Wandering off....

[MissKittyBeaudelais]

My golden is 4 and a half. Her recall has always been sporadic but, we’ve worked hard and in familiar places, she’d be happy to go off but always return when called for a treat. Recently, she’s just pleasing herself. Even in places we go and she knows she’s off lead and what’s expected of her. She’ll just carry on walking and sniffing away from me.

It’s gotten to the point where her walks are getting shorter and shorter because I just don’t have the time or patience to stand there calling, waving a treat. I ALWAYS praise when she DOES return but she’s suddenly become even more unreliable.

Any tips. Clues as to what’s going on?

Thanks

I'm following this- some dogs just seem to be a bit more of their own person than others. Mine always looks at me, weighs up whether he agrees or not, then makes his own decision. Little oik.

Well, I could have taken this little path, some 40 yards long or....gone around. I had to go round which was a 20 minute walk. That’s not the point. If confronted with an axe wielding maniac, I’d have to leave the dog or go past him 🙄

@picklemepopcorn 😆. Yes, I do believe she’s weighing it all up. She’s four now and I’d no idea I’d still be held to ransom by my dog.

Anyone know about this breed? Anyone got one the same?

Mine always looks at me, weighs up whether he agrees or not, then makes his own decision. Little oik

God, that sounds so familiar! I guess that's what we get for picking a breed that was bred to work independently from humans

Is she spayed?

No it is the point. She is not being stubborn or awkward. There is a reason she prefers the other way and if you can work that out you are half way there.

For example does she hate the traffic on the road, is she in pain walking on tarmac but can walk on softer ground, does she prefer to sniff in the grassy areas than the tarmacked area, or she preferred the longer walk

No dog has ever weighed up a human and thought this will annoy her so I will do this........ ever never ever.

A dog may understand what happens if they do what the human asks and it is boring or non rewarding then they will choose to do alternative behaviours.

I know you dont want to hear this but you have not worked out what motivates your dog - try different things when you have this sussed you will have a happy contented and seemingly willing dog.

I hate the expression that dog training is not rocket science. Training dogs is hard, working out what motivates some dogs is hard.

However the basic principle is simple find what motivates your dog and use this to reward the wanted behaviour.

Mine loves fetch and tug of war... in the house.

Outside, all he wants to do is explore, sniff, and check out the other dogs. I've got his measure, and know which spots he's unreliable at, which dogs he's going to greet whether I agree or not. I have to be a step ahead of him and get him back on lead before he notice the distraction etc!

Well, I could have taken this little path, some 40 yards long or....gone around. I had to go round which was a 20 minute walk. That’s not the point.

But there's obviously a reason why she prefers route A over route B. It could be anything from a bad experience, to one route is quieter, she sometimes meet another dog she loves on one route etc.

Thank you for your replies. You’re right. I have no idea what motivates her. It’s a battle and she wins because I’m too worn down and feel like I’ve tried so much with her. The high voice/the low authoritative voice/only reward when she’s done well/games/keep her attention. And yet, I see dog walkers whose dogs just trot along beside their owners and just....walk/return/fetch/enjoy being with that person. I’m at the stage where I’m actually thinking of letting her go to a person I know who keeps telling me “she’s no respect for you/Ill get her into shape”.

Also, I KNOW she doesn’t like traffic, pavements, shops, awnings, flags, for sale signs, umbrellas, traffic lights, certain hats, bicycles balloons. And I avoid all these things having first tried to desensitise her with high voice encouragement and high value treats which is why we do quiet parks at quiet times and fields. But it seems even that isn’t enough because she’d rather be anywhere than with me.

Can you try working on your relationship with her a bit more? If you're frustrated she'll sense that.

I work from home. She has a lot of attention from me. We play a few times a day with a ball or tug, on top of walks. She follows me all over the house and outside to the office. She’s always “with me”. Maybe, familiarity is breeding contempt. The trainer told me NOT to talk to her all the time basically, to ignore her and then she’d hang on my every word. Never happened.

Any suggestions on how to get to know her? I’m frustrated because I can’t trust her. I bought an extendable lead two weeks ago but again, she refuses to move. It’s HER way or not at all.

I didn't find the boundaried behaviours helped much with mine.
Do you think maybe the trainer effectively encouraged you to raise a barrier between you and your pup, which isn't helping now?

