Obedience experts help please.

[rema]

Hello.I would like to pick your brains if i may.I have a 11 week old Border Collie puppy who is a turning into a really nice dog but when it comes to recall he is not that good.When we are on our own playing he is pretty good but if there is a new scent or other people there he will just ignore me.I know he is still a pup but some hints or tips would be great.I have played around abit with clicker training but he really does not seem to bothered by it after the first two or three times.He has mastered the sit,wait and paw and is improving with the stay but totally ignores me with recall.Thanks for reading.

 

[mattilda]

I had a trainer who told me to make myself more interesting than anything else. For my dog it was a squeaky toy, for others food. You need to attract your dogs attention and then when he does come make a huge fuss and reward him in a way that is appropiate to your dog. Using a high pitched voice helps also. Hope this makes sense. Good luck!

 

[rema]

Thanks for your reply.I have tried the squeaky toy and food.Jumping up and down and dog whistle.I give him masses of praise when he comes to call.I have eye contact with him but he just seems to stick two fingers up at me.Little s*d lol.

 

[MarleyandDarcy]

Put him on a long line/lunge line so that if he does ignore you, you can still get him back, otherwise he is learning he can ignore you and nothing happens after, which may be transfered to many other things you try to teach him at a later date!
Have you tried teaching him to retrieve a toy? Is he toy mad?
Both my collies would do anything for a toy right from the start, but our latest collie x rescue pup had to be taught slightly more, she learnt if she brought a toy back she got to play, this I guess could be transferred to a recall, they get to play when they get back to you. But obviously that reward has to be high value to begin with so you might have to teach things backwards, ie work on your reward (a game with you) first. Ours went on to out on a walk she would fly back as then she got to play with her tuggy

even more fun than chasing the boys!
With everything with a pup you have to find something they really want and keep a high value to it, my dogs all have a training toy they only play with when working (they do agility).
Also stick with clicker training, when done correctly it is really helpful to learning new things

I find it really helps to shape behaviours you want.
With your recall and clicker training you could almost 'click and treat' when your pup looks at you, then when he steps towards you, then 2 steps etc etc until you get him running full speed to your feet! Collies do pick up on things like this, and often try to work out what you want

Also keep sessions really short so pup doesn't have a chance to get bored.

Sorry that ended up really long!
Hope it is of some help though

 

[mattilda]

Didn't work with my girl either! LOL The other thing we tried was putting her on a long line and letting her wander about and the using it to get her attention if she ignored me. Would suggest you nip this in the bud while he is still a pup. My girlie was a nightmare and would just naff off whenever she felt like it. Eventually she had to stay leashed at all times.

 

[rema]

Thank you.Yes he loves his toys.He will fetch the toy then head back towards you but if i try to retrieve the toy from him he thinks that is a game and legs it in the other direction to which i just walk off in the other direction and ignore him.I get the feeling he is taking the mick out of me and i dont want to be too harsh on him.Maybe i'm too soft with him???.When we are on our own in the garden he will come if i call him but if there is a new place to explore or he has an audience he turns into a clown..I would dearly love to do agility/flyball with him as he is as sharp as a tack (maybe thats his downfall he is a smart ar*e)

.

 

[rema]

Hehe.I'm not sure how much i can expect from him at his age.It's been 17 years since i had to go through this and my old boy who has since passed away seemed to come with manners and instruction manual already installed when he was a pup.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Was also going to suggest training with long line. Very important, only use together with a harness, never attach a long line to the collar.
A pup needs to be allowed to be a pup with a lot of running in their legs, so you have to choose the moments, teach him that when you call him that's it, that's not being harsh, that's teaching him to feel safe in knowing that you know best. I always tell my mother "Did you sound as you would sound if she'd been running straight towards the motorway?"

Good luck from Sweden.

