Recall training help needed

Hi All

I'm a new member - being reading the forum for a while for inspiration!!
I got my staffie January at 7 months old. He is a really good natured dog but I cannot figure out how to train him to come back to me - especially when he is with other dogs! If we are out walking he occassionally comes back when called. I give him a treat and praise him when he does! Yesterday I took him too the park and he was playing off lead with another dog - 2 ladies came with small dogs on leads so Taz goes to say hi - they freak out that Taz is going to hurt the dogs - pick up their dogs - too which he responds by jumping up to see the dogs. The start swearing and threatening to call the police - Taz obviously throughout this refuses to come back to me!
I was pretty distraught. The other 2 dog owners who I was walking with were really nice and saying that the ladies should picl up their dogs - and Taz was not being aggressive in any way! However, Taz was off lead! I know he would never hurt of be aggressive to a dog - but I feel so bad letting him off now because I just don't know if he will come back.

So I guess I shall have to keep him on lead unless im sure only dogs around whose owners are happy for him to play. I take him for some off lead walks in fields to give him a run.

So can anyone give advice on how to work on his recall - he is such a good natured dog I would not be at all worried if I knew I could get him back. I don't know whether its a training problem or its he doesn't respect me - however - he definately sees my other half as boss and doesn't come back for him either!

:-)

thanks

Hi &

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get a long training lead and start there , he can have some freedom to play but you know you can reel him in when you need to, slowly with plenty of work you can let him play and practice recall when other dogs are there, he has no option to come back when you are reeling him in

Hi and welcome from us and Suki

A long lead works great. He will have freedom to roam and you can get him back easily. If he is food motivated keep some treats with you or a favorite squeaky toy

Hi & welcome.

Yes, a long line will help a lot - you can get them from ebay quite cheaply - 80' - 100' long is ideal. Just let it trail (within reach!) and you'll be able to haul him back if he doesn't respond.

thanks all! I;m going to work on this! he has such a good nature I want him to be the best he can be! he is my first dog so learning as I go!

Hi and welcome to the forum from Rocky and me.

We have exactly the same issue with Rocky and we use a longline too. My hubby went to Go Outdoors and bought some climbing rope and made a 5 metre line with that, it is very strong line and we have the peace of mind that Rocky is on a lead and can still have a good run around too.

Some people just dont like other dogs approaching theirs, nothing much you can do only keep yours on a lead really.

Hi and welcome,
Taz is absolutely beautiful in your avatar...
I can't help much, though, I've been having the same problem with Stella since the very beginning. Her recall is fine when there are not other dogs.
I tried the long line but she often gets farther then that so it was not of much use for me by now.
So I just train her by calling her and giving her treats and praise, it really works.

I have her on flexi lead in parks and let her off only when I know it is safe - no roads close, no unknown children, no unknown people.

But I have noticed recently that she is getting better, she came back several times when called when running away so I am sure the training will pay off eventually, with a lot of patience and repetition

Funny thing is whenever I find something interesting such as plastic bottle or an old ball I call her "Look Stella what's this" and I must say this sentence now works better then "Stella, come". So I can use this sometimes to call her. But not very often so I don't break the charm

But on lead in parks and public areas, for sure, probably forever. They say they usually calm down after a while, when they are 2 or 3 years, so I'll see Stella will be 1 in the end of May now

Good Luck and don't worry I think they can have fun on the flexi lead no bother and when they get at least one walk per day where they can be off and run and play it should be enough to make the other walks on the lead to avoid dangerous and unpleasant situations

Xx

I had the same trouble with Skye someone suggested using a whistle as the tone of your voice can change depending on the mood you are in

Start by using the whistle indoors and just give trays as you blow it then let them start to walk away blow it and they should turn and come straight away

Skye learnt this so fast and now when out 9 times out of 10 she comes back at first whistle to get her treat ( make sure it's a treat they only get when the whistle is blown so it's a special treat I use sausages)

Hope this helps

Gazagem wrote:I had the same trouble with Skye someone suggested using a whistle as the tone of your voice can change depending on the mood you are in

Start by using the whistle indoors and just give trays as you blow it then let them start to walk away blow it and they should turn and come straight away

Skye learnt this so fast and now when out 9 times out of 10 she comes back at first whistle to get her treat ( make sure it's a treat they only get when the whistle is blown so it's a special treat I use sausages)

Hope this helps

This sounds like a very good idea to me, using the special treat, will be trying this on Rocky

Thanks, yes that sounds really good,
I've tried almost everything but have not tried a whistle yet
I do change treats time to time to keep Stella entertained and happy so I will make sure I get some extremely good ones for the whistle training
Xx

I find it's good to get them in from the garden as well especially when Skye's in one of her I can't hear you moods lol

Hi!!

