Puppy recall training

[Losingmymind85]

We have a lovely pup who is just over 5 months old.
We've been doing a lot of off-lead training and recall but pup has "selective hearing". It goes brilliantly until there is a dog to play with. He's off like a shot and no amount of words/high value treats can stop it. He's always on lead until we've checked it's ok for him to say hello.

We had an incident today where pup ran (he's a whippet so unbelievably fast) as he saw a family playing football a good 150 yards away. He jumped on a toddler, knocking him to the grass. It was awful. No injury or anything like that, but the father/grandfather were rightly angry and screaming at me that they'd break my/dog face and that they were calling the police. While I don't agree with how aggressive they were, I do agree that I was at fault .I was so apologetic. Took full responsibility etc.
My problem is how do I practice recall if I can't have pup off lead? I have a 10m long line and practice training at quiet and busy times and he's great but the moment we think he's got it and take the line off, he ignores commands.

Does anyone have any advice on how to promote recall? Is it just rinse and repeat and hope that time will cement the lesson?

Also, just a polite request that no-one piles on about me being irresponsible etc. I feel terrible and genuinely thought we were far enough away as he's not done this before. Lesson has been learned. We always approach dogs on lead to make sure it's ok for him to say hello and will make sure now that he's on lead if we see any kids/football, even in the far distance.

Do you have a garden, can you let him outside then practice calling back in with a treat. Maybe then try and have some distractions outside eg another person or a toy so he is used to coming when you call even if there is someone else he'd rather be doing, playing with.

I was going to suggest practise at home first, in the garden, house etc. My garden isn’t very big, but I would get him to sit, then call him over and reward. If possible, hide as well,then call him.

Save high value treats for recall - sausages etc.

Have you got a secure dog field you can hire to practise. We did that a few times.

Also, using a whistle as well as calling helps. I’d say ‘ RiverPup, Come!’, then blow the whistle. Really praise and treat them when they come back to you.

Been doing high value treats recall in the garden, but it's super small. I'm making huge fuss of him. The issue is that he can absolutely do it, but the distraction of a dog to play with (or today's incident with a ball/kid) means that everything he knows goes out the window.
Will keep trying.

Several things to practice

Every time they look back, lots of praise high reward treat.

Every trigger scatter feed

Magic hand game. So hold some high value food between thumb and hand, have them follow your hand to your back. So they can eat but slowly.

When they pull on the lead, stop walking this can be done in a small area. You don't need t walk them miles, can tire them with brain games. Keep repeating this, line slack means freedom, end of line means stopping.

Lastly a good rewards based trainer can do wonders to help with your confidence and build your relationship with your dog.

but the moment we think he's got it and take the line off, he ignores commands.

At 5 months old he is likely both too old (no longer a clingy puppy) and far too young (not yet a mature adult) to be taking this step. He is becoming adolescent and his impulse control will drop and the world get more and more exciting. It's only going to get harder from here - for a few months - and he's going to need greater controls and a more conservative approach to when and where he gets any freedom.

Keep the line on, slowly working up to it trailing on the floor (you step on it, if you need to stop him). Practice, practice practice recall, stop/wait signals, check in behaviours - and always in scenarios where you would happily bet your own £100 he is going to come back if you call him.

Don't expect his recall to be reliable until he is a year or more old. (Some are ready sooner, but some take up to 2 years - set expectations realistically).

Thanks folks. I'm going to up the garden line training and get some really good treats. May buy a whistle.

Have you read Total Recall by Pippa Mattinson? That book is an excellent guide to training recall.

It is possible to train them, but Whippets are notorious for poor recall. Partly as they hyperfocus when they run towards whatever has caught their attention, and have a high prey drive. Our girl is 8 months, and we are still very vigilant. A whistle helps to break the hyperfocus and bring her attention to us. She's not that food motivated, so we have to mix up high value rewards or she gets bored!

I would keep him on the lead or long line whenever there might be distractions that he finds irresistible (kids, dogs, etc.). Set him up for success. You can do off-lead practice in the house and garden, but for now I wouldn't have him off lead in exciting environments.

Recall him to you at least 25 or 30 times every time you go for a walk while you are holding the end of the long line. At first only do this in unchallenging situations, not when distractions are present. Then gradually introduce distractions. When he is responding immediately every time you call him, then you can drop the long line but still keep it attached to his harness so you can stamp on it if necessary. Continue with recalling him at least 25-30 times each walk in a variety of environments. Eventually (hopefully) you'll be able to take him off lead completely.

As they say, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Recall training takes time, more time for some dogs than others.