Any tips on getting a rescue JRT to come back when called? I'm so sick of hunting him down.

[Spidermama]

We got him from the RSPCA. He's a Jack Russel Terrier cross. They know nothing about him though they reckon he's 1.5 to 2 years old.

He's very bright and very amenable indoors. He got 'sit' and 'stay' on day 2. However, when we let him off the lead in the park he just goes.

We take treats. We have a whistle. We've tried doing recall training whilst in a fenced off tennis court. He will come back then.

Today I chased him through rose bushes and all over the park. He was often within grabbing distance but he just wouldn't come. I stayed as patient as I could and called him in a bright and cheerful way but he just looked at me as if to say, 'you're having a larf aren't you?'

I can't have a dog who stays on the lead all his life. I am out of my depth here. If I can't get him to come back he will have to go back.

Any tips? Success stories? Throw me a bone.

No suggestions but will be watching. Our dog is 7 and never mastered recall. Sometimes running is just too fun. When he comes back eventually he is just so happy with himself! He is on the logest extenable lead I could buy

Oh Curly what a nightmare!

I love walking in parks and countryside with a dog running free near me, calling it back. I am just not having a situation where I have to keep my dog on a lead all the time. I would rather take him back and get another. Of course this would be utterly heart breaking for my kids and I would feel like a monster but I just can't have it.

The long lead I bought is horrible. It gets wet and very, very heavy which is a pain for both of us. It also gets tangled in all the bushes he sniffs in.

i love jrts and i have two! would have more if i could

firstly, how long have you had him?

Just three weeks chickchick.
I know it's early days but he could completely hear me today and had no intention of coming no matter how many times I called, whistled and waved treats at him.

I can't help wondering if that's why he ended up in the pound needing to be rescued in the first place.

hopefully someone wouldnt have given up their dog and risked it being put to sleep because it wouldnt come back. its sadly very common for dogs to be in rescue through no fault of their own.

however, i like to see my dogs off the lead so i can understand why you want that to happen.

as you are already doing all the training things - maybe an experienced trainer could help you fine tune training though - i wonder if it is just a case of giving it time as the weeks/months pass and your bond develops he will come back to you just because he loves you so much

i do also think that as he has only been out of kennels a few weeks maybe he is just enjoying his freedom. i know that doesnt make it ok.

i have two jack russells which have been a dream to train but my collie cross has been a pain at times! he has a tendency to listen when he feels like it.

how about only letting him off lead after he has had a long walk on lead? this way he's walked off some energy before you let him off lead.

also, how about going back to basics with recall? he sounds clever so it seems he knows the command but maybe he just needs practice and more practice for it to become a habit?

i am sure you know to be very consistent, using same word every time. treat every time he returns until its 100% and then reduce frequency of treats over time. is he more likely to come back for a food treat or a toy?

have you taught him fetch? you could take a ball out with you and he would get exercise chasing it and practise coming back to you. not recall i know but at least off lead exercise.

we love walks in the woods, terriers are great dogs to walk off lead and hopefully you will be able to do that in the future

i am not an expert trainer but please feel free to pm me if you think i can help

hopefully you will get some more replies

wours landed up on the lead permanently just sympathy

should rephrase that - i have yet to meet a dog who is in rescue due to their own fault. it can be lack of training, people changing their mind, relationship breakdown, ill health, losing job, housing problems, etc

also have you thought about obedience classes? even when dog is obedient they are great for developing the bond between dog and owner. they usually work out about £5 per class

good luck

another also he is still very young which may be affecting his ability to listen!

i know some rescue organisation will recommend leaving dog on lead for a few weeks after rehoming so best not to expect too much too soon

also i know exactly how it feels to want to tell a dog off when you have been calling and calling him and then he wanders back to you as if he hasnt been a pain in the arse neck not listening. i have to work hard at times to grin and bear it while calling him names in my head and reward him for eventually coming back

been wracking my brain as so long ago i taught mine but remembered another tactic we used was -
two people stand about 50m or whatever (rubbish at distances!) apart in an enclosed space. one has dog on lead. the other stands with arms out ready to call dog. dog is let off lead after person starts calling him using recall word and runs to that person who is all excited and has a treat ready. that person then rewards dog and put him on a lead. get dog facing first person, wait till that person starts calling him using same recall word and repeat a few times. do this a few times a day. when recall reliable then do it in more open spaces
again practise, practise until each stage is 100% before moving on. if recall fails when you have moved on just go back and bit and build up until 100% again

should add i always gave treat immediately after putting lead on. you want to reward for coming back but not for dog to eat reward and run off before you put lead on.
try to make putting lead on as close as possible to giving reward, almost in the same action iykwim

Thanks so much for the tips chickchick.

