Am I being cruel keeping her on lead?

[Joules]

This is probably mainly due to adolescence!    Coco was a little madam from 7 to about 13 months.  She is by no means perfect now but it is a long while since she has had me close to tears with frustration when she will not come back to me    I did keep her on the lead more during this time especially if there were a lot of distractions and like you I wondered if I would ever be able to let her off the lead again    I did persevere with letting her loose though when there was another dog to play with or not too many distractions and she is miles better now.  I was determined to crack it though as I thought it would be awful for her and for me if she could never be trusted off the lead.  Have you got some really yummy treats - liver cake, tuna bread, primula cheese - I just used whatever would get her to give me her attention and kept it just for recall.  If you can train her to respond to a whistle and have her fave treat ready, you will win in the end 

Keep calm and stick at it and it will get better. 

[lyn]

Have you tried training Millie wth a long lead? With this she can have some freedom, and you can train her recall knowing she can't get away if its slow going.

this is what i was going to say. my ellie is a little imp at the moment she never comes when i call her but i have paddy so when he comes back then she does too. ellie is 10 months. i am debating a long lead for the more open places we take her.

[ali]

hi bob

your experiences with millie sound very similar to those that we have had with a certain 12-month old lad snoozing beside me at the moment. his recall has been completely hit and miss for the past few months and, whilst we are putting a lot of his attitude down to adolescence, we are also working on it consistently.

whistle training is going slowly, primarily because barkley really isn't food orientated and is most definitely going through a phase at the moment of looking up to see what we want, evaluating whether or not to return, and quite often deciding not to and carrying on with whatever he was up to beforehand!

consequently, i am trying to avoid letting him off in environments where i have to be sure of his return. this way, i don't have to call him as often and he doesn't have the same opportunities to ignore me! (if that makes sense) on the whole, when we get to the end of a walk he is worn out enough to come back to me quite happily. i definitely wouldn't let him off in crowded places or parks until i can rely on him totally in more secluded areas first. the long line is something that we will try if whistle training doesn't work.

as an aside, what do people recommend that you do when your dog does eventually come back after a looong period of being evasive and quite clearly choosing to ignore his owner? obviously i would never shout at or reprimand barkley in any way (that would clearly make him wonder what the point in returning was) but do you still praise highly (bearing in mind that he quite often ignores the piece of chicken being held out to him anyway) or make it fairly clear that you are not terribly impressed by silently putting him back on lead and walking on? just curious as i am otherwise not too sure how to make barkley realise that his dithering about is not exactly what i had in mind when i called him! 

[lyn]

i make a massive fuss with ellie when she comes back first time. i want her to think she will get cuddles and fussing when she does as i ask.same with all our training. i never tell them off. they wouldn't take much notice if i told them off but they love being fussed

[Cob-Web]

as an aside, what do people recommend that you do when your dog does eventually come back after a looong period of being evasive and quite clearly choosing to ignore his owner? obviously i would never shout at or reprimand barkley in any way (that would clearly make him wonder what the point in returning was) but do you still praise highly (bearing in mind that he quite often ignores the piece of chicken being held out to him anyway) or make it fairly clear that you are not terribly impressed by silently putting him back on lead and walking on? just curious as i am otherwise not too sure how to make barkley realise that his dithering about is not exactly what i had in mind when i called him! 

It depends at what stage in the training they are

Now Molo does come back, I am working on faster and faster responses - so the degree of reward depends on how quickly he complies  A recall "in his own time" and may get no more than a good boy and tickle under the chin; whereas an instant "on a piece of elastic" response and he gets the jackpot 

At first, he got high value reward for coming back each time, no matter how long it took him, and often for just "checking in" between recalls as well 

[ali]

It depends at what stage in the training they are

Now Molo does come back, I am working on faster and faster responses - so the degree of reward depends on how quickly he complies  A recall "in his own time" and may get no more than a good boy and tickle under the chin; whereas an instant "on a piece of elastic" response and he gets the jackpot 

At first, he got high value reward for coming back each time, no matter how long it took him, and often for just "checking in" between recalls as well 

thanks rachel. that's pretty much the response that i was anticipating and is what we've been doing.

