Any advice on recall? (Hello by the way! :P)

hannahippio

hannahippio

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Hello,
I'm new to this horse and hound forum so I'll tell you a little about myself first.
My name is Hannah, I live in folkestone with my husband Dan and our two dogs, Loopy Lou our JR and Harvey our Welsh Foxhound -
Lou is brilliant, she is so well behaved and her recall is absolutely spot on, I actually rarely need to put her on a lead, she just trots next to me!
Harvey is our new addition to our family - he's been in kennels since he was abour 4 months old and now at about 1 year he's finally found a home with us.
His temprement is amazing, hes so sweet, but he's having issues with rules (Which is to be expected!) but he's getting there.
The main issue we're having is not being able to let him off the lead because as soon as we do, he just runs off!
I've read this is not uncommen with foxhounds - I quote 'Forget any Idea you may have of recall, this is not a word that exsists in foxhound vocab'
He is completely oblivious when you call him, he understands that you're calling him, he just tends to ignore you!

I was wondering if any of you had some advice about steps to take?
We've tried getting him interested in biscuits and so on, letting him off in a secure area and calling him back for a biscuit and a cuddle then letting him go again and we've tried letting him off with other dogs but no luck so far!

I'd really appriciate it!
Thankyou!
Hannah
 
Oh dear.........foxhound! lol
Well the basics which to be fair for such a focused driven breed will take you alot longer than most other, and you may never get there but you can try and there will be others on the give you advice, esp those with this breed, I have a wire haired pointer who was a nightmare to recall , but we got there and he is rarely on a lead now.

Home work, is just that and needs to be started at home, you need a long line and some very high reward treats (foret dog biscuits) you need chicken, cheese, hot dogs, u need to go train with him on an empty stomach.
Call his name in the house, when he comes treat then let him wonder off again, repeat this, then take it to the garden, if he is a happy frendly dude, praise him in a bery ott manner but always treat when he comes to call.
In the mean time keep him on a lead on walks during training or you will kill any work you have put in when he bogs off. Up his exercise, get a bike if need be.
Bond with him, play with him, play hide and seek, and keep thos treats coming.
Take him to said enclosed field but DO NOT let him off, use the treats and longline, let him saunter to the end, call him, if he takes no notice reel him in, treat him and let him go, see what result you can et by the end of the session, as in, him coming to u when called on the longline (introduce a whistle) once u have recall on the line, so name, whistle, treat when he comes, ths way u have an aid.

Of course he is a fox hound:(:D

Mostimportant don't let him off before you have put some serious hours/months of training in, this a is a huge down fall for recall training.
 
It's not really in his DNA to recall like a 'normal' dog, I'm afraid, he's hardwired to put the nose down and the tail up and run all day.

As Cayla says, lots of one to one time, and I would suggest handfeeding, IE the ONLY food he gets, is from your hand and if he doesn't do what you are asking of him, he does not get fed.
It isn't cruel, it's just feeding from your pocket instead of a bowl.
It may mean having pockets full of food all the time (I recommend a light body warmer/gillet) but it's just constantly marking the behaviour of coming back, in the house, in the garden, eventually, out and about, first on a long line as Cayla says. It has to be consistent.
I do this with a clicker, so any time the pup comes to me and looks at me, click, good, food.
As mentioned, dogs can find kibble boring, pieces of chicken and cheese are much more appreciated.

If you have to keep him on a lead all the time, biking or jogging would be great for him.
The alternative is him potentially doing damage to small furries or getting hit by a car while he is on the hunt.
 
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