Adolescence Recall

[dallasbc]

Dallas is in the throes of adolescence... and he's doing my head in

 

In particular, he's started not recalling well. He used to be great, but now when we go out, if I call him, he looks at me, stops for a second, and takes off in the opposite direction. I've always given him lots of treats and praise when he comes. If I put him on his lead, oftentimes I'll let him off again after a few minutes, so I feel like I've never created a negative association with his recall.

 

Anyway, any advice?? He recalls fabulously at home. It's just when we're out and about that he's not so keen. Thinking I'll have to go back to the training lead for a while...

[Smalahundur]

Haha, tell me about it! That "you're not the boss of me" look you get just before they blow you off!

No real advice but the obvious, not allowing those blow offs to become habit.So yeah, paitience, back on the lead and not calling him when you know there is a good chance of being ignored.

[dallasbc]

Haha that is exactly it!! "you're not the boss of me" look! I love that. Thanks for the advice! I've been trying to only call him when I don't think he'll ignore me, but I've become a bad judge of that it seems I've been trying to avoid putting him back on the lead, but I really think that's what we need to do. I'm so hoping he gets through this quickly!

[urge to herd]

You can let him trail a lead where it's safe to do so. And play 'catch & release' games at home. Call him, reinforce, release quickly to go back to playing or exploring or whatever. Do that a few times in a row. Reinforce w/something that he really, really likes. With a lot of dogs, that's food, but a quick game of tug or a good scratch in his favorite spot can be as reinforcing as food for many dogs.

 

Good luck ~ back to basics is always good.

 

Ruth & Gibbs

[GentleLake]

Remember that every time he gets away with blowing you off it's self rewarding and he learning that you truly aren't the boss of him.

 

Still think it's a good idea to not put him back on the leash?

 

So, yeah, either keep him on a leash (long line works well) until he gets over this stage. As Ruth said, let him drag it so that you can catch him when he blows you off. No matter how long he manages to elude you, don't ever let him get away with it. Chase him down, grab that trailing leash and reel him back in. Be the boss!

 

Hard as it might be, don't scold him when you get him back to you but reward him as if the whole thing were his idea.

[gcv-border]

In addition to the above excellent advice, I will also run away when I call the dog. If you have a good bond, they think "OMG. OMG. She is leaving me!" and they will come running to catch up to you - at which time you can have a party (food, toys, tug, whatever).

 

Depending on how he reacts to this technique and how distracting the environment is, this technique can also be used with a long line attached. And trying to capture times when he is more likely to come, vs. not come, is also a good practice to follow in the beginning.

[GentleLake]

...I will also run away when I call the dog. If you have a good bond, they think "OMG. OMG. She is leaving me!" and they will come running to catch up to you...

 

Or think, "Oh. Check it out! She's playing a new game." Either way it can be a great lure for a dog that hasn't already tuned you out . . . which is never a good time to cue a recall (or much of anything else) unless you really have to.

 

Depending on how he reacts to this technique and how distracting the environment is, this technique can also be used with a long line attached. And trying to capture times when he is more likely to come, vs. not come, is also a good practice to follow in the beginning.

 

Yes! Setting him up for as much success as possible without having to intervene by reeling him in is always a good thing.

[dallasbc]

Thanks for the advice! Will be working on this as much as possible

[D'Elle]

Don't let him off the lead again, ever, until the recall has been solid for a few weeks. Then only in an enclosed area, dragging the leash. For weeks. Until that recall is solid. Jumping ahead with recall and letting the dog get away with not coming back sets you back by weeks or months in recall training.

[Rush Fan]

In addition to the above excellent advice, I will also run away when I call the dog. If you have a good bond, they think "OMG. OMG. She is leaving me!" and they will come running to catch up to you - at which time you can have a party (food, toys, tug, whatever).

 

Depending on how he reacts to this technique and how distracting the environment is, this technique can also be used with a long line attached. And trying to capture times when he is more likely to come, vs. not come, is also a good practice to follow in the beginning.

