Long lines - bit confused!

[reikizen]

Ok, so I got a long line lead for my Labrador (9 months old) as her recall is almost broken after being bloody brilliant up till now. I took her out on it the other day and it was a disaster! Either getting tangled up hopelessly with other dogs/leads/people or haring off at full speed and wrenching my arm out of it's socket, she is massive. What am I doing wrong!

You need to keep away from other dogs and their owners. Make sure it is attached to a harness and never a collar. Tie knots down the length of it, if she hares off, drop it and stand on it.

Yep tie knots in it and stand on it...and get some practise in before you try it in public.

She shouldn't be close enough to anyone with it long to get tangled up.

Ahhh, so stand on it not hold it. But if we were somewhere where no dog or people were close by I would have no need of a long line as she would come back! No easy solutions I guess

You should be getting her back before she has got close enough to the people and dogs to tangle them as well really.

You practise somewhere quiet, then when you're co-ordinating well enough to stop her with it, you then go and actually use it to stop her going too close.

I struggle with them myself even after being shown how to use one by a behaviourist, lol. I'm safer with a flexi, though lots of people frown on them. (I'm not recommending swapping it, most people who aren't me seem to get the hang of a longline pretty quickly)

I have exactly the same problem in the sense that recall is only a problem around dogs and people. He isn't treat or toy focused. Playmates hold the biggest attraction of anything so I have nothing on my arsenal. We did the the book total recall and failed as he isn't food motivated.

He has just turned 2 and I freely admit to a strategy of management now. He can only go off lead somewhere like the woods or middle of nowhere where I can stay in high alert to minimal chance of bumping into people or when we meet our regular doggy friends who I know don't mind him racing in, provided the external distractions are minimal.

I'd love to potter around off lead but at 2 and with no idea what to do next I think this is it.

IMO it should also be light enough (marine line or similar) that the dog will barely notice when it's no longer wearing it.

I am planning to take her to a quiet beach tomorrow and have a go, I think we were getting tangled because I was holding it and in retrospect it was far too busy she should have just been on her normal lead. Christ, it's a pain, my parents never had any of the problems I am having with this dog with the three successive labs we had growing up

You need to hold it, make a loop handle in the end, but if she takes off, drop it and stand on it.

Ha! Epic fail in the long line dept. Jesus, these dogs can take off at some speed when they want to can't they? Thankfully some nice ladies intercepted her for me. So, if they lose their recall at 9 months when can I expect it back again??

We are having this problem with our one year old collie, he'll come back if there are other dogs but he will not come back at home or if there is a bike or jogger in the vicinity. He's not food orientated and there is no such thing as a high value treat for him apart from the joy of chasing a fast moving object which is just what we want to stop.

He's now on a long line at home and when out so I can make him return regardless. It's slowly getting better thanks to a lot of work and a good trainer.