Slartybart I'm trying to pretend I didn't see your post.

I'm feeling a bit less despondant today as DH tells me he had a great day with DDog in the woods. He did lots of training, initially on the long lead. He says the recall was great. He also had bits of real tasty sausage instead of the dried up ol' biscuits I bring. He also only gave him half a breakfast so he'd be hungry, which sounds kind of mean to me but seems to have worked a treat.

I just hope he'll be as good for me as his is for dh.

Thanks again for the tips. You are right. It is early days. I'm not the most patient of people so will have to learn to take it day by day.

Have you tried playing hide and seek? One person holds and the other goes and hides, then calls the dog. Start indoors and make it easy at first but progressively more challenging. Then in the garden or other enclosed space. You can then try out and about with one holding the dog while the other hides in a bush or behind a tree. Again start easy and build up the challenge.

Needless to say the hider has a really tasty treat for the dog when he is found.

Every young dog I've had loves this game and it is a good way of establishing a recall.

My other suggestion, if it is all getting a bit frustrating, would be to substitute a whistle for a voice recall as a whistle does not sound pissed off!

Teaching a reliable recall is hard work but really essential. Some suggestions which might help you (in no particular order, just me waffling, sorry!):

1. Are you exciting enough? Treats are all very well if that's what floats his boat, but if the rest of the world is more exciting than you and a treat, it's not going to get him back on its own! You need to find the most motivating reward for him. I'm sure a terrier person will come along with some great suggestions specific to terriers, but meanwhile I'd suggest you get him an incredibly good toy. For our dog this was a hard ball on a strong rope. This was never left 'out' for her in the house, but always put away so we controlled access. We used to play excited games of 'catch' and 'tug' with it between humans in the house to increase its value. (Yep, you'll feel daft ). When out, we'd let her go off and do her own thing, but would then call her back for a game frequently. This could be tugging, wait and tug, jumping to grab it on command, fetch, etc. The result was that WE became the major source of entertainment for her on a walk. We can recall her from really exciting things because the reward is an exciting play!

1. Don't chase him. It's a great game for your dog if you try to run after him and grab him. Instead, call him excitedly while you run in the opposite direction as if you're 'escaping'.

1. Teach him that he needs to keep an eye on you, not the other way around. We used to spend walks 'hiding' from the dog. We'd wait until she wasn't watching then slip behind a tree / bush / etc. We'd keep an eye on her and wait for the moment that she realised we weren't there and looked panicked. THEN (and only then), we'd call her. She'd come running and would get a big fuss and a game, plus also sometimes a treat. We did this every few minutes on early walks. Eventually we did it much less, but only once she had learnt that it was her job to keep an eye on us.

1. Don't keep calling, it just gives him a 'fix' on your position so he knows where you are and thinks he doesn't need to bother ambling over

1. Don't bother calling if you don't think he's going to come back - you risk teaching him that he can ignore you!

1. If he has already got used to ignoring your recall word, then change it for something else when you start all this.

1. Start in the house and garden too. Call him and when he comes, reward with a game and / or treat. He should get used to recall being fun for him.

1. Many dogs find that recall means that fun ends and the lead goes on. Put the lead on him a few times when he comes back, but then take it off him again and release him to 'go play'!

I hope some of this is useful, and sorry about the lack of structure!

I feel your pain - we have a rescue jrt and to begin with his recall was dreadful. He'd lived in a flat and never been outside so he used to run flat out as soon as he was off the lead.

We used clicker training and a dog whistle and did loads of short distance recall on every walk we went on.

We used a long lead and practised recall while he was on that.

We did lots of walks where he was just on a path ahead of us and practised recall.

We spent loads of time on the beach in winter when no one else was daft enough to be out and practised recall over longer distances

We played games in a field calling him and rewarding him - as others have said we didn't always put him on a lead when he returned.

Over time (2 years)his recall has improved tremendously - unless a rabbit runs infront of him it's not perfect but there are now lots of situations where he can be off the lead.

