Any tips on taking dog to park!

[essieestherson]

I have a lovely Lhasa apso named Cromwell, he is 7 months old... he is a lovely dog, great with my 3 children and my cat.

At home he is perfect. He will sit, fetch, lay down, do paw and roll over and is completely toilet trained, but I cannot take him to the park.

I have been trying to train him for the last few months to come back but the second we get to the park he wants to be off... I have stopped letting him off the lead now as he just doesn't come back! He also humps every single dog he sees... With 3 kids in tow it's proving very stressful!

Does anyone have any tips?

I have tried bringing his favourite treat with me... but he just has no interest.

He is not neutered yet so maybe once I get that done he'll calm down a bit?

I haven't really got any advice as I am a new puppy owner. But we have a beagle cross so we plan on using a long line for her for the foreseeable future as we anticipate recall is going to be a challenge

Thanks for the reply! We have a long line too atm.. although he gets caught in it so often and gets entwined with other leads! X

Flexi lead

Neutering won't change this. You need recall. I used the book total recall. And trained with a trainer. Your dog needs to learn to recall with distraction.
For now use the long line and look into hiring a safe space.

7 months is one month after my puppy started to 'lose' his recall when he hit his teenage phase.

Have you had recall off lead in the park previously? If you have then at least you know it should return when he matures

The problem is you are not very exciting. Other dogs and people are far more exciting that you so you have to try and make yourself the most exciting thing in the world.

When my dog lost recall I have to say I dropped walking him where there were other dogs and people and worked on making myself unpredictable e.g. walking off in the opposite direction so he had to keep an eye on me. I also played hide and seek and games to try and make myself more entertaining.

If you don't have the luxury of finding empty safe places and can only walk in the park I would use a long lead so you can stamp on it when he won't come back. I never used one but I can see that in your situation it would be useful. You also need to try and work out what is exciting to him so you need to forget about strolling along and thinking he will come back to you. Does he have a favourite toy? A food that is extra special? This is his reward for coming back so you need to play with him etc.

There are some books that people have recommended previously on here for recall so hopefully someone will come on and say which ones.

Think about training recall to a whistle as often when you are calling them back you might let on you sound annoyed/worried in your voice whereas a whistle doesn't project that at all. Reward every time they come back and don't reprimand if they take their time as you 'want' them to come back next time.

By the way my dog was a complete git when he lost his recall but eventually it came back around I think the 10-11 month age but it was awful and we had to practice all the time when out.

Just seen you are walking with three children. Can you take him without them as you really need to concentrate on the training otherwise if you are distracted then you are going to struggle to watch for his distractions and be super exciting to be around.

Thanks so much for the tips. He had excellent recall when we first got him. He would follow me around and come back the second I called him..!

The plan was for me and my 10 year old to take him out every evening to train him etc, annoyingly me and my husband have just split and now on my own I'm finding it really hard to take him out with all the dc....

Hopefully though once he's out of his teenage rebellious months things will be a lot easier!

OK it's good that you had recall in the park as he then knows what he should do even though he is choosing to ignore you now.

Now the key is to try and find things to do (favourite toys, extra scrummy treats, children hiding and him finding them, hiding balls and him finding them etc) during your walks so you are fun rather than being the misery that just calls him back from dogs.

Practice when out calling him back, reward with treats or play then sending him off again. Also practice grabbing his collar or putting on a lead then send him off again as you don't want him to associate the lead with end of play. Be unpredictable if you can, don't always walk the same way so he can't predict what you are going to do.

I'm so sorry about the split. That's hard.
This won't magically resolve once he gets older though. Every time you call and he ignores you and has fun it reinforces the bad behaviour. You need to actively train the behaviour you want and prevent that you don't.
That book I mentioned turned my hooligan hound into a good citizen. If you can't find the time/money for a trainer then it might work.
Save the VERY best treats for recall. Find the stinkiest things.
We also teach a touch. Dog touches your hand with a nose and gets treat. Do that on a walk and release dog again. So recall isn't always end of playtime.

we have a 5 year old lhasa apso and it took us 18 months before we were confident with his recall and let him off the lead as they are such a stubborn breed....even now he has very selective hearing!

Get him neutered ASAP - it will make life so much easier! Especially with the humping.
Whistle train him - plenty of training videos online.
Can you start by taking him to the park when it’s quiet? Very early in the morning? Or start in the garden. Get him coming back to you consistently and staying with you until you tell him to go again?
Does he like to play chase with a ball?
Ours runs for the ball and brings it back to you

Please don't neuter without serious consideration. It may well not reduce humping and won't magically stop your dog absconding.

