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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

Right, I mean business now...wish me luck!

20 replies

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 11:31

I have (and have read ) Pippa Mattinson's Total Recall.

I have a stack of fresh chicken quarters in the fridge and my Acme dog whistles have arrived this morning. I'm investing so much hope in this. My puppy is so good in general but spends so much time in the lead as I cannot trust him not to bound up to anyone and everyone to say hello (complete with muddy paws anf with no regard as to whether he is welcome) I NEED this to work!

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Marne · 28/02/2013 11:43

Good luck , we have been lucky with our pup, he has been fine off the lead from day 1, he sticks to me like glue as he knows i have food, he will run towards people but comes back when i call him.

Original poster

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 11:49

Mine is brilliant until it comes to people and dogs and then he just pegs it. I'm a little wary as it still relys on food and he can be abit 'meh' about it as it isn't as valuable to him as bouncing around on another dog. She suggest warm meat to start with though

But it is very stuctured and and advises a slow pace so crossing everything. Purlease work...

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Marne · 28/02/2013 12:05

My other dog is like that, have tried for years to get her to come back but she's not bothered about food and seems to have selective hearing as soon as she see's a person or another dog.

ijustwant8hours · 28/02/2013 13:33

Good luck Fan! Let me know if it works.... Have given up with my pup.

Original poster

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 13:47

God I hope so. Just taken him for a walk and come back feeling really downbeat.

It's a gorgeous day here and we live round the corner from a lovely park (hall/museum, ponds, tea rooms etc) Place was teeming with families, dog walkers etc and he was a total pain. Flinging himself around, crawling along the floor and barking at me as he was in the lead. But if I let him off I would have spent 2 hours chasing and apologising.

Damn daft dog needs to realise how much more fun he could have if he wasn't such an attention seeker!

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Imsosorryalan · 28/02/2013 13:55

Good luck, we had it sorted until Alandog decided any dog was fair game and 'come' actually means ' go and chase other dogs'.
Is there some recall secret I am missing? How the hell do you get a dog to stop in its tracks when it sees a dog??

littlewhitebag · 28/02/2013 14:04

I too have got this book and the acme whistles. I am about half way through the programme now. I can recall my pup successfully from anywhere in the house and garden. I can get her to come and go from me using the whistle off lead on a walk with no other distractions dogs around. I am stuck on the bit where i am supposed to prime people with dogs to come to my garden as i don't know anyone around here with dogs (i live fairly rurally and in an isolated house).
Anyone got any suggestions?

Original poster

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 14:13

Is there no one you pass the time of day with out walking littlewhitebag who you could ask?

My pup will come in all others circs other than distractions but obviously going to start at beginning. I have already asked a dog owning friend to help.

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pigsDOfly · 28/02/2013 15:08

Don't be downbeat Fan. My little dog was impossible. Her recall was ok but as soon as I tried to get her back on the lead she'd bolt. She was incredible fast and being small was able to dodge out of my grasp. I actually spent about 3 hours trying to get her back on the lead once and only managed it with help from 2 other people (some people can be so kind).

I bought a 30ft training lead. It took her a while to get used to it, but it meant that I could either hold it and let her have a bit of freedom, or leave it trailing and stamp on it if she looked like she was going to bolt or got too far away from me.

I also loaded myself up with chicken liver treats, but she's very treat orientated, so I was lucky with that aspect of it.

She was on the trailing lead for about 8 months - I was told by a trainer that it could be well over a year before some dogs will be reliable - but we got there in the end and now at just under 2 years old, she's completely reliable. You'll get there too.

Trust yourself to do it and she'll pick up on that as well. Remember, you're in charge! Good luck.

littlewhitebag · 28/02/2013 15:25

I rarely pass people when out walking off lead as i go out when it is quiet so i can get her to come back. Today i have walked her twice and only met one old man with an old dog! I want to be able to take her to the beach but at the moment only do this early in the morning in bad weather as i get the place to myself!

The only person i know with a dog is the lady i take to training class but her pup is worse than mine. The two of them spend the lesson plotting to break free and run round like loons.

Original poster

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 16:02

I have got a 30 ft trailing line Pigs but I guess the main problem is how busy our park is and how over enthusiastic my pup is. I had at least 10 seperate groups in view at any one time. One is enough to have him bolt and I just cannot hold his attention for even 20 seconds so if I take my foot off the line at all he's gone! He's adorable but he'd go home with anyone. If he was human he'd be a needy outrageous but rather cack handed flirt I think

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Original poster

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 16:03

I should say I don't drive so have to stay local in the week. It is much easier at the weekend when we drive to the woods and can get off lead.

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littlewhitebag · 28/02/2013 16:42

Fan - your dog sounds so exactly like mine! What age/breed is he?

Original poster

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 17:14

He is a 7 month old Border Terrier. He is lovely natured, just a little bit like a bull in a china shop! He is due to be neutered next weds but don't know if that will help or hinder.

What is yours?

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SpicyPear · 28/02/2013 17:44

I have one of these too. He was supposed to be a JRT x Whippet but at 6 months quite obviously JRT x Patterdale

Totally independent and a complete attention whore. Particularly loves small screeching children, but also finds a nice twig v distracting.

He was castrated recently so when he is okayed for off lead it's intensive training lead time. Sorry no actual help in that post, just a bit of sharing for moral support! If you lived near me I'd bring him to your garden and they'd create merry hell I'm sure!

littlewhitebag · 28/02/2013 18:05

Mine is a 9 mth golden lab. She has been spayed and she is slightly calmer than she was thanks to obedience classes but she is just too friendly for her own good.

Original poster

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 19:57

My pup is in vets to be done on weds Spicy. She says to spends days on each stage and start is just associating whistle with treats and then when walking over to you so hoping we can keep that up whilst we are stuck home.

I think alot of it is the terrier enthusiasm for everthing!

He loves labs littlewhitebag. They are one of the few that will sometimes tolerate his clumsy overbearing ways! Well, apart from the andrex pup alike at pup class that climbed into a holdall to get away from him.

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SpicyPear · 28/02/2013 20:42

I've been thinking of getting the book so please let me know how it goes. I trained my adult rescue recall from scratch over several months and was extremely smug as I thought that was challenging but he is a whole new kettle of fish!

He did do me proud once though when I got chatting to another terrier owner who uses a whistle. I let him of to play, relying on the other dog's allegedly bomb proof 100% recall and off they went into the trees. After a while she tooted her whistle and.... absolutely nothing. Three more goes and she is looking worried. So I shout "SpicyPup, come" and he just appears immediately from the undergrowth and runs straight over. I hold onto that moment...

Original poster

fanoftheinvisibleman · 28/02/2013 20:51

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gymmummy64 · 28/02/2013 21:07

I used this book with my adult rescue following despair at yet another episode of absconding. The section I found most helpful and thought provoking was the one on establishing a zone of control. It made me realise that I was largely irrelevant to my dog whilst on a walk. While that continued he might choose to play some recall games if the mood took him, but that was as good as it got. He was also highly prone to disappearing altogether.

We've probably spent more time in the intervening period working on the zone of control and me being relevant to him than on recall itself. He understood perfectly well what recall was but that wasn't the right thing to build on as it was very much his choice rather than a no-brainer. So we sort of redefined it in a way - much as the book suggests.

4 months on he is now off lead in selected locations which I am building up very slowly. He now constantly references me while on a walk and we very much go on walks together now - a big difference and much more enjoyable. No absconding so far, he's done really really well and I'm delighted.

I found the book described my issues very very well! I hope its as good with puppies - I highly recommend it. My dog is very food oriented though.

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