[kb]

Honey's recall is fairly good, but I always have high value treats with me as well - chicken, cheese.

Before I let her off, I show her the bag and let her have a good sniff so she knows what she is getting when she comes back.

I have taught her a different come signal, when she is going to get a treat -I call her name then I hold my hand up high in the air, so that she can see it. Then when I call come I bring my hand down low to the ground - she comes charging straight to my hand - because she knows what is in it. 

[anita96]

With regards to using a long line, this may be a silly question, but do you hold the end all the time.  The reason I ask is when I have used one with mocha he just runs to the end of it and I am dragged along behind him. 

[cdpops]

Hi
I don't think you are being cruel just very caring! Charlies recall was awful when I first got him, I found the local tennis courts(when not in use) great as he got to have a run and I knew he was safe. He learned his recall there and now comes back 99.9% of the time. Good luck with your training.
Claire

[Cob-Web]

With regards to using a long line, this may be a silly question, but do you hold the end all the time.  The reason I ask is when I have used one with mocha he just runs to the end of it and I am dragged along behind him. 

Try this link - http://www.petbehaviourcentre.com/us/us_articles/us_longline.htm

..it explains how to use the line -  the dog should never actually reach the end of the leash, as it should never become tight 

[anita96]

thanks rachel, would you use this on walks or keep it to training sessions at first then build it into walks.  The reason I ask is that if I used it on walks I wouldn't get anywhere as I would have to keep changing directions and I think he would get sick of me calling him.  I have just found this on ebay to use as a long line,  Item number: 230034167098.

[Cob-Web]

thanks rachel, would you use this on walks or keep it to training sessions at first then build it into walks.  The reason I ask is that if I used it on walks I wouldn't get anywhere as I would have to keep changing directions and I think he would get sick of me calling him.  I have just found this on ebay to use as a long line,  Item number: 230034167098.

I used in on every walk, as it meant that my expectations of him were consistent  It did mean I was constantly changing direction, calling him and having to devote more time for each walk 

I had access to some tennis courts which I used to allow him fully off-lead for games with a ball etc 

[cazza]

Well  I know what you are all going through  as I have been keeping Fern on a lead lately as she ran off a couple of times.

If you want the honest truth (you're getting it anyway) I had lost my confidence in her coming back to me 

Have been for a lovely walk this afternoon with a friend and her two golden labs, we went up a forest track that friend uses and her two and Jock went running off and after a minute away from the car park I let Fern off - I was petrified 

Well my little girl did me proud, I waited till all the dogs had had a play and said hello etc and then I called her  she came back  I gave her a treat and sent her off to play again

I called her several times through out the walk and she disappeared a couple of times on the way back down, but thankfully she came when called even tho it felt like 5 min after at one point, but it took that time for her to stop and return as friend could actually see her but I couldn't 

So moral to my story is try and go out with someone else who has fantastically well behaved dogs 

[deano]

 


We have a similar worry with our little boy Louis, he is now 15 months old and as we live in Spain and drivers and roads a nightmare we have not tried to let him off the lead, he has a mind of his own and  when he is running around in the garden playing he has no interest in coming to us when called except when we say 'biscuit' but that would mean him having about 20 dog treats a day.  We take him out on an extended lead to the beach which he loves but as there are so many stray dogs wandering around not to mention all the other distrations im sure he would be killed.   We feel cruel that he doesnt have freedom but he's too precious to us to take a chance.  we have a fair bit of ground in our villa and he has regular walks so hopefully that makes up for it.  Any tips to train him would be appreciated.

[anita96]

If you want the honest truth (you're getting it anyway) I had lost my confidence in her coming back to me 

That is very true, I am building up gradually with mocha again as I was petrified I would lose him, especially now that the gamekeeper has seen him running lose, I expect he would take a shot at him next time if he was round the pheasant pens.  The responsibility is huge and stressful, but he is great fun the rest of the time.