Spaniel puppy not recalling

[sandwiches77]

Ddog spaniel puppy is 7 months old and is ignoring recall. I have stopped taking Ddog to the local park as he would not recall the other day and I had abuse shouted at me from another dog owner as Ddog wouldn't leave his dog alone and come back to me. Tried clicker and smelly treats or cheese but nothing is working. Have been practicing indoors and he recalls but once we are out and Ddog is distracted, no chance... Took Ddog to an enclosed field where he was on his own and recall about 50% reliable, he was very distracted with all the new sniffs

I am thinking it is the adolescence stage but any tips or advice would be great

You've just got to keep working on it, 7 months is no age.

In my experience (labs) it takes years of ongoing training and reinforcement and there are still some situations in which I wouldn't trust mine not to bugger off.

My advice would be - continue to use secure field on a regular basis so your dog can have a really good blast without the stress. All other walks to be done on the lead until your dog is much older and more reliable.

Longline prevents them being able to ignore you. On a harness. But yes. Just keep at it. Total recall is a great book.

Longline and perseverance! Adolescent deafness is totally normal

Firstly, you must stop letting him off the lead. The more he practises ignoring you, the harder it's going to be.

You also really don't want him to run up to a dog that's on lead due to aggression as if your dog gets hurt, it will (legally speaking) be your fault for failing to have him under control. It's the same if he accidentally knocks a child over or nips them - the law would not be on your side. I know that sounds horrible and really harsh but it's the reality. You also don't want him to have a bad experience and become reactive himself.

Until you've mastered his recall, use a longline attached to a harness (never a collar) so you can stamp on it if he doesn't listen. Not all dogs will take treats on walks either as they're just too excited to care - so maybe try something like a squeaky ball or a tug toy, or one of those natural rabbit skin toys to mimic his natural instincts a bit more.

If he's somewhere where a longline isn't appropriate then you must keep him on the lead for now, for his safety as much as anything else.

50% reliable recall on an enclosed field with no other dogs around, is not good.you need to start from scratch.dont let him off lead anymore until you have a much much better recall.First use a flexilead to practice with treats the recall(he cant ignore you on a flexi lead).If you have a garden,practice the recall with him off lead.when the recall is on flexilead(with distraction) is 95%,you can use a longline.when the recall on longline with distraction is 99% you can let him off lead.

Echo the others he needs to go back on a lead.
Once they start learning they can ignore/run off they are aware it’s an option. Have you had any advice from a good trainer?

We have a 10 month old springer and took ages training him and our previous springer with recall. Lots of long line training, and we use a whistle as sound carries better than voice and it’s the same sound whoever is walking him, family or dog walker.

You need to get that Pavlovian response ingrained so they literally can’t help themselves returning when they hear the whistle. And yes completely understand about not being interested in treats when they’re off lead somewhere exciting so we stuck to ‘boring ‘ walks and long line using high value treats until recall was really automatic.

Yes it can take a while. And as others have said, the more you let him ignore you, the more he will realise he doesn't have to do it. So I would start again with a different word or a whistle. Spaniels are absolutely notorious for being easily distractible especially once they have their noses on the ground.

100% agree with the above. Every ignored command is one more "oh- it's optional" in the memory bank. To give a command you need to be either 99% sure the dog will obey (quick smart not in his own sweet time when he feels like it) or be able to enforce it immediately. Only if it's a dire emergency should you give the command in hope rather than expectation.

2 top tips:

• when at home/longline recall is solid and you start going back to the field loose, loose him off and leave him to it for a good ten minutes. No point practising recall till the fizz has settled. Wait till he looks like he's coming back to you anyway to begin with and only start "stress testing" the recall when this is solid.

Kennel club good citizen classes are DA BOMB.

I would 100% recommend the book Total Recall. If you follow the exercises to the letter it is time-consuming and hard work BUT it works. There isn’t a quick fix, but it is definitely possible with the right approach.

We are back on the lead with our Airedale adolescent given recent poor recall behaviour. And I completely agree with what all the previous posters have said. Working on it slowly in controlled environments with a different approach and different high value treats. It’s working but it’s a slow process and I would still not trust him entirely so practice is still in enclosed stock fenced fields currently until he grows out of his wayward, selective hearing stage a bit more!! I’ve started doing agility and other activity based stuff on our walks instead to keep him busy and occupied. So walking along logs on command, jumping over logs on command, lots of changes in direction, heel work, drills in the middle of nowhere, throwing balls when he’s on a longline (attached to harness) and clearly not very far, etc. It keeps the walks interesting for him even if he then can’t go running off the explore by himself.