas and if he decides to misbehave, stand on the end of the line and you are then in a position to insist he comes back. Make sure he is made to come back to the spot where you called him from, then treat him. Eventually he will assume you have 'long arms' and stop considering your commands optional. Also worth changing your command to either a different word or a whistle, as a fresh start with an untainted command can help. One of our clients now uses 'maltesers' as his recall as his rescue dog had probably heard and learned to ignore all standard words. Daft but it's worked!
The book Total Recall is much recommended and worth a read I hear, although I've not used it myself
Owllady ·
14/04/2014 16:27
Whoknowswhocares, I use come. My husband uses biscuit
Maisie, it is normal. I am the one at class with the 22 month old collie who doesn't look like she is in control Well, that's what it feels like anyway
Whoknowswhocares ·
14/04/2014 16:51
OH training, Owllady is a whole different ball game. I have yet to master that one.
OH uses .....'getoverhereyoudaftpupcomeonivegotbiscuits,oiitoldyoutogetbackhere,dontworryshesfriedly,puppupgetbackhereisaid,comeonnowletsgoletgisaid!!!!!!!!!
Her command word is come. I defy most people to find it in that garble, never mind the poor dog.
It was at that point, I decided to train her to the whistle. Much less for him to get wrong
PurpleWithaMysteryBun ·
14/04/2014 20:34
peanut he has just finished his sack of puppy food so trying him on some adult iams. Open to suggestions on a good kibble!
I did hand feed him as a pup also for bite inhibition, only DH or I put the food down so how will hand feeding help? Will try anything as need to get him 100% reliable for when baby is here.
salhal he only gets treats for coming back already :/ Also I have had 0 success with the kong! Tried filling it with many things over a long time and he gives up! I had a visitor today who struggles with the dog and I got him to ignore the dog completely, thing is this human is very difficult to train I have been trying a long time to get him to do this
Thanks for the good luck and comments, I am sure he will get there, fact is we do train him so just have to hope it will pay off soon! I think just feel a bit more pressured as I need him to be in a great place when I have a newborn and toddler with me on walks.
OP posts:
Whoknowswhocares ·
14/04/2014 21:36
Fair enough, it's hard to get a feel for the tone of someone's post sometimes and maybe that was an exclamation mark too far. Didn't mean anything by it, honest 
The longline is really not for holding, so should have no impact on pulling at all. In fact, you can get bad rope burns from some types with the thin nylon and you absolutely shouldn't use your hands with them( buy a type with a flat, wider canvas material and not a thin one) Use it with a harness for safety, not a collar as a very sudden jerk back can injure the dogs neck.
The idea is that the dog feels unconstrained as if off lead, with the line trailing. It takes practise not to tie yourself and passers by up with it and you would probably benefit from a 1-2-1 if possible to get shown properly. You keep up with the line and recall whilst the dog. If he comes, treat and release as usual. If not, stand on the end of the line and work your way up to the dog. Insist he follows you back to where you recalled from. Then release and repeat.
A change of word should have no confusion particularly, so long as you are consistent. Depends how much ignoring he has done tbh as to whether it's 'value' has diminished. Try the longline first and judge it from there
He will gradually learn that resistance is futile.
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EbbyEbs ·
15/09/2022 20:03
PeanutPatty · 14/04/2014 22:18
My GR was a complete madam with recall. Would bolt as soon as another dog was seen. I'd spend half the walk running after her to fetch her back. I'm a fan of using a whistle for recall.
This is the recall training I followed (written by smokeybear on a dog forum and she knows what she is talking about) and it works:
Why can’t I get a reliable recall?
*
‘Come’ is no harder to train than any other behaviour but in real life it has a huge number of criteria that have to be raised one at a time in order to guarantee success.
Often when puppies are brought home to their new owners this is the first time they have ever been separated from their dam and siblings and so they naturally attach themselves to their new family by following them about everywhere. Owners find this quite attractive and wrongly assume that this trait will continue into adolescence/adulthood, whatever the circumstances. A dangerous trap to fall into…
At some point in time, usually from around 6 – 10 months, depending on the individual, “Velcro” dog will morph into “Bog off” dog (this is especially true of a breed that has been developed to exhibit a high degree of initiative). This is the time when owners suddenly realize that their dog will not recall when it sees another dog/person etc. Not only is this inconvenient but potentially dangerous as the dog could be at risk of injury from a car/train/another dog etc.
How and when do I start with a puppy?
My advice is to prepare for this inevitability from the day you take your puppy home. If you are lucky the breeder will have started this process whilst still in the nest by conditioning the puppies to a whistle blown immediately before putting the food bowl down during weaning.
Dogs learn by cause and effect ie sound of whistle = food. If you, the new owner, continue this from the moment your puppy arrives you will lay down strong foundations for the future.
By using the whistle in association with meals/food you need to establish the following criteria:
• Come from across the room.
• Come from out of sight
• Come no matter who calls
• Come even if you are busy doing something else
• Come even if you are asleep.
• Come even if you are playing with something/someone else
• Come even if you are eating
Once this goal has been realized in the house, drop all the criteria to zero and establish the same measures, one at a time, in the garden.
Once this goal has been realized in the garden, drop all the criteria to zero and establish the same measures, one at a time, in the park/field etc.
