Rockys recall

About a week ago we found a new walk for Rocky out in the country not very far from where we live and near our local farm shop. I dont think many people know about it as we have only seen one other couple with a dog there and that was on the first day we found it.

We have been going there later in the day so it is cooler for walking and we keep in the shade too. We always have a rucsac with us to put Rockys water bottle and bowl in and some for ourselves too.

We dont let Rocky off the lead straight away as there is a road there but we walk for about 5 minutes to get out of sight of the road then let him off. We have always used a long line with him to date but since it is so quiet there we know we can let him off without any stress.

His recall has been very good so far whilst we have been going on this new walk. Last night he saw a rabbit a bit of a way off down the track and at first Rocky didnt spot it, we both looked at each other and said " Here we go looks like rabbit for dinner" but to our suprise he didnt bolt after it but decided to stay near us. We were very impressed with him.

We also heard gunshots too on the way back in the field next to us. Rocky heard this clearly too but again didnt bolt off and chose to stay close to us, he wasnt at all afraid of the noise. Again we were very impressed with his behaviour.

Just goes to show that the training does work and the long line helped too. So pleased that we have finally found somewhere were he can have a free run without any line or lead.

All sounds fantastic Kathy, the only thing missing where the pics

Very pleased to hear Rocky is doing so well

well done Rocky, hope no one else discovers it

Well done Rocky!

Brilliant news Kathy. Rocky gives me hope.

Ty wrote:Brilliant news Kathy. Rocky gives me hope.

We have to keep hope Lynne otherwise we have nothing

That's given me an idea for trying mine "off lead" by using a long line first, never really seen one before... how long is long??

She's just over 5 months now and whilst training is going well and she comes MOST of the time I call her name, she does tend to have "selective hearing" lol

What age did you start with the "long line"?

What age did you let her off completely?

Thanks kathy!

Check the link below, this is the type we use for Rocky. We started him on it straight away as soon as we got him, he was about 12 months old then. We have now had him for about 18 months

We have only just started to let him off completely in an area where we can clearly see about a half a mile in every direction (not kidding). This is a walk around farmers fields (crop) no animals/cattle anywhere near. Rocky can be a bit cranky with dogs creaping up behind him, taking him by suprise. Anyway link below to training lead from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ancol-Tracking-Line-Nylon-Black/dp/B000NWJ7DQ/ref=sr_1_11?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1338389545&sr=1-11

Nice one, thank you

In fact, i've bought it now... looks useful

4 minute purchase, no-one tell the missus i can actually be so impulsive!

I dont think you will regret making that purchase, just be careful of the lead hurting your hands. When my hubby uses it he always wears gloves otherwise the tape can be painful.

Well done, he's really coming on.

Have you always used a 4.5 metre lead? Did you ever try the longer, 50' leads?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50ft-LONG-DOG-HORSE-TRAINING-TRACKING-LEAD-VARIOUS-COLOURS-SIZE-LARGE-/230776866048?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&var=&hash=item7b69a20836

Well just when we thought it was all going so well Rocky decided to go and chase a rabbit last night.

We were on our off lead walk and went a slightly different way when a rabbit puts in an appearance. That was it, Rocky spotted it and dispite our calls for him to come back he continued chasing the thing

Is there anyway of getting the prey drive out of him ?? It does seem to be quite high with him. When he did come back we put him back on his short lead again. Thankfully there is never anyone around when we do let him run free.

It may be a case of getting a longer line and just keep him on that but we did like him to have a free run ????

