I often see owners chasing after their dogs why calling the dog's name, its so funny watching them specially one of the dogs Bruno the Labrador cross Boxer dog (think that's what dog he is, he's definitely got Labrador in him) his owners come on the park with this hypo dog lets him off his lead then spend an hour trying to catch him, the gentleman runs around park "chasing Bruno" while his wife yells BRUNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO over & over. Bruno is enjoying the game of chase me, not so his owners but they will never learn, I have told them time & time again to put Bruno on a long training lead & don't chase Bruno, but they know best so I sat watching them yesterday & after a hour & half of Bruno running circles around the couple, I got up told woman to shut up & yelled across the man to come back to his wife, very reluctantly he came back to stand next to his wife & I then took Bruno's lead off him. I approached Bruno & chucked him a lump of cheese & stepped back so Bruno could eat the cheese, I repeated this 3-4 times & then I held the cheese on the palm of my hand & let Bruno come to me, I never spoke or touched Bruno, instead I turned my back to him & started walking back to his owners, within seconds Bruno was walking at the side of me, nudging my hand wanting more cheese [very greedy dog] I just slipped his lead over his head & walked him back to his owners & handed him back. I again told them PLEASE put Bruno on a long training lead, I told them to use either a 10 or 15 meter [30-50 foot] training lead so Bruno will still be abled to run "free" without actually being off lead. Will have to see if they have listened to me & got Bruno a training lead.
I know exactly what you mean when you say that some people never learn! Chasing after a dog and constantly calling its name is a waste of breath, effort and to my mind indicates you don't your dog very well. When she was young Chloe used to be a little ***** for escaping from the garden and chasing off down the road to terrorise the village dogs. The easiest way to get her back was to put M'boi on her lead and go for a casual walk in the same direction,totally ignoring Chloe which she hated. We'd walk straight past her, then I'd stop to let M'boi sniff the grass. Sure enough a few seconds later Chloe would come up to M'boi and start sniffing too ... after that it was just a matter of putting on her lead! M'boi was very different, as is Georgina who behaves much the same. She would potter down road stopping every now and then to sniff the grass. I'd stroll down the road appearing to show no interest in her, but with M'boi I always knew she'd only go so far before she'd stop and wait for me to catch up with her. Like Georgie she was a real home body! I've yet to suss out what will work for Gwylim ... but hopefully he won't be an escape artist like Chloe was!
The thing is its not rocket science if you have a dog that's an runner, then it stays on long training lead. I am looking after a dog now that's a runner a beautiful Westie, as soon as we are on park she goes bananas, so I go into the old grass tennis courts & tie an training lead to one of the fence bars, she has fun running "free" all over the place, when its time to go I gently pull her lead why calling her name, if she ignores me then I just pull her towards me I don't go chasing her, I know & so do her owners she never be able to go off her lead, so she as the next best thing to being free, an 25 meter training lead.
I always train to a whistle. Always works - well, perhaps not if a lurcher is in full flight, but apart from that it always does. I never even had to teach Chico - he just saw the others returning at top speed when I blew the whistle, so followed them. It does make me sad though when some dogs are never able to go off the lead because their owners can't get them back.
I must admit to feeling a bit humbled, as after 6 years of having the perfect Beagle, Eddie has recently discovered the joys of baby bunnies! Unfortunately, when the nose goes down, his ears become paralysed, and he is unable hear either the voice or the whistle, (or so he tells me). The only good thing is that it only seems to be happening in one area of woodland, so we are going to have to play some really good and exciting on a line games when we are round there. So many pet people seem to told by breeders never to let their scent hounds off the lead. It is understandable as nobody wants to hear that a puppy they have bred has ended up in rescue, and the majority of clients have little idea of how to motivate their dogs. However, it does seem such a shame that those dogs are not able to enjoy the very sense that is the reason for their breed's existence. Would US style (segregated) dog parks provide the answer?
Bet you made them feel abit silly Tina,like you said it's not rocket science.my husky pup often throws a deaf ear on recall,but like you said,extension lead and treats do the trick.
Unfortunately Janet, the Westie I am looking after at moment will just run & run once she is off her lead, she's roughly 8 /10 years old & Ex puppy farm breeding bitch, she never saw daylight throughout her breeding days, I am helping her new owners in training their Westie & she as brilliant recall in garden/house, but not on park so her new owners have decided its safer to leave her on a long training lead when on park/beach/woods. The thing is fieldy I don't think they ever learn, they have had Bruno a year now they are totally clueless, when it comes to dog care & basic training, you can hear Bruno choking (chain slip lead round his neck) when he pulls his owners down the road, I have told them a head halti or double D ring body harness with be more suitable to stop him pulling, have shown them time & time again how to get Bruno to sit by using tit bits [he's a greedy dog] by bringing tit bits up to his nose then lifting upwards so he as to sit, but they just don't listen, so now I just sit on bench watching Bruno playing "chase me" with his owners for hour or so then take charge & get him back on his lead for them.
For me 'recall' is the most basic of dog training aids, it may one day save your dog's life. All my dogs have always been taught recall in my back garden with tasty treats and me sounding like an absolute idiot with high pitched praise (my neighbours think I am absolutely looney ) I always teach a new pup this whilst they are having their course of jabs so before they can go out for walks and by the time they are ready to face the outside world they have excellent recall skills. I have never needed a training lead to teach recall, just lots of tasty treats and time put in in my own back garden.
My pack learn to recall very young. Because I live in the woods it's the most important thing they have to know for their own safety. All I have to say is "feet, now!" and they come running. They are too small to mess with forest animals.
The first command I teach the puppies at The Rescue Home is recall, I take whatever the puppy is playing with & move about 3 feet away & call puppy over by waving the item the puppy had beforehand, the puppies soon get the recall command. I use the same methods on my hooligans & by the time they were 8 weeks old they were 100% recall safe.
Phoebes recall has always been a bit "iffy" but as im super carefull about where we go off lead and make sure no people or dogs around and i can see all exits and entrances its not to much of a worry for me, when shes done she goes and sits by the gate anyway and waits for me. I have found running in the opposite direction or shouting tea time works but keep those for emergency's now
