RECALL WITH MALE BC PUP

[stwilliams]

OK guy's and gal's it has been sometime that i have posted but i need some good old advice and a kick in the pants in what i am doing wrong with copper. he is now 6 months old and is about 55% on recalls and come better with a frisbee in your hand what can i do in getting him over this hump. it seems that he is just getting alittle hard headed at this age

i tried it with me and my wife in differnet parts of the house and yards and in feilds when we are playing, working in training as we play to make it more fun.. do you guys have any other idears or do i need to just go back to the basics with him and start again with recalls in the house and fields?? ANY IDEARS HELPFUL WILL BE TAKEN good or bad any thing to get brain workingto correct this problem

 

THANKX

[Maralynn]

I'd take most of his daily kibble and use it to reward him for coming when called. Get a treat pouch, clip it to your pants and fill it with kibble. Practice "come" often throughout the day. Start indoors where you'll be sure he comes at first. Call him in a happy excited voice and be a very enthusisatic treat dispenser when he comes. If he's not to excited about his food then start off with something like hot dogs, string cheese or liver treats. Or you can try a kibble like EVO for treats, it's grain free and my dogs love it for treats. You can also mix some sliced hot dog or liver treats into his kibble to make the smell/flavor a little more enticing.

 

The other thing I'd do at first is to have him wear a long line when he is out and about with you so he doesn't have the option of not coming when called.

 

I wore a treat pouch everytime my 2 y/o dog was loose for 3 or 4 weeks and practiced "come" alot (at least 30-40 times/day), and made it very rewarding. He was getting most of his meals for a coming and basic heel work. I'm really liking the result - a dog who is very enthusiastic about coming even though he's only getting food rewards about 25% of the time now.

[nancy]

That's about the age when we started working on real recall with Fergie. We were lucky to have a fenced baseball/softball field nearby. Every evening, we took her over - with tennis balls, throwing disks (the brand name is verboten unless you really use the brand ones). and pooper scoops and bags.

 

We never had to scoop. But that's who Ferg is.

 

Mostly, we let her go wander and play. Then we'd call. If she came, she got a treat or lots of scritching or praise. We'd also toss balls or disks and then call. Same rewards.

 

Did that all her first autumn. She's 11-1/2 now. And has almost perfect recall. OK, if middle kid and granddaughter arrive, all bets are off. Ferg bolts for them.

[Liz P]

At 6 months he is a teenager. Teenagers of all species test their boundaries to see how much they can get away with. I put the leash back on all my pups at that age because their commands go out the window and need to be reinforced. Use a long line and call the dog. If he comes give him a treat and praise. If he doesn't real him in and praise him when he gets to you, but not as much as you would praise if he came on his own.

 

If you do reinforce his commands right now, even though he is being frustrating and it takes a lot of patience, he will be solid when he matures. If you don't you will end up with a dog who thinks it is ok to ignore you.

[Guest WoobiesMom]

I'd only add the super enthusiastic calling and rewarding for coming when called. It works pretty well w/my 9 mo. old boy. I get asked alot at the dog park how I get Woobie to fetch so well, then I turn to their dog, toss the ball, and do the usual "Yay, Good Boy, Get that Ball! Good Job!!!" and their dog is my new best friend. They stand there and toss the ball, say nothing, and wonder why their dog isn't interested. The attitude really makes a difference.

 

Woobie has started to walk away when it's time to leave the park and I'm callling him (stinker!). Rather than getting upset or frustrated and start yelling "COME!" and make him run away, I give him the command for jumping up on the benches there and give him a stay and then I'm able to leash him. I give him lots of praise and act like that's what I wanted him to do all along. I've bought a dog whistle this week and want to try working on recalls with that. Sometimes when things get dicey at the park, there's too many owners yelling "Come" to get his attention and I'd like to have something unique that he'd know to respond to.

[Liz P]

Sometimes when things get dicey at the park, there's too many owners yelling "Come" to get his attention and I'd like to have something unique that he'd know to respond to.

 

Since I do herding with my dogs and Come Bye is a flanking command I use "here" as a come command. Sometimes if my dogs are playing and I want them to stop so we can leave I will use "That'll do" which means stop what you are doing and come to me.

[Alaska]

Lots of relevant advice in this recent thread:

 

Advice for recall needed

 

I would just reiterate that your dog is entering adolscence. If you have human children, you have a good idea of what that means. Even if you had a good recall when your dog was a puppy, it will deteriorate as he becomes a teenager and tests his boundaries. Keep up the training, be consistent and fair, and you'll come out the other end with a well-behaved adult dog. Just don't expect it to happen overnight, or that there is some way to skip this stage. Ain't gonna happen

[stwilliams]

thanks guys i will give all of this a try. this was the kick in the pants that i needed to get me back on track

with cooper i think that i forget that he is only 6 months old and is coming to to the teenage years and i can ever reminder what my old man did to me when i was like his age..

[Guest WoobiesMom]

Since I do herding with my dogs and Come Bye is a flanking command I use "here" as a come command. Sometimes if my dogs are playing and I want them to stop so we can leave I will use "That'll do" which means stop what you are doing and come to me.

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I like the idea of using "Here" because it's not a word any of the owners use and hopefully I can get Woobie to associate the whistle plus "here" to mean run to Mommy immediately. He's pretty reliable with "Leave it" meaning to avoid the dogs that are doing their business or that I've identified as the ones who will play too roughly with him if he interacts with them. There's one lil bitch who just can't stop bullying him and actually took him down while he was running by grabbing his fluffy tail because she has a BC mix sister and that's how she tackles her when she can't catch her. The look on Woobie's face was priceless, as if to say "How Dare You!!!"