Recall suddenly lost

[Faynite]

Nearly 3 year old working cocker. Is whistle trained and has always had good recall...until now. Suddenly she’s ignoring both me and the whistle. Over the weekend she ran off in a wood and it took us 2 hours to find her.

She’s now got a GPS tracker and lead walks only, but we both miss the freedom of letting her play off lead. Has anyone else experienced this and has any tips?

For context she has no interest in balls/retrieving. Is food motivated but would rather follow scents and hunt pheasants!

Its what she was born to do and I doubt you can ever remove the prey drive totally, I am sure some one with more idea than me will be along to help

I have a working cocker and you have to work with their hunting instinct otherwise they will hunt.

You mentioned that she isn't interested in balls or retrieving but that was my life saver and still is and is what guarantees me recall.

Could you find a gun dog trainer (they do train pets as well) to show you how to tune their instinct to work for you so she engages with you on walks?

Thanks for the advice. I’ll try to find a specific gun dog trainer to see if they can help.

I don't 'work' mine but I do use a lot of the things we did at gun dog training to engage him and keep him entertained on a walk that means I can recall him even in a forest with lots of creatures to hunt and chase.

What Bitey said. Also a gundog trainer will teach you off-lead heel, which is great for getting the dog to chill next to you if you want it off-lead but don't fancy being Fun Central all the time. Also do not underestimate the power of a long sit-stay for exhausting a hyper-active dog.

I also wouldn't beat yourself (or the dog) up. It was worrying for you but it happens to the best trained and worked dogs occasionally. Many years ago one of my dogs took off after a rabbit, and was found by a couple sitting patiently in the middle of their lawn, waiting to be rescued, 12 miles away! He had gone entirely deaf during the chase. It never happened again. He didn't even look sheepish either!