You should stop taking him to parks for the time being. Try woodland walks or quiet beaches. He will grow out of this but you need to stop putting yourself in these stressful and busy places!
Re humping, most dog owners will understand.
Also, make sure you have really tasty treats and he'll come back. Probably!
I speak as an owner of one v good dog and one v bad dog!

He is perfect at home, he will come as soon as I call him and will play ball for ages. As soon as we are out of the house though he has no interest in his ball and will run in the opposite direction when I call him!

Yes to the quiet beach, I took him to one recently actually and he was much better behaved. I'll try that again tomorrow evening.

Thanks so much for all the suggestions, I feel much better about it all!

Have you tried walking with someone whose dog has good recall? I have a nine month old pup who lost his recall completely at about six months, but neutering and only walking him with my older dog (who doesn't wander at all) is working really well.

That, and a lot of bribes.

He's pretty solid to whistle now, though I wouldn't let him off when there are a lot of children around as he's still a bit distractable, but he's so much better than he was before he was neutered.

Agree with others re special treats for recall. Cocktail sausages, cheese, hot dogs. I show mine the bag before we leave. Start with call back on long line, reward. Then let off and call back, reward.

I must admit I still walk with sausage years on. It just acts as a safety net and they know I have something better than whatever they are chasing, looking at.

Beach sounds a good place to start.

I second trying cheese for recall. We once had a dog who wouldn't come back for anything but a friend recommending trying cheese and the problem vanished overnight! Only had to use cheese a few times then after that she would come back for anything. Good luck.

I agree with the high value treats - liver pate from a tube is my dog's highest value treat, though Primula cheese and dried sprats are a close second. For some dogs, a toy will be the highest value reward, or even praise from you (though I think dogs in the latter category are relatively rare!)

On a safety note, whenever you have your dog on a long line, make sure it's attached to a harness not a collar. The reason is that dogs can get up a lot of speed when on a long line, and when they suddenly reach the end of the lead, all that speed goes straight into their necks, which is uncomfortable at best and can cause trauma at worst. Before I realised this, my dog quite literally faceplanted the ground in this situation.

I'd also avoid flexi/extending leads - for two reasons. The first one is that the brakes on the leads can fail, and there have been cases of dogs being hit by cars in such circumstances, and they can cause injuries to humans and dogs alike if they catch on fingers or legs. The second is that the constant tension on the lead can encourage pulling.

Right now, taking your dog out into the park and expecting it to come back is setting the dog up to fail because there are lots of REALLY exciting things - people, dogs, picnics, squirrels, smells, more dogs... I'd temporarily give up on the idea of recall in the park for now (just walk on lead for now), and work on recall in an area with fewer distractions. Start inside one room in your house, then call the dog from one room to another, then try it in the garden, then a quiet park on a long line, then a quiet park off a long line, then a busy park on a long line, and finally a busy park off a long line. Don't move onto the next stage until your dog has mastered it in the less distracting circumstance.

Always give your dog a treat when it comes back. This applies now, and after you've mastered it - it's worth really, really reinforcing it because one day recall will save your dog's life - not an exaggeration. This also applies even if the dog takes a while to come back - as far as the dog is concerned, it's come back, so is due a treat. Never, ever tell the dog off for taking a while to come back to you as the dog will be less likely to come back next time.

And finally - you're not alone! If there are two things I think most people struggle with training more than anything, it's pulling on the lead... and recall

I have a 7 month old pup with 100% rock solid recall at any time of the day or night in any surroundings .... as long as there isn't another dog in sight. Then he is off to play!

As we normally don't see other dogs I walk him off lead but I have a short line tied to his harness (to make grabbing him easier), a pocket full of high value treats and a squeaky toy. If we see a dog he normally pauses for a moment and I grab if I can or squeak the toy if I can't reach him. The squeaky confuses him and gives me the few more moments I need to get to him and grab the short line. Then I give him treats and try to get him to pay attention to me not the other dog.

In this way we don't have escaping dog accidents. However he is walked on the lead if there are other people around or we are in a new place I don't know well. He is high risk otherwise. (To clarify he is small, stupid and loves other dogs... He doesn't take telling off. He wouldn't hurt them but my concern is he'd get hurt by an aggressive on lead dog because he wouldn't leave it alone).