That said, I'm certainly no expert. I just think some dogs are sensitive souls and need a bit more TLC than others. A friend had border collie after border collie, immaculately behaved. He was convinced he knew all about how to manage dogs. Then he had his current one. What a shock. Totally different to his others. He's had to relearn everything.

@picklemepopcorn, that makes me feel better. I really do think that a) I’m not God’s Gift to dog training and b) she knows it. And yes, she and I have been through several trainers. It’s confusing. I’m confused so, she must be! One of them told me not to even give eye contact, until I wanted her to do something. No treats, no pats just a “good girl”.

When I got her I wanted the cuddly pet I snuggled with as a child. She’s not that dog. I love her to pieces anyway but no, she’s not MY idea of a “typical” golden. I’ve a friend with two. She just laughs at me and says “only YOU could be THAT unlucky!”

I attract non typicals- children, dogs, husband. I began to think it was me, that somehow I turn perfectly normal characters into idiosyncratic eccentrics.
Luckily a friend reassured me that I stuck with them where others would have given up and moved on!

What training do you do with her? As in, not playing, but teaching tricks or practising commands?

I find that training really strengthens the bond with my dog - he does commands and I teach him tricks as well. It also has the added bonus of tiring him out! I do much more training with him than DH does (inside and on walks) and it really helps his overall obedience and bond with me.

She has some good tricks but I do have to say, we’ve not learned anything new for a while. We do play scent games in the garden (house, now it’s colder). We do “find it” which she loves and play a lot of ball but, it’s all about the foodie treat after rather than joy of play/retrieve/return. If I don’t reward her each time, she wanders off or, runs past the ball and I have to find it! 🙄

I have Aspergers. I look at her sometimes and think I have a dog “on the spectrum”!

So if she plonked her arse down in the lane and refused to move and there was an out of control car sliding towards you, what would happen?

My spaniel can be a bit like this - in that I am almost always the person working hardest to keep him engaged at things like agility. Other people's dog appear to do it just for the love of jumping over stuff or because they must have the toy or the treat. Mine actually loves novelty which means the motivator must be switched and changed regularly.

One time I might get him 'on' because he just fancied running alongside me.

Then the very next round I might need to borrow someone's toy he's never played with before.

Then he gets bored of that and wants the treats I bought.

But then he gets bored of them but wants the dry old gravy bones someone else brought.

He is hard work but in being so, he is making me a better dog owner. If I ever get one motivated to work hard just for food or a ball throw, it'll be so easy by comparison

Overall what helps is to maintain my own sense of fun at all times (easier said than done) - he is a gun dog and they thrive on life being a game. Even if they want it to be a different type of game every day. If I start to get frustrated or fed up in any way then I guarantee I have lost his attention. Like most gun dogs he is also pretty sensitive to being in the 'wrong'.

Look up Kikopup on YouTube - she has some great tricks on there and some will take a while to master so it might give the both of you something to work in for a bit?

This sounds an awful lot like my dog. Today we barely moved on the walk because he wanted to watch the cars on the road. I decided to let him and our walk ended up being 5 minutes walking and forty five sitting and watching the world go by.

I am afraid I have no solutions - my dog's biggest desire is to chase other dogs but since he has no recall, I can't let him. So he gets bored and it becomes a vicious circle.

@MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig... I’d have to literally drag her. She was in a position recently where she had to be lifted by myself and a man who came to our rescue because she hunkered down and wouldn’t budge. We were stopping traffic.

I got her two new toys today. A flashing squeaky thing which she went mad for and a new treat ball for making her dinner last longer. So, tomorrow, I will take said flashy ball to the park with me. It’ll do the trick most likely (for a week) then I’ll need something else. As some have you have said, boredom is the enemy.

I walked her on her extended lead for her second walk this afternoon. She didn’t like it but I remembered to reward WHEN moving rather than enticing her TO move 😉

Are you saving the flashing squeaky thing for walks so it stays special?
Rotating toys helps, as they become interesting again.

@picklemepopcorn...yes, will try that and rotate. See how we get . I’ve also stopped giving her little titbits when I’m cooking (she sits at my feel in the kitchen) so treats only come as reward.