Losing my temper!

[Lucy_Nottingham]

Ok,

now 7mth old border collie puppy, in the house really well behaved with the odd accident!
However when we are on walks he is the naughtiest dog in the world! and its REALLY upsetting me!!!
anyone got any advice on getting a pig headed, disrepectful collie to do recall??? just about managing to get him to walk to heel (taken so long, and has ended up with me not taking the nice il give u food to walk to heel way! its now using a weak stick (well schooling whip) and when he walks too far ahead its a wiggle infront of the nose to return, its working really well, but when off the lead, hes off (not running away!) but just does NOT come back!!! not food orientated and just, as I said, disrespectful and naughty!

any advice? I have a long line, but doesn't really do alot for him................. farmer OH is going ELECTRIC COLLAR! which I am SO against, but it is starting to seem like the best idea for this as he is THAT BAD!

but I don't want to, so any advice would be MUCH appreciated!

thanks
x

 

[severnmiles]

Have you tried the small stones in the plastic bottle method?

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

not interested in it, except in the house!!! (grr)
Seriously, when I say pigheaded etc I mean like REALLY REALLY! lol

 

[deja224]

to teach re call with my customers pups and mine i use to lunge line and a squeaky toy if they are not in to food, Liver is a good treat to teach recall, i start in the garden let them do there thing then bend down open my arms and in a exsited voice call there name and squeak the toy and when they come back make a big fuss of them, does he have a fav toy?

 

[rema]

I have a 6 month old Border collie pup and at first he was a pain to recall but what worked for me is acting stupid.When he went off and would not recall i stood in the middle of the field and squeeled at the highest pitch i could and jumped up and down like a looney.He was so shocked he just had to come and see what the hell i was doing.Now he will come to dog whistle and voice.He also now goes to doggy school every week.

 

[fmay]

I lay down in the garden doing the dying fly to get my puppy to come back but I didn't realise that my neighbour was watching from his upstairs window

Unfortunately, until he will recall in boring places like at home he will not respond where he has a whole new world to discover.

 

[Skhosu]

tbh he isn't going to come back to you if your being forceful with him on the lead, at 7 months old he's still a baby, keep him on a long line and just use consistant reward, he'll get the idea.

 

[Blue-bear]

I have a 8 month old collie bitch and teaching her to fetch did wonders for me, its a pretty natural instinct so wasnt hard. Now she is utterly obsessed by tennis balls so once she realised to get it thrown again she had to bring it back to me with lots of practice from that we cracked ordinary recall.
She is not food orientated at all no matter what you have but if you have a ball she will do anything for you.
All i can say is practice and i just do as much as i can in my home surroundings.

 

[CAYLA]

I would go back to basics, and use the long line, the trouble with the long line is, owners get far to impatient and think, a week is enough time to let them off, or think they are not getting enough exercise, of course exercise should be made up via walks, and time utilised more re one to one, and heel work.
I have recently been working with a doberman same age as your puppy, with a bad recall, she was just far to interested in clowning around, I agreed to help the owner, if they stuck to the long line rules, and agreed to keep her on for no less than 3 months, they where at their witts end, and agreed.

At this age they are still babies, and training can cease at the drop of a hat, they go through stages of consistancy, then one day, it's all gone, and the outside world and it's going on's are far more interesting than, you or being back on a lead.
You just need to give them guidance at such times and refresh the basics and be patient.

At 10 months, the doberman is now recalling perfectly, has she been allowed to carry on bogging off, she would know no boundries nor what was expected of her, instead we have introduced a clicker along side, chicken breast and cheese

and 12 weeks of long line, with some one on one training, which also helps with some extra bonding, a good training lead and check chain, can work wonders with the heel work, bad trainig impliment can actaully hinder the training process, as it makes your job as a handler 10 x'es worse.(dobermans owners had, a collar and chain lead

) there hands where red raw.

I would go back to long line in the fields, call his/her name, if no response, give some guidance and reel him/her back in, and treat and click, and release immediately, don't worry about a sit, for now the emphasis is on the return, repeat this for atleast 2 one hour sessions a day, and finish off with a mess around with favourite toy.
When on road, and manners and heel work count, place a good leather training lead on and check chain , and work on the heel work, I never use treats for this, just voice command and firm correction via the check.

If you aloow him off, he will have a one track mind, keeping him on the long line will confuse this, he will stop expecting to be let go, to run wild, he will begin to focus, simply beacuse he has no choice, and will stop anticipating the build up of his release.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Agree with TS&H, if you are negative when he comes back, or even feeling a bit cross, he is not going to want to come back. You have to make him realise that the bestest place to be is with you.

My dog is 18 months old and I have only had the confidence to let him off in the past few weeks and he has been brilliant.
He was on a long line basically since we got him, as he got fixated by EVERYTHING apart from me, it was like I didn't exist.

Things he likes are food, obviously (make it a special treat, something out of the ordinary) silly voices and me crouching down, me running backwards and away from him and even hiding. Dogs are incredibly nosy and want to be where the interesting things are happening.

Be careful though, you will end up looking like a silly billy

 

[Oneofthepack]

Agree best option is a long line until he DOES come back, lots of interesting things to do while walking, stuff to sniff out, liver treats or tiny bits of cheese, toys to play with etc so being with you is as much fun as running away. Start the recall training while he's still on the long line and gently reel him in if he doesn't return, give him loads of high pitched praise and a ball to chase and let him go off again.

Walking to heel.. .just stop everytime his nose goes ahead, make him sit and don't move off until he's calmed right down. I walk 5 at a time and they all walk nicely on a lead after using this method ( I won't say walk to heel as that would be pushing it a little

)

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I'm a big fan of using long-lines, but besides that Why should he come to you? Because you demand him or because you're irresistibly interesting and full of fun?

Personally besides my long-lines, I prefer doing my impersonating of the dying swan. The ideal I try to achieve, enters the scene about 50 seconds into the video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_kSTtjplkM&feature=related


Have you or are you taking any dog-class with him? When things isn't working with training, I would definitely not try any electric collar without having given him the chance of having a trainer seeing you together in real life and being able to give advice.




I'm not saying it's wrong with demands, but there's a right time for everything. Good luck

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

Thanks guys, I do have a long linefor him so am now keeping him on that! In the house he is now getting really quite good at coming back.
In terms of toys and food etc its difficult, cooked chicken/sausage etc is enough to do sit, stay, down etc....... but recall... no chance!
His toys are not really anything, there is one bell ball which he likes so I am using that.
I am not negative to him...... but I accept I should prob try to be a bit more fun when he starts consistently coming back. Its just hard when I KNOW he knows what to do, as he used to do it when he was younger. But now he is just like rebellious stage and saying "up yours mum!"

Will keep him on long line for...... 12 weeks approx did cala say!? see how he is going after then! and will practice in the garden (its quite good as our garden is 100ft long so big enough to practice this properly!)

Thanks for all the advice, please keep them coming.

FinnishLap... yes he went to puppy classes, and was the top of the class, did everything perfect after about 5 tries, including recall in the hall with other dogs and toys around etc....... but once the classes finished, it seemed like everything went POOF!
tricks are still great.... but its just this one aspect! (grrr...)

So long line try for longer! the heel work is getting better!
x