Well yesterday i bought a clicker - reading another thread off here - I did Taz come, click, treat when he cmae over and over in house/ graden. Took him out for an off lead walk in fields - he zoomed off - I thought - lets see what happens - click - taz came shooting back!! Could not believe it! I have a whistle too so may try that too with a special treat! I was so impressed - i defiantely think he ignore the sound of my voice if its tone he doesn't like - but the clicker is just - click, treat and he oinly has positive connotations with it! I shall be worknig more on this!!! im very happy!

Hi Maria!

Ours must be about the same age!!! bless!! she looks so cute :-)

hbellis9383 wrote:Hi!!

Well yesterday i bought a clicker - reading another thread off here - I did Taz come, click, treat when he cmae over and over in house/ graden. Took him out for an off lead walk in fields - he zoomed off - I thought - lets see what happens - click - taz came shooting back!! Could not believe it! I have a whistle too so may try that too with a special treat! I was so impressed - i defiantely think he ignore the sound of my voice if its tone he doesn't like - but the clicker is just - click, treat and he oinly has positive connotations with it! I shall be worknig more on this!!! im very happy!

Thats excellent well done, its just a case of finding what works for you, and you obviously have.

Taz seems to be the kind of dog where he has to want to do anything or he NEVER gives in!!! however, his stomach rules everything ha ha!! let hope u keeps working!!! its having a good success rate - not when around other dogs yet but its early days!!

Glad you have found something that works for you

hbellis9383 wrote:Hi!!

Well yesterday i bought a clicker - reading another thread off here - I did Taz come, click, treat when he cmae over and over in house/ graden. Took him out for an off lead walk in fields - he zoomed off - I thought - lets see what happens - click - taz came shooting back!! Could not believe it! I have a whistle too so may try that too with a special treat! I was so impressed - i defiantely think he ignore the sound of my voice if its tone he doesn't like - but the clicker is just - click, treat and he oinly has positive connotations with it! I shall be worknig more on this!!! im very happy!

Not actually the right way to use a clicker but if it works for you great! You just might not be able to use it for clicker training other behaviours but if you only want it for the recall, then it sounds like it will work perfectly.

My pup is also not great with his recall with other dogs, and is exactly the same as yours, loves other dogs and always wants to say hi and play - unfortunately not always what other owners (particularly of small dogs) seem to want. Thankfully, the usual park I go to has a strong pack of over 15 dogs and everyone lets their dogs play off lead and we all understand (at least basically) how dog behaviour works which is great. However, I'm on holiday in Cape Town now and finding another similar park is proving a bit difficult. I think I must definitely work on a whistle for Hiccup as I think that distinct sound will be perfect.

ooops - how are you meant to use the clicker - for other training he has learnt jsut normally so only intend it for recall really - altohugh his selective deafness did set in last night so the whistle helped!! :-)

Haha, if you're using it the way you are for the recall and its working, then it doesnt matter! :-D

As for using a clicker for the more usual clicker training, think of it as a 'yes' word. So, for example, in a recall, you would give the command - either a whistle/'come here' etc. then wait for the dog to return to your side, then click and treat. The clicker is not a signal or command, it basically says: 'Yes, that was the right behaviour, a reward is coming your way!'

At the moment, you're using the clicker as the command but as I said, it will only influence if you want to use a clicker to train other behaviours too, if not, then its fine but a whistle is usually better as it can be heard further away XD

Ah yes, Staffies and their selective hearing - mine can be an expert in that XD

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ok - that might be better - so he can then recognise any command with the click and reward!!!

I may try thsi again as that makes more sense - especially as the dog had massive selective hearing last night!
He comes back - eventually!!! grrrrrrrrrrr lol!

so exasperating - I will crack it!!!

thanks for all your help

I found with bode, it was more important for me to teach her to "stay" and "leave".

That way, instead of recalling her due to her running off, I would stop her running in the first place.

It's not perfect yet, but I can now walk past any person and bode will ignore them off the lead, ignore most dogs off the lead, or just look without dragging me to them lol.

The recall is getting better for us, it must be the hardest command to master.

Our trainer always told us recall should be a last resort as your dog should be near by in your comfort zone in terms of distance.. But we always let them run out a bit sniffing round the bushes etc lol

Many times I've looked like an idiot jumping up and down all excited, treats in my hand trying to be more tempting to bode than the other dog lol

These days I tell her firmly and that seems to be working fir now, it's a long process as far as I can tell.

You'll find the way that works for you both

I have the same problem with Buster. He is very good off lead untill another dog comes into sight, then he completley blanks me. I have started using a long line and it has been working great! After a week on it he stopped trying to run off to other dogs and would stand and look at them and when I called he would come back to me, although alot slower than he would normally! lol. That was untill I went away for a week My brother looked after him for me and I think he has let him get away with too much as Buster is now a complete nightmare again, with people and dogs! So we are starting from scratch, but I won't be going away for at least a year now so I will crack it by then, I hope!!

i have got a retractable lead and when my staffy decides to run, the lead stops and it nearly pulls me over,