Faulty Recall

[mfallon]

This may be one of those questions without too much of an answer. I had Jacques down at the river today and he was having a great time swimming and playing with the other dogs. And, he then started to have a better time chasing all manner of ducks, geese and even a Great Blue Heron.

 

He finally did return, but only after having run/swam several hundred yards down river and well out of sight. In this instance, it wasn’t the end of the world, but I can easily imagine that river being a busy street one day.

 

Generally speaking, his recall is quite good. Especially given the fact he’s so play driven (much less interest in food). That said, my meager offering of the same old tennis ball didn’t seem to have the same allure as a huge, prehistoric looking bird.

 

Does anyone have any advice on how to manage this beyond “don’t go to the river?” Perhaps the answer is to work on recall more, but it strikes me that this may be the failing of rewarding with play – he already is playing…

 

Thanks,

MF

 

PS--thanks to this board, he learned "leave it/that'll do," but I'm not really in the same position of control here..

[WyoBC]

I would really work on his recall. That will help the most. You couldalso give the "leave it" command when he sees the bird. Or a "leave it, sit, stay" Then play ball or something with him. But recall will work the best.

[painted_ponies]

I guess my advice depends on what you'd like for the dog to do. Not chase geese/ducks/heron at all, or only chase them until you tell him to stop?

 

If the former, then I guess you need to go the traditional obedience route: train your recall w/ no distractions, then mild distractions, and work gradually up to where he'll ignore even those tempting fowl when you call him.

 

If the latter, you could just put a long line on him and tell him to down. Stay close enough so that you can step on the line to reinforce the command if necessary. If he obeys immediately, you release him almost as soon as he obeys - his reward is to chase ducks some more. If you have to enforce the command with the line, or he takes his time about obeying, then keep him in a down for a few seconds, then release and again, reward by letting him chase ducks some more. Keep at it until you can control him on ducks.

[Pearse]

I guess my advice depends on what you'd like for the dog to do. Not chase geese/ducks/heron at all, or only chase them until you tell him to stop?

 

If the former, then I guess you need to go the traditional obedience route: train your recall w/ no distractions, then mild distractions, and work gradually up to where he'll ignore even those tempting fowl when you call him.

 

If the latter, you could just put a long line on him and tell him to down. Stay close enough so that you can step on the line to reinforce the command if necessary. If he obeys immediately, you release him almost as soon as he obeys - his reward is to chase ducks some more. If you have to enforce the command with the line, or he takes his time about obeying, then keep him in a down for a few seconds, then release and again, reward by letting him chase ducks some more. Keep at it until you can control him on ducks.

 

Unless the ducks or other waterfowl are your animals, in a fenced yard where you can enforce a "lie down" or "leave it" it is never acceptable for your dog to chase other animals.

 

Livestock and wildlife deserve not to be harassed by your dog, and harassing wildlife is what he's doing. He is not "herding" anything.

 

You need to teach the dog a "leave it" command applicable to all living creatures. Border Collies should never be allowed to chase ducks, geese, horses, cattle, sheep, squirrels, cats, chickens, rabbits, or children. If they are being trained to work stock, they get to work when you say and what you tell them to and nothing else. If you let him do it once, he will be twice as hard to discourage.

 

Until you have a 100% recall on the dog and an emergency stop (which means you yell "lie down" and the dog stops even in mid-air and hits the dirt), the dog should not be off leash outside a fenced area.

 

A long line is a good way to train this, but do what it takes to get it right. Otherwise you are right; one day it will be a busy street and your dog will end up dead, or some ducks or chickens, or Great Blue Herons will end up dead.

 

Pearse