Recall

John is an extremely experienced member and trainer of Gun Dogs. Hints, tips and general advice can be found in here which will build into an extremely useful souce of informatation

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broadhorizons29
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Recall

Post by broadhorizons29 »

Hi John, Oscar's Mum again!!!!! My lovely boy is now a teenager (6 months Oscar) and although will come when called if there are no distractions - will he heck if there is another dog or even interesting human in sight!!!! I am giving him around 2 hrs walk p.day and when he gets the all clear from the vet on Sat. after his boys "op" he will return to off lead around the fields playing with friends he has made in the area. I even made liver cake to tempt him back but still no recall. He is also hard to get to walk to heel. What do you suggest? Someone has mentioned Waggtails (?) training not too far away where they do gundog and obedience training, have you heard of it?
Thanks for any advice you can give.
LinJ and Oscar :study:
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Ann Mee
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Re: Recall

Post by Ann Mee »

Hi Lin i'm sure John will get back to you, i've had the same problem with Millie, in fact I don't trust her 100% even now, especially if there are rabbits etc about. She is however a lot better than she used to be, i've trained her to the whistle. John's book is very good available from the rescue shop, & at the moment i'm reading a book called the 'Dog Vinci Code' by John Richardson (a different John) it is really interesting especially if you want to learn what makes your dog tick :thumbup:

Ann x
Last edited by Ann Mee on 12 Jul 2012, 22:30, edited 1 time in total.
I wish everything in life was as lovely as my Labrador
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broadhorizons29
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Re: Recall

Post by broadhorizons29 »

Thanks for that Ann, I will get a copy of John's book and hope that he gets in touch with some advice. I know that Oscar is only 6 months old but I can sense a headstrong dog if I don't get this sorted. Let's hope we can come up with the Dog Vinci secret!!!
Lin and Oscar :read:
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Ann Mee
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Re: Recall

Post by Ann Mee »

The dog Vinci code book is by John Rogerson not Richardson - another senior moment :2019: :2019: ! It may be worth using more tasty treats to try to entice Oscar to return to you, I use cooked ham or chicken, cocktail sausages work well too - good luck

Ann x
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Diesel Kate
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Re: Recall

Post by Diesel Kate »

I know I am definately no expert but is 2 hours exercise a day a little much for such a young lab? Something to do with the bone growth. I am not criticising just wondering.
Kath, Toby (Balee and Megan - Never out of my thoughts :love2: )
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mollie
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Re: Recall

Post by mollie »

Tilly does exactly the same as Oscar! She's the epitome of obedience - until she sees another dog or human in the distance! Once she's seen them - she's off, and nothing, but nothing, will stop her. She's 3 - speyed a couple of months ago, so were thinking she may just grow out of it (hope so!). We use a whistle and treats which are great when there are no distractions - but no use at all once she's seen another dog.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see if there are any tips. :thumbup:
Mr Bumpy, Jess and Tilly always in our hearts xx

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John
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Re: Recall

Post by John »

Recalls with distraction! The problem with Labradors is that they are great big happy, fun loving, gregarious creatures who love everything and everyone.

When you get an 8 week old puppy it comes when called if for no other reason than it has nothing better to do, and the ideal is that it never realises that it has a choice! As it gets a little older it starts finding interesting sights and smells, and these things start to become the ruling factors. But you are still aiming at him/her not realising that it’s possible to ignore you, and one of the ways we do this is by simply not giving any orders unless we are in a position to enforce them. Obviously in a matter of life or death you have to make the effort, but this is only a small percentage of the times we call our dog. In most cases we are just calling our dog because it is a convenient time, so OK, take a little extra time to stack the deck in your favour. Remember, every time you call your dog, and the call is ignored, the command looses a little more until eventually it means nothing at all. It’s now just background noise!!

Yes whistles work when all else fails, for one reason and one reason only. Because your original voice command has lost it’s “Command” so you are starting again with a new command. It’s important that you realise WHY your original command failed and to make sure you don’t also break the whistle command as well. Apart from not enforcing a command another reason is over use of commands. Nagging away at commands until the dog switches off. Also using a command for a whole raft of different things. Humans are capable of determining the meaning of a word from the context that it is used in, “Go to the shops,” “Go away,” “ Go bad,” “Ready steady go,” and many others. But remember, dogs don’t understand English, what we are doing is teaching a response to a sound, so attempting to modify that sound with other words is only going to confuse the dog. Lastly, think about the tone of voice. A command IS a command, not a request and certainly not a discussion point! Make it sound like a command! And if you don’t get instant don’t be afraid to harden your voice. Never loose your temper, but it does no harm for the dog to realise it’s really teed you off! But the instant he starts to do the right thing lighten up and revert to a happy voice. You are simply using tone to convey right or wrong responses and the more you can exaggerate the tone the easier it is for your dog to understand.

Regards, John
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broadhorizons29
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Re: Recall

Post by broadhorizons29 »

Thanks John that is really helpful. I can see immediately that I am over egging the "come" so will try to do as you recommend and save it for the important times. I have ordered your training book from NWR and look forward to reading it. Although I have 31 dog years experience, past dogs a springer and golden retriever, there are character differences and I am certainly going back to school with Oscar! My aim is a happy contented dog and owner so all tips gratefully received.

Kate mentioned that 2 hrs walking may be too much for a 6 month old labrador, I hasten to add that this is spread over 3 walks, how does this sound to you? I have a small courtyard garden so tend to go to the river or over the fields for most outside time. Oscar is very bright and after a while in the house starts to get destructive, even with me playing with him and Kong toys etc. so I take him out to avoid this. He is an only dog so he just loves to be out mixing with other dogs and of course humans who give him lots of strokes.

Thank you everyone who has replied with similar problems regarding recall. It is good to know I am not alone on this. I am sure that John's wisdom will be of benefit to everyone.

Lin and Oscar :read:
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John
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Re: Recall

Post by John »

Hi Lin, The problem is that you never know how good or bad a dog’s hips are until something goes wrong, and then it’s too late. If a dog has perfect hips it’s doubtful that reasonable exercise would do the slightest damage, but if the hips are less than perfect then damage can be reduced by limiting the amount of exercise to allow time for the muscles to build up. For that reason the usual recommendation is 5 minutes of organised exercise for every month of age up to around a year old. I say organised exercise because if you are out walking he has no option but to walk for as long as you do, where, as an example, if he is in his own garden he can walk or stop according to how he feels.

Regards, John
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broadhorizons29
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Re: Recall

Post by broadhorizons29 »

I will definitely keep a check on this! Perhaps with a little more sunshine to laze around in, we will both slow down. Many thanks again John and Kate for bringing this to my attention. The differences between breeds needs to be considered doesn't it? My springer would just be off at her own pace for most of her life and Henry was so laid back he ambled and was never far from my side. Oscar gives the impression while charging through the house like in the Grand National, that he needs to get rid of the energy. Must try him at meditation!

Best wishes
Lin and Oscar :2379:
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