A bit of background:
I've had my (totally mixed breed) rescue dog for a few months now and he is generally good as gold. He's learnt numerous commands and is fairly reliable in doing them, ignores cats etc on walks (on the lead) when told to 'leave', has good recall in an enclosed area, and will even come back to me when I call him away from another dog.
The problem is prey.
I walk him regularly on a field with no rabbits (I learnt early on that he won't come back if he sees a rabbit, but he will do eventually if I sit and wait it out instead of chasing him....), and his recall has always been perfect. Until he discovered there are squirrels in the trees. Now, if I let him off he will run off and sit under the trees waiting for squirrels to appear, and totally ignoring me! Its really frustrating as it was the one local place I knew i could let him off and he could have a good run.
I know stalking squirrels is WAY more exciting than coming back to me, and much more rewarding than getting a treat. But has anyone had any success in training a dog out of it? Even if it's just in this one place so he can have a run.
Please, any advice is gratefully received!