Spaniels and recall

[puginamug]

I have an 18 month old spaniel. He loves to be off lead but I get anxious.

We walk in the woods and often he'll run off after a squirrel. He'll run off out of sight, and then return, often 50 yards in front of me.

He's got lost a couple of times.

Recently we accidentally walked into a field of sheep and he was gone - which was obviously a big problem.

I've put him back on a long training lead when we go on walks now but obviously it's tricky in the woods as gets wrapped round everything.

His recall is OK but I'm worried it's still very treat based and whether he feels like it. It's not bullet proof for sure and sometimes I feel like we're playing hide and seek.

My question is - how much can I expect from a spaniel, and when is ok to let him off the lead. How do I stop him disappearing from sight or should I be working on trusting he'll come back when I call.

I worry that given he's now realised he doesn't always have to come back the first time I call, it will go downhill.

If you cannot absolutely guarantee he will recall he shouldn’t be offlead , particularly in areas with wildlife and livestock . I have a patterdale x and he goes offlead everyday but only in select areas , he’s never allowed off in woods , nr ponds or near livestock . I must say that mine is never out of sight , albeit he may be 25/50 m away but I can always get to him quickly .

My spaniel is similar in that he goes further than I like. However, he’s nearly 100 percent reliable with a whistle. I use an acme whistle and blow it short and sharp, twice. He gets a treat every time. Start with high value like cheese or meat. Now hes happy with a biscuit. He even came back mid cat chase the other day.
i might sound smug but he’s so naughty at home. Probably the one thing we got right!!

He is never normally off lead if there's a chance of livestock, these were a bit of a surprise. Normally I put him back on his lead immediately.

How do you train recall so it's guaranteed, and how do you stop them from going too far. Is it just a question of repetition?

Maybe I need a whistle!

Mines a 17 month springer, he's amazing off lead but so rubbish on it! I totally over focused on the recall & off lead stuff when he was younger so working on the lead now!! I called him between us in a park for ages with a piece of hotdog every time. Then off lead on the beach/fields where I could see further. Randomly calling him back with sausages again, moving onto the woods & now he gallops off through the trees but checks back in every 30 seconds or so & I only have to shout sausage & he comes hurtling back. I also have an acme whistle which his dog Walker uses for all of them & he responds to that, so maybe really up the rewards & go back a step or 2 until he's improved again. I can imagine a long line in the forest is a nightmare- maybe parks or fields while you work on it?

Yes it’s repetition , but practice in places where you can see him and there are less temptations before you risk the woods , that way you are setting him up for success .

Proper gundog training worked a treat for us. Used his brain in a way that his genes have been honed for and really made a difference across all training but especially recall and listening to us.

Have you taken him to gun dog training?

Spaniels are bred to flush things out of the undergrowth, so it's 100% normal for him to disappear into bushes and woodland and emerge further on up the path, but you don't want them to get on the scent of a deer or pheasant and go deaf.

Whistle training is really useful as it doesn't convey stress/panic when you think they're going to ignore you

I'll have a look into gun dog training.

We went to puppy classes but he's too clever for me. So now does things on purpose so I'll reward him when he stops

A properly trained spaniel can he let off and trusted, an unstained spaniel can never be trusted. For the first 2 years you should use every walk as a training walk, don't let the dog self hunt and you need to keep it close and focused. Read Total Recall by Pippa Mattinson and get yourself to gundog lessons

My spaniels are both gundogs. You can get 100% recall from a spaniel. I’ve never trained with treats either. You come back because I said so not because you think you’re getting fed.

Thank god for the acme whistle with teenage dogs 😂

Agreed it stands you in good stead for a lifetime

I've had four springers now, two with no recall whatsoever whatever we tried (one was a ditsy older rescue dog) and two would be back by my side at the first whistle. My guess is that it's partly personality as much as training. Funnily enough, of my current two, the one with perfect recall is truly awful on the lead, but the one without it is a dream to walk on the lead. When we walk them together it's one on-lead and one off.

My spaniel has been almost 100% on the whistle since he was four months old. It's lots of practise in every environment. Good rewards for recall are dried sprats, cubes of cheese. Our trainer says keep up rewards for recall at least to two years as it could save his life. My whistle is Acme 211.5; beware cheaper imitations which may not toot or be the chosen frequency.

Absolutely gundog training. It's not just for people planning to work their dogs. The best thing we taught ours was the stop whistle. They just stop and sit, and we can call them off anything.

So far we have and have always had 100% recall with our Sprocker, she’s 3.5 and she’s been let off lead from the first time she went out at 12 weeks. We started recall as soon as she was home with us at 9 weeks. We never went to puppy or any other training classes. She is off lead every single day. I don’t know if it’s too late at 18 months to improve recall or not.
She does disappear into undergrowth etc but I have no concerns that she’s that far off or won’t come back. She’ll come to voice or whistle and no treats.

Try the Total Recall book, that was what really worked for my dappy cocker. Plus lots of games with her hiding behind trees and disappearing so she learned to keep an eye on where I was. Although all my spaniels have been slow maturers and their training wasn't rock solid until they were three or so. My current spaniel (not a cocker) has zero recall, and I don't think ever will. Just no capacity between the ears at all although wonderful in other parts of training.

The other thing is you don't walk a spaniel, you walk WITH a spaniel. You have to be the most interesting things on the walk, above any distraction. The issue will always lie with the handler so you need to be tough on yourself as well as the dog.

I have had spaniels for years.

I recommend gun dog training but also the book ‘Total recall’ by pippa mattinson. Used it with every dog we have had, including foster dogs, it works every time.

It can be done with or without a whistle.

You're right. He's interested in everything but me on a walk.

I'm trying to get him to look at me in heel but it's hard unless I have something very interesting in my pocket.

That's where the gundog training comes in, teaches you how to handle a high prey dog and harness their natural instincts. Total Recall gives you some of the tools on how to get your dog's attention but you have to commit to doing them every walk, every day.

Definitely look into the training. Our spaniel is 5 now and always good off lead. On lead shockingly - we’ve tried training different leads still wants to take my arm off - she’s better off lead walking to heal etc

My Springer is 11 months and I practice recall constantly on every walk. He loves to run off into bushes and woodland snuffling but I never let him go for more than about 30 seconds without calling him back then giving him the ‘go’ cue again. If I don’t call him back he’s now very good at circling back and checking in with me, it’s been a hard slog but I really wanted/needed to get him to a place where he knows he’s free to do his thing but his focus is on me and if I call him he comes straight back. So far he’s been great so I’m hoping it continues!

Walking on lead is another matter however 😂

You can train indoors to start with. Hide a toy in the room you're in under a cushion behind a chair. Using the verbal commands. Then progress to hiding it just outside the room. Puppy and our children both enjoyed the game. Puppy retrieves and returns the toy to great praise and fuss. They're so smart