Recall and smells

[Tessie]

Hello there - I am new to this site and was wondering if anyone would be able to help me with a training issue that has recently come to light with our 7 month old cocker spaniel?

Since she had her injections we have let her off lead on her walks and her recall training (we thought) had gone really well.  Came back every time we called and it was a pleasure to walk her on a huge variety of walks.  In the last few weeks though all seems to have been forgotten and she seems to have discovered her 'spaniel nose' and is becoming obsessed with trailing smells on walks.  She runs away a huge distance from us following 'smells' and becomes engrossed in them ignoring us calling her name.

To begin with we gave her the benefit of the doubt and wrongly assumed it took her 15 mins to come back to us because she was lost ... however it has become clear that if there are certain smells about following them is the only thing on her mind and she will come and find us again as and when she is ready.  Unfortunately this has now lead to both myself and my partner missing various appointments because we have been standing in woods and estates waiting for Tess to decide we're worth returning to.

In all other aspects of life she is a lovely dog and a joy to have.  The only thing that seems to have changed about the same time as her recall has become an issue was that we had her spayed although this could be a coincidence?  Does anyone have any suggestions as to the best way of breaking the obsession she has with 'smells' so that we can enjoy taking her for off lead walks again?  We love seeing how happy she is running around outside but its now getting to the stage where we're considering keeping her walks to onlead which seems a huge shame.

She gets 2 walks a day, about an hour each in length - sometimes the second walk is ball-throwing in the park instead so she gets to burn off energy every day.  We give her a variety of kongs with her food in them, do clicker training, play with her and her toys and she has company almost all the day as we work opposite shifts. 

Apologises for the long post and thank you in advance for any advice anyone can give

[abkb]

Welcome to the joys of adolescence!

You will need to start from scratch, have a look at this thread;

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=69512.0

[sodpot2000]

Normal young cocker behavior I'm afraid! Back to basics with the recall training and it will all come back with a bit of patience. They all go through a period (of indeterminate length) where engaging the nose disconnects the ears!

Good luck and have fun!

Rodney

[lescef]

Ah yes, the sniffing cocker!
Teaching the whistle recall is really, really  useful but needs lots and lots of proofing against smells!
I think spring is the worst time of the year for sniffing -new grass, baby birds, bunnies etc.
It is also a case of making yourself more interesting than the smells. Maddie will go off and sniff -I've had to walk across fields to get her back. Bramble, on the other hand, checks in and comes back. Now I try not to let Maddie wander very far in the first place. Recall her from very close to you, on a long line if necessary, then increase the distance.Take a special 'jackpot' treat so if she does a really good recall surprise her with it.
If she loves her ball, you can use that as a reward  for good behaviour too.
We also lay treats in long grass and send them to find them -at least they are using their nose in a more structured way. Good luck!

[elaine.e]

Good advice already given . She's a typical young Cocker who has reached adolescence and discovered her nose. Try and prevent her from getting too focussed on scents and disappearing on you, and practice recall on every walk, making it fun and rewarding for her to return to you.

One thing I'd add is to be careful about how much exercise you give her. A general rule of thumb for puppies is about 5 minutes exercise per month of age. So at 7 months that means her walks would be better for her if limited to about 35 minutes each time.

The reason is that her growth plates won't all have closed yet, especially as she's already been spayed. Neutering before maturity and the resultant lack of hormones tends to slow down the closure of growth plates and sometimes results in puppies growing taller and with lighter bone than they would have if left entire or neutered after the growth plates have closed. Excess exercise and neutering before maturity can also increase the risk of joint problems from an early age.

[elaine.e]

Scent games will help her to use her nose and brain on things you want her to focus on. There are a lot of good links to games if you do an internet search. This one has some good indoor games, some of which could be played outside, as well as some outdoors games. http://suzanneclothier.com/the-articles/scent-games-educating-your-dogs-nose

I used to play a game with fir cones with one of my Cockers from years ago. When we were near a tree with hundreds of fir or pine cones underneath it I'd select one, rub my hands on it and get Sam to sniff it. Then I'd get him to sit in front of me and facing me while I threw the pine cone behind him and in amongst all the hundreds of others. I'd tell him to find it and he always worked really hard and found the correct cone and brought it back to me.

[MIN]

gemma can sometimes still be slow to recall even now if her nose is "engaged" . she still gets a treat when and only when she responds first time.

[Tessie]

Thanks for all the replies - much appreciated and it's good to know this is 'normal' spaniel behaviour at least!  We have brought a whistle and cooked some finest sausages so over the weekend will go back to some basics and start using the whistle accompanied by the 'high value' treat of sausages which she doesn't normally get so fingers crossed that will make the difference

[Rodapops]

Hi Tessie - we are having exactly the same problem - a few months on, how are you finding the training? Has anything improved at all?!

[Archie bean]

The whistle is a good idea but be careful not to just take it out and whistle it, expecting her to come back! You will run the risk of her learning to ignore it. There is an excellent whistle training sticky at the top of the training board. I followed it to the letter with Archie and he is the only cocker I've ever owned who has a reliable recall.

Another tip I used was regularly calling him back and putting him on the lead, treating and then letting him off again, at various points on the walk. If he returned to me at any point without being called and made good strong eye contact, I would treat him. I call it checking in. He now regularly comes back to check in on the off chance of a treat. He sometimes gets one, sometimes not. I ALWAYS treat when I put the lead on - before and after the walk. If he sees the lead come out of my pocket, he will run back to me. My previous cocker always ran away at that point because he knew the walk was over!

[sodpot2000]

The top barks scheme really does work. I have been using it with Buster. On the moor yesterday he flushed a bird and launched off in pursuit. I blew the whistle and he stopped and returned. Not sure which of us was the more surprised!