Can anybody help me with the disaster that is my recall skills?

[permaquandry]

Ddog; 16 mths, not particularly clever or obedient. I say this with kindness, as she is lovely but is not showing any signs of understanding, ie: she doesn't go to the back door for toilet, she takes a long while to 'get' any kind of command.

I am fully prepared to be blamed for her lack of obedience, I hold my hands up but I wonder where I am going wrong.

I persist with commands and reward with love, attention and usually a small treat (her kibble, usually).

Have had several disasters off lead, so she is always on lead (retractable, I understand this can compound problems, but she is walked on or near main roads for most of the daily walk). I've recently been taking her to safer fields, where there is no easy exist. So far, so good, always returning on command (maybe on 2nd-3rd call), rewards with small treat or a positive affirmation (good girl and a nice stroke).

Today, however, she completely ignored me, decided other dogs were more interesting and just ran around/off with them. I changed my voice to more commanding and called her at least 10 times. She blanked me. I then walked over and began calling her again, she came near me, then shot off again. I managed to grab her and put her straight on lead and took her to the other side of the field.

I let her off again and she wandered off a little way, I called her again, 5 times and she just ignored me. Cue me putting lead back on and back to car.

Did I do the right thing here and where am I going wrong in general? What is a suitable action for them not responding to command, ie. when I call her at home, she just ignores me and sits and stares at me, so I go over and pick her up. Is this right?

Thanks for reading, any advice would be appreciated.

As has been said, some dogs are totally into their owners and trot along nicely out on walks, never venturing far without very much training installed. I'd suggest these are the minority.

I echo what has been said about higher value treats. I would also recommend taking a variety of treats out on each walk so that the dog gets a surprise each time it's rewarded. Once they know that each recall means the same type of kibble there isn't much incentive to return if there are smells, fox poo or other dog's butts to investigate.

Get yourself a training line too.

I understand your pain, OP.

I have had trainers and attended classes and even the lady with 50 years' training experience admitted that dog has a mind of his own, coupled with being extremely strong.

I too imagined I'd be walking over hill and dale with a faithful hound at my side, but even if I was holding a giant juicy steak in my hand, dog would prefer to romp around with his fellow species.

His recall in the house/garden is 100%. He's at my side in less than two seconds. But he just loves dogs...

As no one has said it yet, I recommend the Total Recall training book. Bit of a long winded read but good information in it, some obvious, other things made me realise where I was going wrong before. Been putting in the work 2-3 x 5 mins a day with my 10 month old lab since Xmas as his recall was awful.

I was playing in a huge field with him yesterday, there was an owner (or maybe a dog walker) with 5 dogs at the other end of the field, but he was generally ignoring them as we played with the ball thrower. He suddenly took great interest in them and sprinted off towards them a break neck speed and was 300-400 yards off before I knew it.

Normally wouldn't use my new recall command as its still very much work in progress, we haven't trained for this situation and I don't want him to learn to ignore it. But I panicked and used it and he slammed on the brakes and sprinted right back! He got all of the dried venison sausage I had on me after that recall! I was so proud of him!

Best feeling in the world isn't it Wings!

Wings That book looks good but I'm a bit worried because it says you have to have someone to help with some of the steps, is that the case?

With my dog she will hurtle back when called or whistled most of the time but we can never manage that final step in the face of too tempting a distraction. Does this book really have the answer?

Incidentally she is not at all motivated by toys or games in the park (she enjoys them at home) and is supremely confident and not at all worried about losing me, so hiding or walking away doesn't have the slightest effect on her behaviour.

mothership I'm only at the early stages/chapters and haven't needed anyone yet.

In the previous chapters it mentions proofing, which I'm not at yet. This talks about not using your new recall in new situations (like yesterday) and to condition his response in a controlled situation. So I suspect that means having a friend with a dog to test with, or maybe ask a dog owner you meet on your walks to help. We meet the same people all the time and walk together/chat as the dogs play and I'm sure no one would mind helping now and again.

I have been conditioning and proofing his response following their plan, its very reward based on food. So he's still getting regular high value treats (ive even taken bits of raw rump steak on our walk!) and with recalls like yesterday feeding him for a good minute or more Lots of little bits of treats. It has things like this in it that seem straight forward, but never occurred to me before. It also recommends starting from scratch with a new recall command, and very basic exercises in the home o really condition the response, which initially felt like a waste of time but has worked.

(Disclaimer:I have a 10 month old lab pup which is supposed t o be the easiest dog to train, and still very impressionable!)

peanut yes it was great! It was a totally automatic reaction for him to turn back, it was amazing to see.

Need to get the book out and onto the next chapter!

Thanks Wings I have tried proofing and it works so far but just breaks down in the face of distraction and I don't know how to set her up to succeed when it's such unpredictable situations - she knows well before I do if there is a particularly delectable fox poo near by!

To be honest I think there is a big difference between training dogs that have been bred to work with humans and those that have been bred to have a more independent nature.