training Jett to walk off lead

Yesterday morning is was raining quite alot so i decided to take jett out as there would be no other dogs on the field so I could work on his recall.He was excellent,always staying by my side and coming straight back with his tennis ball when I called him.He only lost a few points when a woman with a labrador came on the field and he was off like a rocket.She didn't seem to mind Jett jumping all over her dog.
I also took him out at 8pm (his 3rd walk) and let him off again he had a good run around and stayed when i told him to.He made a new friend,a weimaraner called Bailey.He had a good 20 mins playtime with Bailey and never nipped him once.After Bailey left he played with his tennis ball UNTIL some kids came on with a football,as ususal he was off like a rocket before I could catch him.I'm not blaming the kids,it was my fault for being a bit slow but If they had left the football on the floor jett would of just left it but because they picked it up Jett thought it was a game and started to jump up and nip.when I finally got to him I apolgised to the kids,they didn't seem too bothered about him though.

guess I'll have to work on the nipping,Don't want him hurting anyone.
sorry for the rant

All in all sounds like a good day, apart from the nipping, which yes you need to stop but at 4 months, well, he is a little star who could get annoyed! Keep practicing your recall, its just not all dogs are dog friendly, and, through experience, not all people are as calm when a dog steals the ball

He's doing so well though bless him. Keep up the good work Jett =D x

Thanks guys

well I took Jett out last night and let him off because the field was empty he was doing great until I tried to call him back when a border collie came on the field,he was having none of it and took off like a rocket.When i finally got to him the woman and her daughter were making a big fuss of him and when i thought she was going to hand him back to me they let him go and started running with their dog....which as i know gets Jett too excited.He decided to play deaf and follow them and their dog across the field and down a dirt path,let me tell you I was not amused.i was looking for him for half an hour because i lost sight of this woman.If it wasnt for a kind old man walking his Jack russel i wouldn't of found Jett.The man had kindly put jett on the jack russels lead and come to find me because he'd been told by the woman that Jett was mine.I was so relieved to get him back...and bought the nice chap a pint . It just annoys me that the woman didn't even bother to bring jett back to me...she could of atleast waited for me to catch up with her!!

Atleast I'll get this sorted on monday as me and Jett are getting a visit from Rachel Bean...Manchesters answer to Victoria Stillwell xD

sounds like he's doing well, we had that problem with him running off to other dogs to begin with but we now tell him to wait and he stops and lies down immediately, it took a while but he got there in the end!

Sounds like Jett is doing great!

I think alot of dogs struggle with impulse control when they see another dog. That is literally the only time Charlie ignores me.Most of the time now he'll do as he's told, but occasionally, if he sees a dog, and he really wants to play, he's off like a shot and 'doesnt hear me' when I call him back.

Hope all goes well with the trainer on Monday

I think Jett is doing really well by the sounds of it... Winston will trot along lovely on his lead but when he sees another dog he nearly rips my arm out the socket.. he wants to go to the other dog.

Wow you will have to let us know what Rachel says ! How exciting !

Sounds like you have a good base for recall training, but you really want to prevent him running off like that in the future. I'd go get a long leash, a special recall training leash or tracking leash is good. Then you let it drag on the ground so you can step on it if he runs off for some reason giving the illusion that it's "impossible" to run away from you. Combine it with recall training and I'm sure he'll do great.


Here are some recall-games you can use to train recall and make sure he thinks it's great fun and you can find many more if you Google or look on youtube. I think the most important thing is to make sure "come" never really means "come here the fun is over now". Bring yummy treats and ideally a nice tug toy or something else you can play with together to reward him when he returns.

You have a a 4 month old staffie who does great so don't worry all in good time :-)

danny wrote:You have a a 4 month old staffie who does great so don't worry all in good time :-)

Exactly, for four months, he's doing amazingly well

http://clickerdogs.com/perfectrecall.htm
Here's another great link about training recall

Aniemother wrote:Sounds like you have a good base for recall training, but you really want to prevent him running off like that in the future. I'd go get a long leash, a special recall training leash or tracking leash is good. Then you let it drag on the ground so you can step on it if he runs off for some reason giving the illusion that it's "impossible" to run away from you. Combine it with recall training and I'm sure he'll do great.


Here are some recall-games you can use to train recall and make sure he thinks it's great fun and you can find many more if you Google or look on youtube. I think the most important thing is to make sure "come" never really means "come here the fun is over now". Bring yummy treats and ideally a nice tug toy or something else you can play with together to reward him when he returns.

I tried some of these games when dogs were passing him and they worked a treat,Jett was more interested in me and the treats than the other dogs.Thankyou for the tips

Ayden-J wrote:I tried some of these games when dogs were passing him and they worked a treat,Jett was more interested in me and the treats than the other dogs.Thankyou for the tips

That's brilliant! I've just started using some of them on Gummi, he's just a puppy and no trouble yet but I really want to prevent there ever becoming one.

I saw on a tv show that ideal treats to give your dog when doing any sort of training is dry cat biscuits.

What a great idea, they are small, easy to carry... and every dog I know loves them !

I am getting some for Winston ..

Jemma loves the 'Dreamies' for my cats lol, she nicks thm whenever she can.
i may start using these!!

I use kitty treats and kitty kibble as convenient dry treats. Great for recall training with few or no distractions, but wouldn't bring them to the park to train recall around other dogs.
For most actual training (rather than the occasional reward on a walk to a grown up dog) I want moist treats to avoid dehydration and make them easier to eat fast. Diced hot dog and black pudding are used with Gummi now, but generally the top treat for my dogs have been cooked, diced liver. Stinks when you're cooking it, but they go wild for the stuff. Will try it with Gummi soon, but perhaps not before we go to hist first classes. I make up a batch and freeze smaller bags so I can just take one out when I need it.