[Rush Fan]

When I do this with my Mancer, she comes back just close enough to me where I can't catch her.

[diane allen]

Pretty much what they all said.

I've done the long-line thing a LOT, and had moderate success.

Tell me a BC doesn't know there's a line attached and s/he has no choice!! LOL.

 

Another thing I didn't see mentioned: whenever the dog is headed towards you, for whatever reason, REWARD!

If you walk from one room to another, and he follows: call and reward.

If he comes in from outside and you're at the door: call and reward.

As someone said, it's like it's his idea.

 

I do a lot of off-leash walking in safe areas, and anytime dog is headed back my way: call and reward!

 

All that said, I had one adolescent that I did everything with as a youngster. At 9-12 months, I thought I was a total failure. "Oh, OK, I'll be with you in a minute, but I gotta check out this XYZ thing first." Now, I can call him off wildlife or other dogs or anything in a heartbeat. My current youngster is following in his footsteps too! So - have faith. It will come.

(as will the dog!)

 

diane

[rushdoggie]

Pretty much what they all said.

I've done the long-line thing a LOT, and had moderate success.

Tell me a BC doesn't know there's a line attached and s/he has no choice!! LOL.

 

Another thing I didn't see mentioned: whenever the dog is headed towards you, for whatever reason, REWARD!

If you walk from one room to another, and he follows: call and reward.

If he comes in from outside and you're at the door: call and reward.

As someone said, it's like it's his idea.

 

I use thick ribbon or paracord as a drag line, its super light and I can make it really long. Its lightness keeps him from being aware of it as much and its less likely to tangle on stuff (it just slips through).

 

Also, with a long line I walk casually in the dogs direction and put my foot on it BEFORE I call. Then I call and if I don't get a quick recall I walk up the line and get the dog. I dislike grabbing the line with my hands because of rope burn and the line is kind of usually gross.

 

Its less likely to get you a dog who runs off when you call and just lets the dog not practice the ignoring of a recall cue.

 

I will let 20' drag behind on a off lead field walk, works awesome.

[D'Elle]

I have also used the reward every time the dog checks back with me method, and with good success. I called and rewarded every time the dog looked in my direction.

 

Now, I have a dog that likes to go off and investigate and who doesn't think he has to come right away if he is smelling something interesting. That has not improved as much as I wanted it to, but he is a terrier, not a border collie. What he does, though, is frequently checks back in with me because he knows when he does he will get a treat. He comes up beside me and looks up as if to say, "See what a good dog I am, where's my treat?"

 

And his recall off interesting things has improved, although I have pretty much given up on making it as good as it has been with my border collies. I have found that training a terrier is different from training a border collie. I didn't want to believe that at first, but have resigned myself to it.

[CptJack]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onw8R0oKqW8

 

^ My teenager calling off wave chasing, that I was allowing to happen for illustrative purposes (Ie: I videoed to show someone else the behavior). Don' know where my sound went, and I lose the dog in the frame because I was busy keeping my eyes on the dog, but there we go.

 

Several factors (I think):

I never use a recall for anything unpleasant. If I want to clip the dog's nails, crate them, give them a bath, or end playtime, I just go get the dog.

 

I DO recall for fun stuff/reward it. Grab a collar and release back to play, play with a toy or just personal play, yummy treats. Related: Lots of value built in playing games with me, period - with toys, with me, or 'training games' that are actually just playing. The more he wants the disc (tug, treat, interaction with me) the less interested he is in whatever he's found to do on his own.

 

I absolutely reward check-ins and wanting to play with me/be with me.

 

When he was littler and he'd get distracted in a safe environment I would go HIDE. This freaked him out a little and made him more inclined to keep an eye on me.

 

And the thing people sometimes don't like to acknowledge: He's just a naturally 'sticky' dog who is more handler than environmentally focused.