Lost recall!

Hi all,

My one year old staffie cross boy (Gaston) has had very good recall since he was tiny. It did take a lot of work (and a LOT of bacon!) but we got there. The last week though, he just seems to have lost it. He runs off much further than he used to and ignores me when I call him. It's quite worrying as there's a bridle path and a sheep paddock where I walk him and I can't risk him chasing the horses or sheep! So I'm getting stressed about letting him off the lead in case something goes wrong.

I've not changed his food or routine so I'm a bit lost as to why he has suddenly lost his recall!

Any suggestions?

One word......TEENAGER! (sorry to any teenagers on the forum!)

Knows everything, listens to nothing, nobody understands him!

Try putting him on a long line (30 metres, available from eabay) & let it trail. Every so often, call him once. If he doesn't come immediately, pick up the line & reel him in! Make sure that the end of the line is always well within your reach, though!

If you are worried about him running off without you you may want to try a long training lead, you can get them in PAH or from Amazon.

He may be just trying the boundaries with you to literally see how far he can go. Try going back to basics with the recall training and him on the long line.

Thanks, I'll give the long line a try. Out of interest (and desperation!), how long does the teenage phase tend to last?

You have a teenage hooligan

When my dogs do this I take them back to the beginning of their recall training to remind them, I have them on a 30ft long line and keep calling him back from various distances from me, I never let him find the end of the line. Once they are 100% at this distance I add another long line so it is now 60ft long and continue doing what I was. If 100% I drop my end of the line but I never let my dog know how long the lead it. I have known dogs to be really well behaved when inside the length but revert to being a teenage hooligan once they are over the distance.

Some things to do as well, never call your dog if they are focused on something like a cat on top of a wall, a rabbit down a hole etc. all you will be doing is teaching him it is ok to ignore you.

Only call your dog ONCE when you know you have a good chance of him coming back then lots and lots of very high rewards.

You can play hide and seek with him, most dogs live that, I hide behind a bush or tree then call my dog, again only once then wait. As soon as my dog looks up and realises I am not there the come running to find me. Once they are coming towards me I call again to give him an idea of were I am.

The teenage hooligan stage is usually from about 6 months to 18 to 24 months old depending on the dog, the more training you do the better he will be when he comes out of it.

Good luck.

Cyril baby wrote: Good luck.

Sounds like I'll need it!!

Cyril baby wrote:You can play hide and seek with him, most dogs live that, I hide behind a bush or tree then call my dog, again only once then wait. As soon as my dog looks up and realises I am not there the come running to find me. Once they are coming towards me I call again to give him an idea of were I am.

That doesn't work with Dempsey - if he doesn't see me, he doesn't care - that's all the excuse he needs to wander off somewhere else!

Agree with what's been said, it's the teenage phase, and just have him on a long line while you're working on it with him again (just to be on the safe side while he's learning again). I think Loki is easing into it, he still comes back but I can see him getting more easily distracted. Fun days ahead, eh?

But yeah, all the training you did as a puppy, continue with it now and it'll be fine