Solid recall

Interested to know how many of you have achieved a solid recall with your Staffies and how you reached that stage?

Bug's recall we non existent on arrival, but I don't think she had ever been walked (or at least not hiked with!) We have worked on this consistently with the use of a long line and positive reinforcement (excited tones and food rewards, running in the opposite direction and encouraging when ignored). I always attempt to time the call for when she's not engorged in an exciting smell but she still isn't 100%, or even 75% actually.

Recall is hugely important for us, whilst Bug could never be completely off of her long line due to her issues with other dogs, I feel that it's important for her to have her space and freedom to run when appropriate. I think part of the issue may be attention span and impulse control, as shes generally very scatty but of course I'm wondering if we are doing something wrong also..

Rachel33 wrote:Interested to know how many of you have achieved a solid recall with your Staffies and how you reached that stage? .

Oh how I wish I could answer this and say Misty was 100% reliable. She is great when there are no distractions, sometimes she's great even when she's with other dogs but sadly most of the time when she's playing with other dogs she is completely immune to us. We do everything you have mentioned, running backwards, smelly treats exited voices etc but it's only when she wants to come she does. If there is anything more exciting then we can forget it! She used to literally fly to us if we said ' bye misty' but last week hubby and her were leaving the dog off lead area, she bolted up to a husky and they started playing and hubby shouted bye several times plus touch (her recall word) and she ignored him. He even went as far as going out through the gate, she looked at him and still didn't leave her new friend.

In normal parks the long line is something I wouldn't leave home without sadly. I'm so envious of people with their doggies trotting happily next to them! I'll be interested for any tips people have too.

think the recall is better achieved when they are pups ive found , I also cnt let mia fully free due to her dog issues big dogs anyway . think its their ages tbh ive never heard of teaching an older dog full recall and being able to trust them fully off lead .

Good recall depends on a number of things but I think that the dogs temperament and character can make a big difference.
Must be harder for rescues, not knowing their background  but the advice on this forum (including your own Rach) is excellent.  With  consistancy and hard work, you can do no more.   I honestly don't think that any dog has solid recall.
Having a puppy off  lead as soon as possible will  help.  They are so young that they are worried and anxious to leave your side.

You sound like you are doing everything you can. Maybe she is a bit deaf. xx

Sorry Rachel didn't mean it to come out like it looked, I wasn't being flippant, but possible she could have a hearing problem????

Mia05 wrote:think its their ages tbh ive never heard of teaching an older dog full recall and being able to trust them fully off lead .

You definitely can teach an old dogs new tricks, so don't anyone give up!

Food, food, food, food... praise, praise, praise, praise... practice, practice, practice, practice! And for me the thing that gets missed a lot is to keep throwing in some recalls during walks at random times. Lots during the early days but even now I will call them for a treat from time to time, just to remind.

Another important thing is not to ask for something you know you won't get. Calling a dog who is charging around having fun won't work and will only teach them that they can ignore you, which of course we know they can but it's best not to teach them to know it too!

Chaos has always been pretty good, since the day we got him. He will chase a bunny if it jumps under his nose but otherwise he stays fairly close. Millie is a dream, watching her turn on a sixpence to come when called is just wonderful.

Nola, one the other hand... She was 16 months old and wild when we got her. She's clearly got working lab in her breeding and the retriever half hasn't muted that at all. She was bugger off queen supreme, a nightmare on the lead and just so driven to hunt it was untrue. We have a feeling the Hearing Dogs people might have just forgotten to mention this as being a reason she failed her assessment...

So it was work, work, work. Because she wasn't off lead for months - she'd vanish at the click of the lead clip - it was all in the garden to start off with until she knew that each and every time she heard 'Nola, come!' she'd get praise and food. We also did some long line work out and about.

I will confess that with Nola I have, on many occasions, had to resort to a very loud 'Don't!' which does seem to stop her in her tracks if you catch her as she's just about to go. I don't think I've had to do that for a good couple of years, though.

Are any of them really 100%? No, probably not, but pretty good and that's good enough for me.

all for teaching an old dog new tricks I find the recall was for me the hardest of all traning

Bit of an odd one for me to answer with Flo being 99% deaf but considering she can't hear she is very very good if the wind is in the right direction. It took me a full 2 years on the long lead before I would trust her mind you.

Nowadays she doesn't wander very far from us and even if she was a fully hearing dog I don't think her recall would be completely solid but all things considered she's pretty good.

As for teaching an old dog YES YOU CAN. I have taught Flo to drop her Stix with nothing more than a hand signal in the last 6 months or so (without the use of treats too) and would echo Liz and say keep on going with that recall training.

Thank you guys for all of your feedback! All read and considered. I have experimented and gone back to basics with Bug over the past week - stayed in the fields around our house and she has been a star. Haven't really had to practise recall more than usual (we always check in multiple times on a walk anyway when we aren't playing etc) but she went back to being well behaved Bug. Really enjoyed our walks together and had lots of fun.

Fast forward to today, went back to a very quiet and less open part of the moors to see how she gets on. Did everything the same as in the fields but upped it by about 10% to compensate for the few extra distractions.. She was awful again! I think you are right that she has learnt to get ignore me, but only on that walk it would seem. I call her and can see her ears move in my direction, she seems to stop and think and then choose to continue doing whatever she was doing. I have noticed that "stay" seems to be an easier/stronger command for her so I have been using this first today and then asking her to come when she has been interrupted. Still only coming about 70% of the time..

I find on our field walks she charges for the first 15 mins, seems to tire after 30-45 mins of walking and it settled on my our walk home. On the moors she charges for 1 hour and then refuses to get into the car think it's overstimulation, she obviously enjoys her moors walks but I'm really not at the moment, although, I wouldn't want to stop them entirely. I do find if we go out for a good 3 hour hike she settles a bit more after 1.5 hours ish..

I know that would be enough for some, but with her issues she really needs to be responsive off the lead.

Late to the topic, but very uplifting to know that Una's not alone in having selective hearing depending on the level of distraction and there's certain walks that get her charging around in big circles.

I made a huge mistake early on when starting to teach recall - I foolishly didn't realise that I should get her to recall, treat that and then get into a sit and treat that (or something like that) ... so Una can come racing back to me, but I need to be fast or she's legging it off again. Thanks goodness for harnesses with grab handles, I'm now trying to retrain recall with a sit/stay!

Oh yes, the good old smash 'n grab! That's Nola's favourite.

And their 180 about turn while scarfing down the liver paste is truly awful  but impressive

Suki's recall is about 90% but we rarely leave her off lead. She is really food motivated so we just used a long lead and bits of steak as a reward.

Harley is about 90% if we have his ball in play which has really improved and we have finally found his weekness.if not he has selective hearing and will make a run for it. He has a long line trailing when in the field feel its a bit of a safety net.