Recall gone to pot...help!

[Panicmode1]

I have a 5 month retriever. Up to now, her recall without distraction has been 100%, and although her distracted recall is pretty poor, I have been able to call her back to me before I see 'danger' ahead and she would come back. This week we are visiting my parents and she's just not listening to me at all.....we went for a walk today and I had to sprint to catch her before she jumped all over a toddler and baby in a pram, she ran into the lane by my parents house when she saw a dog and she completely ignores me when she's in their (admittedly extensive) grounds. Is it because she is loving all of the space?! We are in an urban setting albeit with a large park and woods just across the road so she does get good runs in green spaces. Or is this a teenage phase and I just have to persevere with the basics? She's a nightmare for jumping up too, despite the constant reminders not to!

Any advice gratefully received !

I have no advice, but much sympathy. Our 7month old pup is the same.

Bit early for the teenage phase but you never know! Five months is still very little. I wouldn't expect much to be ingrained by then. They say it take up to two years for a dog to be properly trustworthy. You might be expecting too much too soon.

You need to go back to basics. Start again from the beginning and go over everything until you're confident she can do it. Then you need to proof it. Practice your recall in lots of different places. She has to understand that it applies everywhere, not just on her usual walk.

Reward her when she comes back to you so she associates it with a good thing. Don't always put her on the lead when it's time to go. Call her back, reward her, put her on the lead for five minutes and then take her off again and walk for a bit more so she doesn't assume that when the lead comes out it's the end of the fun and time to go.

And practice, practice, practice. And then practice a bit more. It can take ages but you get out what you put in.

Treats! Our Springer went through a similar phase and we managed to correct it by making sure we had lots of 'high value' treats. Chopped up sausages, chicken or burgers. Make sure your dog knows you have them before you leave the house so he/she will want to work for them. If you know another dog who's recall is good, try going for walks with them. When you call the dogs back, if yours doesn't come or takes his/her time to come, treat the other dog and praise it, give lots of fuss etc. Your dog will see the other dog getting treats and fuss and will want the same.

Thanks everyone. I went right back to basics this morning with my pocket full of sausage, which she watched me put in her 'treat pot' and she was brilliant, even with other dogs in sight. Will just keep reinforcing!

Another way of ensuring that recall is good is to play hide and seek with puppy. We do it all over the place and always reward with high value treats. I swear she is grinning from ear to ear when I am hiding under the table!
The trick is to give the treat the moment they come to you, you're not rewarding a sit, rather than the recall.

My top tip(s) for recall are get a whistle and a copy of Total Recall and work your way through it
The advantages of the whistle are that it always sounds the same so however panic-stricken or cross you are that won't come across to your dog and it also carries further.

The other thing is to work out what really makes your dog tick - mine is more toy-obsessed than food-oriented so if he's excited out on a walk I could be waving a whole roast chicken around and he'd be saying 'yeah, and??' but show him a tennis ball (or in real emergencies produce a squeaky tennis ball) and he's instantly at my side

At least you have a dog who is interested in treats, I have one who will come back for the first treat but not after that no matter what the treat is, I swear I could provide him with a rotating banquet of caviar, liver and cheese and he would turn his nose up.
A toy works to get him to stay still but only at a distance, he's back on a long line whilst we practise and practise. He is improving slowly, he's 21 months btw.

Hello I have a 10 month old Lab who started galloping off to play with other dogs when she was around the same age as yours - I think she started adolescence early! She has a very good recall now and the thing that saved it was making myself more exciting than anything else on our walks. You need to find out what motivates her - whether it's treats or toys. With my dog it was retrieving squeaky balls so I would call her/ squeak the ball to get her attention and as a reward for coming back she would get to retrieve it. Eventually I phased it out so that now sometimes she gets to retrieve when she recalls, sometimes she gets a treat and other times just a pat on the head. You eventually need to mix it up so they don't know what they are going to get, if anything at all! I can second Total Recall as well although I didn't follow it to the letter.

Thank you so much for the top tips - I had been meaning to get a copy of Total Recall, so I will order that now.

I can't really work out what she's motivated by toy-wise - she loves new toys for about a nano second or three but doesn't really like chasing or fetching balls more than once or twice.....but she'll chase another dog into the sunset without a backward glance, even if I was slathered in liver or holding a juicy bone!

Good advice about rewarding for coming back rather than sitting - so I will do that from now on too.