Recall training ideas?

[SK166]

We've got a 7 month old lab puppy and have been training his recall since the first day he came home. Up until about 2 weeks ago, it was going really well and his recall to the whistle was very reliable, but now it's going downhill.

I know it's a phase related to his age and levels of excitement, but he now goes selectively deaf to the whistle when there are other dogs he wants to play with. He's super friendly and well-socialised so I have no fears that he would ever hurt anyone or any other dog, but he's a big bouncy puppy and other dogs don't always appreciate that. Previously, if another dog gave him a telling off, he'd just happily leave them alone and trot back to us but now he just runs rings around the dog/s and their owners until I can find a way to intervene and get him back.

Sometimes other things work, like me instigating a game of chase (him chasing me) or fetch to lead him in the other direction, but that's becoming less and less reliable as well and now that I'm heavily pregnant and suffering with SPD I can't keep up with him or physically intervene as easily.

Has anyone got any suggestions? We use a high value reward for recall that he only gets for that and heel-walking. We practise all the time, but I know we're fighting a tricky developmental phase. He's not sufficiently motivated by other things like toys/retrieve games so that's a non-starter for now. I'm also loathe to put him on the lead in the park because he really needs the run around and also I feel like that would be counter-productive because we need to train the behaviour out, not just restrain him otherwise the problem will never be solved.

Any wisdom greatly appreciated!

Yes teenage selective deafness. At that age I started walking in very quiet areas at the crack of dawn so we wouldn't meet many other dogs as a dog with no recall is a pest to others.

Things I did was to constantly change direction every time he rushed passed me so he couldn't rely on me walking towards him so he started to have to watch me. Trying to make myself more exciting which it sounds like you are doing like playing hide and seek. Maybe try some tug toys or hide some balls or food so he has to find them. Essentially he runs to other dogs as he wants his independence and you are boring so anything to counter act that is good.

Sounds daft, but one of the best things I did for DFs boy, who had terrible recall until about the age of four, was bring him to flyball with my girl. It's a constant recall game as far as he's concerned and on walks he's gone from about 10% reliable to about 80.
We could to better, but at four it's much harder to correct the issue.

You say you use a high value treat, have you tried liver cake? I used this exclusively for recall for my girl - it's doggie crack.

Ah, the teenage phase!

I found it quite stressful. Ultimately, what worked for us was buying a proper whistle (or 2) and having really smelly/tasty treats. We would go to a large enclosed meadow and stand either side of it and get the dog to sprint from one side to the other doing whistle/treat each time.

It worked like a charm and wore him out.

There's some great advice here and Bitey's suggestion to stay unpredictable is bang on. Whilst obviously you are responsible for you both, try to convince him it his job to keep with you, not your job to keep your eye on him.

Change direction and hide from him often. When he finds you or changes direction to match yours then remember to make a great fuss of him. This made a big difference with my springer and I notice that even when he looks like he is ignoring me, it has become harder and harder for me to hide from him because he is always keeping a little side-eye on me.

Remember not to just rely on walks to charge up the power of the whistle. Use it at home to indicate you want him to come to you. In the house (where life is a bit more boring) you can call him to you from another room then make a great fuss and give treats. Use it to call him to the front door for his walk. Use it to call him for dinner. This helps keep the link strong in his mind between the whistle and something brilliant happening if he comes.

I understand you don't want to use a lead but a long training lead that you allow to trail behind him on the ground can make it easier to regain control if you are struggling with that.

I found varying the high value treats so he never gets used to anything also helps and have resorted to cooking waitrose venison sausages or roasting a duck breast when I need something very high value and new.

Above all, keep up the work and have faith (and patience) that he will come good again in the end. You are not the only one struggling with adolescent recall and it doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong (Battendog is just like it).

I second having a long line (attached to a harness, not collar) trailing behind him. Then if he chooses to 'go deaf' you can pick up the end of the line to regain control. The other thing to do is make coming back to you better than anything else. As he's a lab, obviously food will help. Make the food enticing, so fresh chicken, small pieces of sausage etc but also make the delivery of the food more exciting - try throwing it past you, so he hurtles past, then throw another piece in a different direction, repeat and repeat, so he gets maybe 4 or 5 pieces for 1 recall. Also introduce a toy for his recall, a good game of tug will often be more rewarding than a game with another dog, once you've taught him to expect it.