I've lost my recall...

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ScarlettLady

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Help!
My recall has disappeared!!! :eek:
My boy is about 15months now, and had a fab recall, down and wait. Until the other wk, he chased the sheep on our farm, and I was a little stern with him (didn't lose my temper, smack him etc though) and since then its been slowly disappearing, so I tried to build up his trust, make it into a game, give lots of praise etc. but with no luck, sometimes treats work, other days no luck, is this just an awkward phase or have i really upset my dog? :o
Tonight it took me 20minutes to catch him, he was coming, but not letting me put lead on/ or even stroke him.... He was just having a fun game... :rolleyes:
Othertimes he seems nervous of me :(

I don't think I'm top dog at the moment, maybe due to the fact I've spoilt him whilst my old girl wasn't well last wk, how do i get it back?
We're hoping to get back to obedience next wk, but this wk is a write off as I have to work :(

Thanks for reading and any responses!! ;)
 
Teenage dog alert! Watch out, next thing you know he'll be painting his bedroom black and listening to emo music!:D

Back to basics with the recall for a bit, I would lay money on it being his age. You'll get it back:)
 
Yep think I'm having a simlar problem with my jrt cross, she's about 14 months (she's a rescue so not sure of her exact age). She was good at recall whe out on walks, now she finds other things more interesting than me. i let her off for about 20 minutes, the once she looks as though she's going to ignore me then back on the lead. Hope its her age as well!!
 
Did you teach him with the longline? maybe evet back to some homewok indoors or in the garden where there is less distraction and call him randonly and give him a yummy reward or tug of his fave toy and use the same out in the fields with the long line to einfoce a positive reward association and maybe introduce a whistle.
 
becca_norrey said:
Help!
My recall has disappeared!!! :eek:
My boy is about 15months now, and had a fab recall, down and wait. Until the other wk, he chased the sheep on our farm, and I was a little stern with him (didn't lose my temper, smack him etc though) and since then its been slowly disappearing, so I tried to build up his trust, make it into a game, give lots of praise etc. but with no luck, sometimes treats work, other days no luck, is this just an awkward phase or have i really upset my dog? :o
Tonight it took me 20minutes to catch him, he was coming, but not letting me put lead on/ or even stroke him.... He was just having a fun game... :rolleyes:
Othertimes he seems nervous of me :(

I don't think I'm top dog at the moment, maybe due to the fact I've spoilt him whilst my old girl wasn't well last wk, how do i get it back?
We're hoping to get back to obedience next wk, but this wk is a write off as I have to work :(

Thanks for reading and any responses!! ;)
Click to expand...

Becky.....yes it could be teenage years creeping in, but here are a couple more thoughts for you.....

You say you were stern with him and that other times he seems nervous of you. You think you were stern, he may think that you were 'harsh handling'; each dog perceives things differently. I have one dog that I only need to say 'oh, Gunner' to in a disappointed tone and his tail goes between his legs - he is so sensitive. On the other hand, I have one bitch who is as tough as old boots and who just goes 'whatever', no matter how much you rant/shout/threaten/punish. So, if he is a sensitive soul, he may be closing down a tad and it would be good to work on your bond with him, making life a jolly breeze, loadsa games, rewards etc.

Also, think of your body language around him - the unspoken communication. Try softening your posture, rounding your shoulders, not standing or reaching directly over him.....those sort of things.

Make being around you the best place to be - where all the good things in life happen; food, games, cuddles etc.

Then, unless you are in an enclosed area, use a harness and long line so that you can reinforce your recall should he choose to ignore.

Finally, doesn't hurt them to go without a meal once in a while and make them work for their dinner the next day. Hunger is a great motivator!!!:D
 
Aswell as the above you could also try and put a little fun into it.
OH always plays hide and seek indoos or in the gaden with our lot and the boarding dogs now:o and they love it and they now know when he is going to hide (sad) I know, and they love to go find him and he then jumps out and makes a stupid noise and plays like a spiv with them which in turn makes them very eager to find him again:D
He also does it outside and will hide behind trees, in ditches, and the boxer and weimeraner her walk keeps her clever little eye on him at all times and won't let him out of sight long enough to hide anymore, she loves the game.:D
She runs around all the trees, it;s a bit mad and funny to watch but it keeps the dogs on thei toes.
 
