Hi there

I have a lovely old english bulldogge who is always a bit testing but it's part of her and we love her! However when this affects her safety (and others) its obviously a problem. We live in an apartment and we often take her to the communal garden to throw the ball about and she loves this. Whilst the majority of the area has a wall around it there is a gate leading onto the main road and there is no gate! If she looses interest in the ball she will just run out and not care for a word we say. This has caused near on accidents and is quite embarassing!

Our own stupid fault we have never done recall as too scared and she's quite good on the lead. My question is: How and where do we start? I was thinking of cooking up some chicken and taking it out with me. Everytime she comes back for the ball give her chicken. And every time she doesnt I am to call her sweetly is that right? And not punish her when I finally get hold of her? Any tips would be appreciated!

Many thanks

I would suggest you go to some training classes where they practice all the basic commands and recall.
I did a 6 week course with my puppy as she was already 6 months when i got her and very frightened of lots of things. The classes were really good fun and also good for your dog to meet other dogs in a controlled manner.
As well as the classes i practised recall at home, every time the pup came to me i'd say the word COME and reward her. always keeping a few treats in my pocket, even if she just came over to me for fuss i'd still say the word so she began to associate the word with coming to me then getting a treat.
As for going on walks i'd put a long lead on when in a field and keep calling her to you when walking then say the word when the pup comes and give a treat. 
I would call my pup even if in another room etc just to see how she responded. When I new her recall was good in the garden and in the house i went to a quiet field and as luck would have it i met a lady with a young dog and got talking to her then decided to let my pup off the lead. I was amazed how good she was,i'd let her play with the other dog and just call her if she ventured too far and then gave her a treat.
The following day i did the same but i was on my own this time so a little nervous but my pup was even better as she had no one to chase. i found taking some cheese with me was the treat she responded to most.
My pup was 8 months when i first let her off lead but it was worth the training time and i know now i can trust her. Just  wouldn't walk her  near any road off lead just in case.
Best of luck, my trainer at the classes told me i'd no when my pup was ready to go off the lead and thankfully i did.
I have two other dogs and they went off the lead very young but this pup was very different but do your training right and your get the results.   

Training has to be fun, no matter what way you use ;-)

I train all of mine to come back to a whistle. It doesn't always work all the time, but a quick retrain on a long lead (usually about 10 metres long) usually reminds them that I am in control :-D I start with 2 whistles to come back to me when they are in the garden, usually at feeding times. Once they have learnt that I take them out on a walk and start the outside training where there is always much more going on. I then start to use 1 whistle to stop them, no matter what they are doing. This can be far better than teaching them to come. Especially if they have already crossed a road and you don't want them to come straight back to you :-D You can then get them to come back on the 2 whistles when it is safe to do so.

I use a whistle for mine, and the best thing is that it always sounds the same--none of the irritation that might creep into my voice on the odd occasion when it's all too too too much! I recommend the plastic gundog whistles, cheap, extremely effective and you might get other dogs comie running too :-)

You're right - never punish a dog for coming back - no matter how long it takes or how frustrated you are - coming back to you has to be the best thing 'since sliced bread'.
Practice recall everywhere - when you see her coming to you on her own call her and reward - with a love, a treat or whatever. 
I use a whistle at times - although mostly now as a 'you must come now' kind of thing - I re-enforce this by giving the bestest treats ever, and do this spasmodically in the garden as well.
Try to deter her from approaching the open gate on her own  - spraying water or using something like a can with pebbles in as a shaker as a deterrent maybe. 
I'm sure others will have more detailed accounts of how to achieve this.
You've still got a pup at 10 months old so you've got a still impressionable dog and, not that yours is,  'you can teach an old dog new tricks'  look at all the people who have succesfully re-trained rescue dogs and their own dogs with issues/problems.

Hi

i recommend you to be as silly as you possibly can, jump up and down skip screech sing anything exciting to get her to come back, crouch on your knees whatever. Also, get your OH go to some wooded area ;-) lol and hide in the bushes let her see you doing this and hopefully she'll come running to find your plenty of praise, and extacticness lots of stroke and repeat this. as much as repitition as possible. Never get frustrated as she will be able to tell in your voice. Shes a stubborn breed so plenty of time will need to be spent on this.

Louise

Louise
i recommend you to be as silly as you possibly can, jump up and down skip screech sing anything
This takes me back a week or two! I've rolled on the floor/grass/mud kicking and squeeling,; jumped up and down; run away flailing my arms and screeching etc.. 

I would also recommend that you fix the problem to make the area secure that you are currently using to play ball in. Even a dog with excellent re call can have a bad day or get spooked and run off and a gap where there is no gate would be too much of a risk in my honest opinion.
Definatly go to a local training class, your dog is not too old to start doing this sort of obediance training and would be hugely beneficial to both you and her. Good luck

Hi all, thanks for your replies. Although our dog is a good one, she is not perfect and we have never had a dog before so are still learning! I would fix the gate issue but there has never been a gate - it's just an open gateway if you know what I mean. So that means I have to fix her. She must run out maybe once every month on average so although not at all ideal, it could be worse. Now the lighter evenings are setting in I will have more opportunity to take her to our Common, a ten min walk away and I think I will def invest in a 10m lead. Just so I feel secure. When we take her to the forest she will re-call fine even though we have never practiced - just because its so remote and we are the most fun thing there! I have to teach her I am more fun than other dogs!

Thanks again - really helpful to have other peoples experiences to give me hope!

> So that means I have to fix her.

Training is good but you cannot approach it this way.  A gate cannot wait for training to be completed.  Even a well trained dog must be in a secure place when it is not supervised.   The gateway really needs to be secured immediately ie tomorrow before you can allow her free run of the property.
Near accidents are not just embarrassing they lead to dead dogs or worse dead people and you will be sued.

Hi,

It sounds like she's responding well to training which is great.  I agree with the above though, it's not about fixing her - even the most responsive and well trained dog can get distracted at times, and it's not realistic to expect other wise.  If she's getting out about once a month, like you say it could be worse but that is still way too often, it only takes once at the wrong moment and you could be responsible for an accident.

Keep going with the training but in the meantime fix the gate!  That way you know she and others are safe and training a recall can be relaxed and fun :-)