Trouble training

[Futuresuper9]

I have a border collie named Jake. He is 3 years old and very friendly around people, and most of the time very obedient. My problem is that when he is off chasing a tennis ball or a frisbee, he loses interest after sometime and I can't get him to return to me using my whistle, he always comes to me using that method in the house. I have used treats, and other things to hopefully make this happen, and he just can't seem to catch on. Any suggestions are very welcome.

[MaggieDog]

Have you practied this outside w/ low distractions? Dogs aren't great generalizers, so he may not know that the whistle means the same thing outside as it does inside if you haven't practiced outside. Also, you'll need to build distractions gradually for the training to be successful rather than a big leap from indoors to a park w/ other people/dogs/toys/etc.

[OurBoys]

Erin's right. The best way to go from indoors to a park setting is with baby steps. Keep us posted on how it goes!

[haleigh]

WOW i haven't been on in a great while!

 

Find something that he loves. For Joy, her play drive is 100000 times greater then her food drive, so I use a tug toy reward when reinforcing recall. Every time Joy comes to me when I call her, she gets a 10 second tug. I only do this with Joy because I know I have complete control over her and her tugging.

 

Try getting a 30 foot long line and keeping it attached. Every time he doesn't come back, pick up the end of the line, and run as fast as you can, pulling him if you have to. Hopefully his border collie genes will kick in and he'll chase you. Then you can throw the frisbee.

 

Kind of building on the above:

With a 30 ft longline, have him in a sit/down/stand stay and walk to the end of the line. Have him come. If he comes, immediately tell him Good Boy, Yes, Very Nice, or Atta Boy and throw the ball or frisbee. If he doesn't come, do the running away. When he comes within 2 feet if you, throw that dang ball!

 

Hope that helps, and I wish you luck.