Help with Recall - fine until we meet another dog!

[Doodledangle]

I've been working hard on recall over the last couple of months. DD (1)is an absolute dream in an empty field (2 short blasts on the gun whistle gets his attention immediately, then call him & he will come racing towards me for treat/reward). However, he is utterly obsessed with other dogs and he literally does not flinch if I call or blow a whistle when there's another dog around.

Any ideas or suggestions how we can get past this? Unless the field is enclosed & I know the other dogs he's still on the long line, but would really like to get past this & have the option of letting him off from time to time especially in the woods where a long line is useless!

Can you do some work with him on a short lead around other dogs? Get his attention with high value treats or toys so he gets into the habit of looking at you when there are other dogs around?

Part of it will be his age - adolescent dogs love to play.

No tips, OP - but my dog is exactly the same.

Get him out with other dogs, use a dog walker or book kennels once a month. Ime the more they are used to other dogs the more the novelty wears off. Plus they do grow out of it but I always have a high value treatment for emergencies.

I would also practice dogs walking past while you are standing. Put the dog in front of you to start with so yours has the back to the other dog. Keep his attention by getting him to look at you, lots of treats and praise. (or even give paw... anything fun to keep his attention on you!)

Next step is, your dog beeing in front of you, call him like you learned in puppy class while walking away from other dog. Again, your dog should have its back to the other dog.

Once this works, you can practice with your dog facing the other dog. But remember, you need to move away from it.
Use your long line to create distance between you and your dog as you get more confident.

And lots of lead walking & get his attention when walking past other dogs. Use heel or specific comand for it. (I wouldn't keep it to short you need to have it loose enough for him to make the choice treat or other dog. )

Remember, dog training is about establishing behavior patterns. You reward the wanted behaviour and ignore the unwanted behaviour.

Are you using very high value treats? Cooked liver, sprats, cheese etc?

She is one. Of course she wants to go say hello.

Mine knows leave so if I say it she won't go over to a dog or person.

I think she's still young so not that bad but I think you have to let your dog off the lead and give them a chance to show you they know what you want them to do. If they aren't allowed off with other dogs around how can they learn.

Our dog trainer told us a couple of key things for this, one is to teach "this way" so instead of getting them to come back to you, which could mean they have to go back on a lead and is less exciting than playing with a friend, "this way" means we are walking in an exciting new direction. So if we see an dog approaching we change direction (off to the side, or go back the way we came a few steps) and call this way, the dog will then follow you and you can get them under close control before the new dog passes.

Also to make yourself more interesting than the new dog, keep changing paths, direction, speed etc so that your dogs stays focussed on you and not other things around you.

We practiced these things in an enclosed field and then out on an open space with the trainer and her dog. She now will reliably come to us, sit and wait to be invited to play, or for the other dog to walk passed and then will follow us with a "let's go, this way" command.

You need to put him back on a lead for now, as all him ignoring and running off to other dogs will do is reinforce that ignoring your recall command = high value reward (ie meeting another dog.)
Practice on looking at you when they see another dog, and general neutrality around other dogs.

I think you have to let your dog off the lead and give them a chance to show you they know what you want them to do. If they aren't allowed off with other dogs around how can they learn.

You use a longline, just as OP is already doing.

Yes, at some point you take the risk and let them off, but that should only be when you're 99% sure that your dog will come back to you when called, no matter what the distraction, not when the dog is routinely ignoring its' recall.

I had this with a dog I used to walk. It took me a year to train him (bearing in mind his owner didn't do any training - so the fact that you are dealing with your own dog might help to make it happen faster!). He was about 12 months old also. It's a tough age. But whatever you are consistent with now should become a dream once he's 2+ years old.

Basically, it's just about not giving them the opportunity to run over to dogs - and also teaching them that they still need to respond to recall / their name (both) and basically do as you ask, no matter if they're in an empty field, around a dog, around a squirrel, etc.

You can do that on lead. Walking past dogs at a distance, pipping the whistle (more quietly than you would at a further range), and heavily rewarding when they pay attention to you.

It's great if you can go to an area with plenty of dogs walking by too, like a village centre, town, city, park, whatever. Over time, your dog will learn to just ignore / be unbothered by the dogs around them.

You then move up to using a long line in such areas once your dog is reliable on a shorter lead (as in, they respond to the whistle / their name etc. every time and are not straining constantly to greet other dogs).

It just takes time and consistency.

It also helps if you make yourself very interesting. Dummy toys and balls and hide and seek games, etc. Things that cause your dog to think you're amazing and therefore be less inclined to run up to other dogs :) But not in a frantic way. Just in a fun "I love playing and bonding with my dog" kind of way!