To train this, or any other behaviour:
- Make it easy for the dog to get it right
- Provide sufficient reward
Do not expect a dog to come away from distractions in the park until you have trained it to come to you in the park when no diversions are around. Be realistic and manage your expectations; your sphere of influence/control over your dog may be only 20m to begin with, therefore do not hazard a guess that the dog, at this level of training, will successfully recall from 50m or more away. Distance, like every other criterion, must be built up over time.
Some simple rules to follow when training the recall:
• Whistle/signal/call only once (why train the dog to deliberately ignore your first command?)
• Do not reinforce slow responses for the dog coming eventually after it has cocked its leg, sniffed the tree etc (you get what you train!)
• If you know that the dog will not come back to you in a certain situation, go and get him rather than risk teaching him that he can ignore you. (If you have followed the programme correctly you will never put your dog in a position to fail).
• Practise recalling the dog, putting him on the lead for a few seconds, reinforce with food/toy etc and immediately release the dog. Do this several times during a walk etc so that the dog does not associate a recall with going on the lead and ending the walk or being put on the lead with the cessation of fun.
• Eventually, when the behaviour is very strong, alternate rewards ie verbal praise, physical praise, food, toy and also vary the “value” of the rewards, sometimes a plain piece of biscuit, sometimes a piece of cooked liver etc so that you become a walking slot machine (and we all know how addictive gambling can be)!
In my experience recall training should be consistent and relentless for the first two years of a dog’s life before it can be considered truly dependable. You should look on it as a series of incremental steps, rather than a single simple behaviour, and something that will require lifelong maintenance.
What about an older or rescue dog?
Follow the same programme as outlined above however for recalcitrant dogs that have received little or no training, I would recommend dispensing with the food bowl and feeding a dog only during recalls to establish a strong behaviour quickly.
Your training should be over several sessions a day, which means you can avoid the risk of bloat. It is essential that the dog learns that there will be consequences for failure as well as success.
Divide the day’s food ration up into small bags (between10 – 30), if the dog recalls first time, it gets food, if it does not, you can make a big show of saying “too bad” and disposing of that portion of food (either throw it away or put aside for the next day).
Again, raise the criteria slowly as outlined in puppy training.
Hunger is very motivating!
For those of you who believe it unfair/unhealthy to deprive a dog of its full daily ration, not having a reliable recall is potentially life threatening for the dog ……………
How do I stop my dog chasing joggers/cyclists/skateboarders/rabbits/deer?
Chasing something that is moving is a management issue. Do not put your dog in a position where it can make a mistake. Again you need to start training from a pup but if you have already allowed your dog to learn and practise this behaviour you may need to rely on a trailing line until your dog is desensitised to these distractions and knows that listening to you results in a great reinforcement. Chasing is a behaviour much better never learned as it is naturally reinforcing to the dog, which makes it hard for you to offer a better reinforcement. If you want to have a bombproof recall while your dog is running away from you then use the following approach:
Your goal is to train so that your dog is totally used to running away from you at top speed, and then turning on a sixpence to run toward you when you give the recall cue.
You need to set up the training situation so that you have total control over the triggers. For this you will need to gain the co-operation of a helper. If you have a toy crazy dog you can practice this exercise by throwing a toy away from the dog towards someone standing 30 or 40 feet away. At the instant the toy is thrown, recall your dog! If the dog turns toward you, back up several steps quickly, creating even more distance between the you and the toy and then throw another toy in the opposite direction (same value as one thrown)..
If the dog ignores you and continues toward the thrown object, your “helper” simply picks the ball up and ignores dog. When dog eventually returns (which it will because it’s getting no reinforcement from anyone or anything), praise only. Pretty soon the dog will start to respond to a recall off a thrown toy. You will need to mix in occasions the toy is thrown and the dog is allowed to get it ie you do NOT recall if you want to make sure it does not lose enthusiasm for retrieving.
For the food obsessed dog, you can get your helper to wave a food bowl with something the dog loves in it and then recall the dog as soon as you let it go to run towards the food; again if the dog ignores you and continues to the food, your helper simply ensures the dog cannot access the food and start again. (It is extremely important that the helper does not use your dog’s name to call it for obvious reasons).
Gradually increase the difficulty of the recall by letting the dog get closer and closer to the toy/food. Praise the moment the dog turns away from the toy/food in the early stages of training. Don't wait until the dog returns to you; the dog must have instant feedback.
Once the dog is fluent at switching directions in the middle of a chase, try setting up the situation so that it is more like real life. Have someone ride a bike/run/skate past. (It is unrealistic to factor in deer/rabbits however if your training is thorough the dog will eventually be conditioned to return to you whatever the temptation in most contexts).
Until your training gets to this level, don't let the dog off-lead in a situation in which you don't have control over the chase triggers. Don't set the dog up to fail, and don't allow it to rehearse the problem behaviour. Remember, every time a dog is able to practise an undesirable behaviour it will get better at it!
Most people do not play with toys correctly and therefore the dog is not interested in them or, if it gets them, fails to bring it back to the owner.
Play the two ball game, once you have a dog ball crazy. Have two balls the same, throw one to the left, when the dog gets it, call him like crazy waving the next ball; as he comes back throw the other ball to the right and keep going left right so that YOU are the centre of the game and the dog gets conditioned to return to you for the toy. Once this behaviour is established you can then introduce the cues for out and then make control part of the game ie the game is contingent on the dog sitting and then progress to a sequence of behaviours.
A link for dog food:
www.lurcherlink.org/llink/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40586
Good luck and keep us posted.
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