Hi

I've been a member here for a while now and don't always post topics but am on most days reading others posts and find the information here invaluable.

I have a 19 month old golden retriever who was great at recall.  Over the past week or so his recall has went to pot (along with most of his other training!)  Think his rebellious streak is coming out so we're going back to basics.

I'm waiting on delivery of a long line so we can start from the beginning on his recall but one question I have is (which may sound silly) do I use the same command, in my case "come" that I used the first time round to teach recall or as we're starting from the beginning do I use a different command?

Thanks for your help
Lisa

I would use the same command- He knows it and just needs to remember.
Go back maybe to treating every time he comes or maybe doing something fun (One of my girls loves toys so when redirecting from an unwanted behaviour I recall her and then have a quick tug of her toy instead of a food treat.
Make it fun - Run backwards - lots of praise etc

Ahh the joy of golden retrievers :)  mine is almost 4 and we are continually training him with his recall.  He seems to be brilliant for a few months and then totally ignores us!

I tend to use the same words all the time! 

I know the feeling, Hamish is 10+ and still has his moments. Charlie was never a problem and neither is Esme, but Hamish is a bit of a clown and often does as he pleases and subsequently spends most of his walks now on lead.

Hi

Thanks for the replies, nice to know I'm not alone on this :-)    Let's see how we get on over the weekend.

Lisa

I agree with ANNM172 to use the same command as before.

Make yourself really interesting, offer him treats that he loves so much (maybe small bits of cheese, or even hot dog sausages), or use his favourite toy, or call him to get his attention and then run in the opposite direction and get him to chase you, play hide and seek with him, etc. Many owners just call the dogs back when they want to put them back on the leash and the dogs know that so they don't want to come back. If you practice the recall without putting him on the leash but treating him when he comes back to you he will associate the recall with a pleasant experience and he'll come back when you call him.

Good luck and have fun... :-)

If you practice the recall without putting him on the leash but treating him when he comes back to you he will associate the recall with a pleasant experience and he'll come back when you call him.

I would put him back on his lead, walk a few steps and then let him off again so he gets used to the idea that back on the lead is not necessarily the end of the walk otherwise the only time he gets put back on the lead is the end of the walk :-)

In addition to all the other advice, practise recall in and around the house too.  One good way to get your boy interested again is to play hide and seek with him.  Let him watch you fill your pockets with treats or pick up a toy then put him in a sit/wait position, go and hide behind a door then whistle a 'come' signal - 3 pips is good.

As soon as he spots you give him lots of praise and a play time.  You can make it more and more difficult by asking him to wait longer before coming, or doing a better job of hiding.  Nosy parkers cannot resist and it suits retrievers to ask them to use their brains too.

This way you can tie his recall to a whistle too: whistle him in from a distance then use 'come' as he slides into position in front of you.

Good luck - my youngest is now 2.5 and I need to sharpen his recall too as he's got a bit woolly recently - I'll take my own advice!! :)

sometimes its the click of the lead releasing that puts them in the mode of deaf ears!! a trick is to wrap the lead around the collar and tuck it in .

I would go right back to basic training on an extended lead ie:  puppy recall (running backwards calling him to you then in a  sit and treat)

They get bored... I have a girl who was in a team and occasionally she would get deaf ears ..or walk quiety and slowly away in the middle of a team training class like she was sneaking out of class.. when everyone was in a basic sit stay (which was actually very funny but we didnt let her see us laugh) it was her way of saying I am bored lets do something more interesting such as agility!! <BG> I trained 4 times a week at that time which was too much of the same thing so I had a break did stuff at home returned to the puppy close work and she loved it.

I agree do your recall around the house too not just at class even if they are in thier bed or wandering around the garden always have a nice smelly treat handy then 'go play' .
I now use a ball ..all my dogs are ball obsessed I take a few to the park they also each carry one (thier choice) I keep the rest in my pocket ..they dont take thier eyes off my pocket just waiting for me to throw the balls.
Must admit I am usually with someone and we play football with the dogs which they love so they never wander or have any interest in other dogs in the park .

good luck

Once again thanks for all the advice - I'll need to practice recall in the house as suggested as over the weekend we've only been practicing outside.

We've been getting on pretty well in the park on the long line, luckily it's been pretty quiet everytime we've been so he hasn't had too many distractions and he seems to be sharpening up a bit.  Hopefully over the next few days there will be more dogs and distractions about so we can practice then when he's still under control on the long line. 

I'm feeling much more positive with him this week - last week everything I said to him went in one ear and out the other!

Lisa

Sounds like my Lab.  At 18 months his exemplary recall disappeared.  Along with him, twice.  Found him sucking up to other dog walkers but I had two scary moments.  Anyway, long story short, I started working him with a field trialing neighbour and discovered he LOVES tennis balls.  I never knew.  Meshing his desire to retrieve a tennis ball with his whistle training got the recall back.  I am transitioning it to include the word COME as well as three tweets.  Three tweets and he FLIES back to me, I swear his feet don't touch the ground.  :)  I have drastically shortened my description of all I did so feel free to PM if this sounds interesting.  And no, I don't have to carry tennis balls everywhere, though I do as I'm still training.  The OH doesn't and his tweets work as well as mine.  :)