We have had the same. The trainer said we needed to make sure he had more fun with us than dogs. So for a while we had to go out walking equipped with squeaky toys, chicken, dog friendly bubbles etc.
It has worked (along with him getting older and more sensible) but it wasn't easy. He's 95 % reliable now as opposed to 40% before.
Agree with pp saying make sure he also gets time to play when it's under your control. So he has to look at you for agreement to go off and play. They taught us this as well

Teaching them to ignore other dogs is such an important skill to teach, it makes for a much more polite dog.
We do what has already been said, to get him to sit on lead as soon as you see other dogs walking toward you. It really shouldn't take too long to learn.
Ours is 11 months and responds to 'wait' pretty perfectly now, other things not so much 😂
Off lead we also use 'this way' with a gesture toward the direction we want him to go. He's now leaning 'left' 'right' and 'forward'.
TBH I've found this bit of training the most fun and rewarding.
Also at this age we were told to only allow very short interactions on the lead, maximum of quick hello and move on, about thirty seconds.

Thank you this is all great stuff.

He stays on the long line for recall training & retractable for walk as I don't trust him to return if we meet another dog. I have found a couple of big remote fields I feel safe letting him off & if we walk with friends he'll stick to their dogs like glue so can enjoy some off lead running (as long as their recall is good!)

Work to be done so thanks for the tips. If we see a dog out walking he's instantly pulling & all walking manners go out of the window. I make sure he only gets to say hello occasionally or at the park/with friends but obviously need to do some proper training on this. one pondering - do you think he's so much more obsessed because he's still in tact? We're undecided about having him done as hadn't seen any benefits but perhaps this is cause enough.

I think that's quite outdated advice TBH.
It's still very young for a dog to be neutered on the off chance

He's far too young to be neutered.

Oh sorry should have said, even if we get him done it won't be anytime soon. He's only been with us a few months and has separation anxiety so current thought is no but just curious if it's this or age/normal teenage behaviour as I'm new to dog ownership

If he has separation anxiety then neutering is honestly the last thing I would recommend.

Anxious dogs need that testosterone to be confident.

I think it's pretty normal for them to regress at times.
Do you know what training he's had previously?
When our dog starts behaving like a teenager we spend time going right back to basics, almost assuming he knows nothing.
For example, reinforcing 'sit' and 'wait'.
Also deep breaths for you as it can be overwhelming at times but you're doing really well recognising his weaknesses.
We were told by our trainer when dog was six months old that if we were consistent we'd have a fantastic dog by the time he's .... two!
So it's still very early days

With our dog he's a Weimaraner, so while he's still very much a baby he's a very big one and people's expectations are way out of whack.
We're constantly reminding people that although he looks fully grown he's still young.
Our favourite phrase is 'he's just a baby' (who can knock you over with over enthusiastic recall or leave you struggling for breath when he jumps on your lap for a cuddle 😂)

@drivinmecrazy no training at all when he came to us. He's booked to start 'teen' class next week and he's cracked toilet training, place training is pretty secure, wait (in place of sit) for road crossing & general calming technique as sit is still alluding us! We've mainly spent these first few months bonding, figuring out his diet/eating (very skinny fussy eater) ignoring bad behaviour praising good and lots of stimulation mentally & physically generally settling him in as he was very nervous and unsettled by the move.

Sounds like you're doing an amazing job!

I have a rescue lab who is now 3 and I've had him 11 months. Same as yours from the sound of it, no training at all previously.

You need to make sure that whenever you give a cue, that there is no means of avoiding it, otherwise the dog learns to ignore you. The long line is your friend here. Before that though, it's all about engagement. Your dog needs to look to you for guidance in all situations. For this, all training is essentially linked, so you can use food as a really good assistant for this. Blow the whistle every time you feed. Make the dog sit, and look at you before he gets food. Vary the payout when he comes back to you voluntarily (this will keep his interest level as he won't ever know when there will be a good payout). And be super exciting. The amount of owners I see who just call their dog and expect him to come back. You need to make it a party when you call him so he sees you as way more exciting than anything else. Do this as soon as he looks at you, nit just when (if) he comes back.

Also, never ask him to return to you from the same location. He knows where he left you. If you move, he is more likely to want to know where you moved to and come to find you.

Still very young, please remain consistent and safe as it sounds you are ☺️ my dogs recall has only became consistent with other dogs around 2.5.

Although alot of people will disagree with me here, if you want your dog to ignore other dogs do not let them interact with them wether on a lead or not. Dogs do not need to interact with other dogs to be socialied and healthy. These days there are so many socially inept dogs that day to day interactions with dogs you don't know can really work against you. Dogs this young should only be allowed to play with other well balanced appropriate adults dogs that can teach them how to play and interact properly. I say this as the owner of a large (previously reactive,) dog that hates nothing more than the 'don't worry my dog is fine'. No it's not as it is not polite dog etiquette to charge over head first to other dogs.

Letting them meet dogs sometimes and sometimes not. Have a VERY high value treat to make sure your pup knows what you have is much more valuable than meeting a dog. My dogs high value treat is blueberries.