Fortunatly he didnt catch the rabbit, dont know if I could face that, but I know Andy (my hubby) could

Hi Kathy, all terriers have the prey drive and will chase small prey and larger prey too, its a natural instinct and very hard (nearly impossible) to get rid of.
My suggestion for you is to keep working on the recall and the stay command, it can be a long and frustrating process but in the end its well worth it.
I think all bull terriers have that selective hearing going on, and my Blu will ignore my voice completely if he is a long way off.
Using a whistle can help to get the attention back if used with your recall command, and of course always carry smelly treats to give when he gets back.
Putting him straight back on a short lead as soon as he comes back won't help in the long run, he will just associate coming back as being taken out of his playtime if he is put straight onto his lead.
Using the line as you have been will work and you will see yourself him getting better at it.
I think you are doing really well with him and just need to keep reinforcing your recall and stay. Sometimes when my Blu see's another dog the stay command works better than the here command for me and he will pull up and stop and look towards me when I issue STAY in a firm voice, (I find a calm firm voice works better than shouting and does not leave me as frustrated when he doesn't obey immediately) then he will recall as I have his attention back.
I let Blu chase the rabbits and hares in the fields, he also chases birds, but so far they are all too quick for him. As rabbits tend to dive in the hedgerows, the dogs don't normally get near them and when he loses sight, he always comes back to me.
Keep up the good work and he will become better.

Hi and thanks for getting back to me.

Yes I have always found that staying calm is so much better than losing your rag.

We have kept him on a lead for the last week as he was attacked last Tuesday just as we came back from a very good walk where we were working on his recall and his was doing very well.

That incident has set us back again with him as now when we go outside he cowers (it happend just outside our front door where there is an area of communal grass). It was sadly a Staffy that was off lead, Rocky does know the dog and they have always got on OK before. The off lead dog just snapped at him and then got hold of his head.

Rocky had cuts near both eyes and after a trip to the vet he was on antibiotics, one cut was on his left inner eye lid OUCH which was bleeding. There was also another puncture wound above his right eye. Poor little baby has really been through it lately.

He will soon recover his confidence as it sounds as though he has to go through the communal grass to go on his walk.
I hope he is feeling better now as it sounds as though he has been in the wars recently.
If you are still worried by other dogs you could try carrying one of these Dog Stop to blast at any approaching dog you don't like the look of.
Keep going and good luck, I am sure you will get there

dont think il be telling you anything you dont already know but have been working on missy's recall last few weeks and she isdoing really well. i let her off when there are few people and no other dogs about as she is not doing that well yet.haha.she does the whole "i cant hear you thing" if she is far away or any distractions.attention span of a goldfish 2 at times!! at first i had treats on walks. i would call her once loud and deep voice to get her attention.then i would bend down/ or squat and call her again. and everytime she came back she was rewarded with alot of fuss and given a treat. this did not work at first but now it works almost every time first time. i no longer take treats very often but i still bend down for the second call(i have no idea why but this seems to work very well) she will now bound towards us with big smiles waiting for attention. she will still chase rabbits but will listen to us alot beter and return alot faster. still cant trust her in a busy park or busy walking rout but im sure this will come with time....mabey.haha....i also use the strap or the leather lead to make a "snap" sound when i hit it against my hand.(guess its same idea as using a whistle or whatever)sounds mean but this gives her a little fright sometimes so i do it when she is realy far away or tearing after a rabbit.this will get her attention so i can kneel and call her. also i try to talk to her on walks(when theres not alot of people around to think im crazy:S) to keep her focous on me. she normally runs off and plays about abit but last time i took her off along the canal she was more interested in listening to me so she stayed close and walked beside me. hope this could help.good luck. hope rocky is ok now....

That's very intersting Kev,

It could be that with bending down you are getting your voice closer to the dog, when standing and calling maybe your voice just gets a bit lots with all other noises around you.

Rocky does certainly have selective hearing at times and just ignores everything but what he is looking at. On this mornings walk he barked at something in the corner of the park. It is very unusual for him to bark whilst out and I couldn't see anything there, but he obviously did. He then kept looking back behind us to make sure no one was following us.

I think you are right in that a sharp sound would gain their attention quickly. Sounds like Missy is doing well keep up the good work.

It's really encouraging hearing your progress with recall and reassuring what can be achieved. So much useful intelligent information on this forum.
I use the crouching down on the second call too. Learned it at a local class when I got my first Dalmatian (bl00dy hard work!) and was told it works because they think you've moved far away - think Father Ted "these are small, those are far away" With Benson I think its more likely works because he thinks I've found something interesting and possibly stinky in the long grass! Real shame about the other dog having a go at him and halting his progress.