Last week I was really proud of him - he was off the lead walking down a path and a horse and roder suddenly appeared - I called and he came back at once - 2 years ago that would never have happened

spidermama - didnt come online yesterday and am really pleased to see so many fantastic tips today.

i think all the tips are great

dont think husband is mean for only giving half his food and keeping rest for walk. thats a good idea. having tasty treats is a good idea too. sausage, cheese (small amounts) are great. also, to keep in cupboard the pedigree cheesy bites training treats are good. about £1 per bag and are small so can give frequently when training. though, human food seems to be the best reward! something we do is vary the treats so dog doesnt know what to expect. i've got one of those bags you can attach to bag or belt so treats are always easy to access and no more smelly pockets

we also keep a ball on a rope for specific training. ours is for agility and when jrt sees it he gets very excited. we dont leave that toy in their toy box either as its a 'special' toy for training

i think its amazing that his recall was so good so soon in the woods. imagine all the rabbits, squirrels, etc that must have been so tempting for him. though dont be surprised if at some point he runs after something small and furry in the woods as thats in their nature

Fab post from Laska

We´ve got a rescue mongrel & are struggling so will be watching this!

The first time he shot off & it was pure chance that he stopped near I dog & we caught up.

I don´t want him on a lead always but tbh I´d rather that than lose him

At the moment the compromise is he gezs lots of "mad" time in the garden.

Where he is very good at recall

I'm so glad I re-visited this thread.
You dog lovers are so fab. I'm really enjoying chatting with other dog owners in the park again these days. It's been too long. (My last dog died 8 years ago and I've been pining.)

Battery I love the hide and seek idea.

Laska great post. I think I am not exciting enough. DH IS and recall works well for him. He leaps about like a madman waving his arms and using embarrassing playful voices. He has no self conciousness whatsoever whereas I am blighted by it.

Ilsa thanks for your tale of dedication. Two years! OMG I could be in for a long haul then. I wonder how much of it was your training and how much just down to age. People do say he'll calm down a bit with age.

He's been doing really well with DH. The problem is, DH is going away for 3 months so I need to step up.

Stick with it Spidermama - mine is a fabulous dog now, although we have just aquired an second rescue dog and she has lots of issues so we are starting from scratch again.

The funny thing is dog1 now seems amazingly well trained as dog2 doesn't even know her name yet we must be gluttens for punishment.
I've spent part of this afternoon using my stupid squeaky dog calling voice while playing hide and seek in the garden

I do think maturity plays a role as well, so your dog will improve given time.

Thanks Ilsa. I can just imagine going back to rescue a collie cross a couple of years down the line as it goes. We've already talked about it. We'll let this little feller settle in first though.

I have a phd in making a rod for my own back.

you have my sympathy! sorry but being very lazy tonight - have copied and pasted below my response to another similar thread.

As the owner of a beagle who loves nothing better than to turn a deaf ear to my recall commands, i will let u in on the only thing that has worked with us. always start a walk with your dog on the lead and only let the dog off once it sits calmly. once off the lead, call dog back regularly by calling "X, come!" (note where dog's name is not X, substitute actual name for X ) It is important to use the word "come" as dog is so used to hearing its name in many different scenarios besides recall. when dogs turns to come back to u get very excited - big smile, "good dog!", etc. - give treat and put dog on lead. walk a bit with dog on lead, then repeat - make dog sit calmly, let off lead, call back, get excited, give treat, walk on lead for a bit more. it is important that dog is on lead more than is off lead on a walk, as this teaches that you are in charge and free playtime is a special privilege, not a right! remember to always end the walk on a high note, so if you have trouble at one of the recalls, when dog eventually comes back, give treat, put on lead and keep on lead for rest of walk. do not get to the stage where u are screaming and yelling and dog is ignoring you. this may mean that in the beginning walks are mostly on the lead, but over time you can build up to longer periods off the lead.

hope this helps you. it workied perfectly with our lab - but she was wonderful from day one. the beagle, on the other hand is still a work in progress!!

My dog is a rescue dog who was got rid of due to his bad recall (at least that's what they told us, they forgot to mention his grass allergies and intolerance to meat!!).
I tried loads of recall training methods and the one that was the most effective was on a retriever website (he's not a retriever but was getting desperate). Basically it involves changing direction repeatedly, as soon as your dog sets off in one direction quickly change direction and call him, as soon as he heads off in that direction change direction again. You don't get very far so not ideal if you do a circular walk but it worked a treat on my dog.

Thanks girls.

Happy I have already read and enjoyed your post after hunting through the doghouse threads for recall ideas.