What breed is he? Great advice already but PLEASE be careful around those woolly jumpers, you don't want him to get shot.

As with Gunnergundog, it does sound like he is shutting down, my dog does this when I am angry/frustrated, not necessarily at him, I don't have to speak or touch him, he just senses/reads it, ears down, tail down, sinks, won't make eye contact.
Don't stress him, these things happen, just calm down/walk away if you have to.

Agree try hand-feeding (IE he eats from your hand, out of your pocket, not a bowl) and a long line - and bear in mind even if you work very hard, he may not be 100% livestock safe, sometimes we have to suck it up and keep them on a lead but it is safer all round.
 
Brig and Jake did this: totally seemed to lose all training:( We restarted them at about 18 months as they appeared to have done the teenage ignorant thing. They were fab afterwards and we used different methods (don't shoot me, some Cesar Milan stuff, but not slavishly)

Zak has gone from 100% recall to when I feel like it and we find that retrieval games motivate him much more to come back: treats are obviously handy but I don't like the dependence, especially as I often forget to put some in my pocket! :rolleyes:

Hope your lad responds!
 
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Thanks everyone.
I have been trying to make it fun, games of football, fetch etc. which seemed to be working. until sunday night where he thought it was far more fun to run away with the toy at every possible opportunity :( unfortunately i didn't have any treats on me :o
Today we played with the longline, he was better, think I'm just going to have to start over, it seems I've got his trust back now, but because I've been using games, its a better game to run around mummy and bark at her :rolleyes: and that following a rabbit scent is so much more interesting :(
Soo back to the focus training and long line for a while I think :)

Thanks everyone!!

CaveCanem, thankfully they're my famillies sheep, so hopefully my uncles won't be out shooting him, but know exactly wwhat you mean, his mum and dad were the same as they're the farm sheep dog and jack russell, but much better now, I think it'll be a case of a lead/longline only around the sheep till i trust him more again ;)
Thank you :)
 
Dear Becky,

The exact same thing happened with us and our dog - she was about 11 months and up until then had been fab off lead. We have tried the following and it is starting to work quite well, but it does take time:

Went back to basics, while she was unpredictable we kept her on the lead but power walking and sometimes cycling with her and made sure we were in a routine with definate meal times and two walks a day.

Practiced the recall and ball games in the garden until she was really good and reliable. Used small pieces of cheese and then gradually we didn't need the cheese.

We found it used to all go wrong when she was hyped up and there were lots of distractions (she is collie / terrier/ poss staffie) and she has a huge prey/ chase drive so when we did get confident to try off the lead we chose quiet more focussed places like the canal or river bank ( boundary on both sides) or some of the country lanes - ones with harldy any cars. We had real trouble in woods and meadows - especially when rabbits or hares appear out of no-where! We kept the off the lead work fairly short to start with, sometimes we would get to an open bit and let her off the lead to play fetch and then back on the lead until we were at a quiet place again.

I wouldn't worry too much that you have offended her I am sure she has forgotten all about it by now even if she was. It is likely she has just enjoyed the chase too much and if anything like our dog can't really understand why running after things is such a problem as it is so much fun! Like the others say I would just keep her on the lead around anything exciting until you have your confidence back.

Sorry this is such as essay but one final thing was we also came to the conclusion that we had a really active dog that needed more activities than was possible just off the lead on a walk and she quickly 'got involved' with all sorts if let to her own devices, so we joined beginners agility and flyball and she really loves both of these and it really seems to take the edge off. I feel that she has alot more respect after learning to follow the different commands and it is also fun, cos you can sometimes feel like a nagging parent when they go through a teenage phase...constantly on at the dog all the time.

Anyway hope this is useful, your post really struck a chord as we were so stressed when ours did this, and she literally was walking perfectly one minute through sheep - had been walking past them loads before and for about half an hour on that walk and then all of a sudden out of nowhere she went to chase them. It is so stressful as you don't want them to hurt the stock or end up knocked over.

Sorry again for the essay!
 
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