 

[foxviewstud]

def use a long line let him go out and do his own thing and then call him when you see fit acompanied by a small pull of the line to guide him in the right direction, loads of praise when he comes back with something tasty or his fav toy and then send out again. the other one is to walk away from him and make sure he can see you going but always making sure he is in your sight always works with my dogs as they never let you out their sight when out

 

[MurphysMinder]

Evie was a horror for sticking 2 fingers up at me when I called her if she was doing something more interesting. A friend told me about a whistle training technique which really seems to have worked for her. To try and keep it brief, for at least 2 weeks blow the whistle (I just used 2 sharp peeps) as you put her food down for her. Then for another week blow the whistle when she is out of sight at meal times, then for another week when she is in the garden at meal times. When your dog is coming running from the garden it is time to try further afield. Put a large portion of one meal in a a bag and then take the dog into a secure field or similar. Leave them to run around then when you are ready to call them back use the whistle and when they come give them the meal. If they do not come straight away don't give them a second chance with the food. It is important to use a large amount of food so it is really worthwhile for them to come to you. Continue doing this for a week or so and you should be able to reduce the reward to just a normal titbit.
Have to admit I was a bit sceptical but it has worked brilliantly with Evie. I don't use the whistle all the time as usually she is quite good, it is only when something interesting (like the cat

) has her attention she ignores me . As soon as she hears the whistle she comes flying back to me, it is really quite impressive

It takes time and you have to follow the regime not take shortcuts, but it really worked for me. I am sure if you google whistle training you will be able to find something you can print off if you want to try it. Good luck.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

It sounds impressive to Murphys Minder!
I've met many dogowners in such situations that just have given up, and stated that their dog is untrainable in this question, strange enough, some of them still let their dogs of their leads, but that's a whole different thread.

from Sweden.

 

[katie_and_toto]

I'm no expert but I taught our puppy Teddy to recall by using a toy he doesn't normally have all the time so it was a special toy he got when he came back. Also I used a set phrase that I said everytime I wanted him to come back so he associated "Teddy come here!" as coming back to me. We practised loads in the back garden and then put him on a long lead to practise out on walks. Good luck

 

[bushbaby28]

1.try running in the opposite direction and being really silly- puppies should love it. you;ve just gotta make yourself much more exciting than anything else.

2.once he comes give him a play and a cuddle then let him go again so he doesnt anticipate that coming to you means the end of playing.

3. also try running and hiding so he never knows where ur going or what ur going to do next

 

[Booboos]

It sounds to me like he hasn't understood that the command "Come" means he has to be close to you (ideally you want to teach him that 'come' means come here and allow me to put a couple of fingers under your collar so that I have complete control, then you can go when I release you).

The best thing to do is give him every opportunity to get it right so that you can reward him so that the behaviour can be re-inforced and avoid any opportunity to get it wrong when he learns that 'come' is optional and he can run off. Try the recall game with him: in an enclosed space ask a friend to help you out and take turns calling him to you. Each time he comes make a big fuss or treat or play with his game, whatever motivates him. Keep him going from one person to the other so that it becomes a bit habitual, he hears 'come', goes to the person, gets the treat, and so on. This will teach him what come means.

Meanwhile it is best to keep him on a lead, but if you want to let him run do try the long line. The way I use it is this: the line has to be long enough and light enough that the dog forgets about it. When you call him and he doesn't come step on the line preventing him from going further, walk on the line step by step until you get to the dog, take him and walk back to where you were when you called him, praise/treat and release him. What this says to the dog is "when I call you come, if you do not come you can't go anywhere else and I will come to you and make you come, so that you are only released after you have come". That way the running away behaviour is not rewarded.

Out of interest which aspect of clicker training did not work?

 

[fmay]

[ QUOTE ]
1.try running in the opposite direction and being really silly- puppies should love it. you;ve just gotta make yourself much more exciting than anything else.

[/ QUOTE ]

For one of our pups I lay on the grass and kicked and called like 'the dying fly' to get her to come back, not knowing that my neighbour was watching from his upstairs window

 

[rema]

Hello.The clicker training bit was going okay.I would call him and he would come,clicker'd him and big fuss and rewarded but now he seems to think it isent worth the morsel he gets and pegs it in ther other direction.

 

[AmyMay]

Have you tried lying on the floor - works every time!

 

[Patches]

I can vouch for that! You have to prepared to get your face licked too!

If I sit still in the field for any length of time our pup really gets upset. It's the only time I hear her bark....and she's by my side when she does it.