Help on recall advice and off the leash training

Good afternoon!

My boy is about 5 months old and I haven't really let him loose from the leash as i was worried he would accidentally jump on some one or potentially bite someone (altought he has never shown his teeth on any one at all, he goes extremely happy to see someone and just jumps up and down out of interest never aggressive), I would like to ask you for some recall advice and how to teach him to fetch etc, I've done it in my garden he is fine with that, I just want to improve as best as i can so i can make sure everyone including the dog will be 100% safe in a park while off the leash

Thank you, all advice very appreciated !

Have a nice day

Invest in a long line. Loads of us have used them and they are fairly cheap but essential for recall training. It'll allow him enough room to run around but you'll still have control while training.

Sounds like you've cracked it in the garden so using the long line move the same behaviour out to the park. You might want to change the treats you use to something of really high value that he can't resist as he will be more distracted obviously.

Once you've started to see things work call him but don't give the treat, this gives a greater emphasis on the "will I or won't I get a treat but I'm going to return just in case"

Ordered thank you !!!

First things first, your puppy isn't going to bite anyone. Puppies aren't aggressive and staffies aren't aggressive towards people unless they have reason to be, i.e. unless humans in their life have made them fearful and defensive. So don't worry about that when you let him off, although it might be an idea to try and teach him to greet people calmly.

The best advice for recall is treat, treat, treat, and practise at all sorts of times in all sorts of places. Not only in the garden (which is great) but even in the house, on walks using the invaluable long lead as Ian suggests.

At this stage, you can under-treat but you can't over-treat as long as the treat is for something you asked for (not just for looking cute!). Yes, later on you can move onto treating sometimes but not always but for the time being make coming to you the best thing ever, always.

To teach fetch we used a football with a rope on, when we threw it we would run the other way and call him in a high pitched voice then he would chase us holding the rope and ball then we would give big praise with lots of treats. We then went onto a smaller ball with a rope then a tennis ball. hope that helps

Teaching fetch... start with something he really likes, have him on a long training line, and throw no more than a foot or two away from you. When he picks it up, walk backwards while calling him, this should encourage him to come to you. Lots and lots of praise, play with him, then throw it again.

The lead is there to stop him moving away, it's your body movement and voice that will do the work. When that's working, gradually, very gradually, increase the distance, always using the same toy. When that's solid, change the toy but start with an easy throw first.

Use a specific toy as above the key is getting him to come to you despite distractions such as other dogs everydays a training day the smellier the treat the better its worthwhile in the long run . (pardon the expression)

Ive been working on recall the last few days on a long leash and although things have improved we arent even 20% there i think , Missy is just 4 months so i know its very early days , on the leash she is very good at recall , ive been doing the change of direction often technique which is a great tip , she is more aware of me now and not just randomly walking where she wants , i call her and she responds immediately 99% of the time ... BUT !!! off the leash and everything goes 100% out the window , today she slipped out of her harness and decided the birds the leaves and anything else that moved was more interesting than what i had to offer , treats , rolling around calling her in my best high pitched voice etc etc , im sure i looked crazy , the only way to get her to come even close was to run and she would chase me , but not get close enough for me to get a hold of her to put the harness back on , which leads me to a question , how do i let her know im annoyed and that this was not good behavior ??

beecee wrote: which leads me to a question , how do i let her know im annoyed and that this was not good behavior ??

You don't. Never punish or even get a bit annoyed when recall doesn't work, just learn from what happened and do it better next time. In that situation, I would have walked away from her, run a bit even to get her attention, then tried to get the energy out it. Things like sitting down and looking really interested in something can help, if you feel brave enough just walking away and keeping walking, or even hiding. By keeping up the running you're adding energy into the equation and turning it into a huge game.

I know it's frustrating and being only 20% there sounds daunting - 80% more to go! - but if you think that things ARE better already after only few days, the other way of looking at it is to say 'wow, progress already!'. Take all the little positives and keep learning from the rest. You'll both get there.

And remember, staffy puppies were in fact put on this planet to stretch us to the limit at times... You didn't think it was just to be cute, did you?

Ha , tested to the limit at times , but i wouldn't have it any other way , i love her spirit and the sense of adventure she has out on our walks , i see how my running added to the energy , so good tips as ever Liz , cheers .

this looks interesting to teach fetch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HLy3S4Jlso

Like it! And the dog of course!

Hi, i took the bad boy to a massive park on sunday, and he was great off the lead for 10-15 mintues, exploring, chasing the ball i was throwing, but not alot of interest of bringing it back to me, he was just running next to it, i admit it's 50% my fault as i don't walk very often in new places, and i understand why he was like it, which was fine. But there was a lady with 2 other dogs on her way to her car, soonest he saw them, off he was straight to the dogs to say hi, didn't do anything wrong bark or over excite nothing like that, just stood there saying hi, again my fault a bit because that's probably the first time he had free contact with other dogs, am arranging to book some training courses to increase our bond and also try to find some group of people who walk their dogs together other than that for the firs time i was very happy.

https://youtu.be/dlOkq9ZzjMg

This was today on her long leash , this is an example of her coming when i call and my switching directions often to keep her looking for me and not have her dictating the walk , Jay i have found this a good tip , Liz another vid for you to seehow im doing ??

We seem to be hijacking Jay's thread, can we switch back to yours, Brian?

Absolutely , i thought it might be better to keep things in one tread as we are having the same issue , ill post this again .

Haha no problem, thanks alot i don't mind as any tips come handy