Part of the test is to have your dog sit and then remove the lead walk ten paces and call her to you. My little border Collie has been brilliant at this until she learnt that when and as I unsnapped her lead she was able to go and have a jolly old playtime and run around until caught. Would appreciate any ideas on how I can overcome this bad habit - test in one month - very good with everything else!

I think many dogs go through a bog off phase at least once during recall training.  Try asking someone to hang on to her, whilst you ask her to wait, then only release once you've called (and when she is actually looking at you).

Useful tips are:
* Improve your treats - they have to be exceptionally good if you have a wandering dog - so go for what she loves, such as roast chicken, liver cake, cheese etc
* Reduce the distance, try 3 steps so she can really see and smell the treat being offered
* Make sure she understands the difference between 'wait' and 'stay' and dont train these activities too close together or indeed in the same session.  Some dogs take a while to get their head around it so choose two different positions too.  Sit or stand for a 'wait', then down for a 'stay' perhaps

I know that your trainer will have been encouraging you to reduce treats by this stage, or use them as a reward rather than a lure but dont forget you are training your dog at the moment and if she isn't doing it then she may not understand what you want.  Break it into smaller steps and re teach her what you want her to do.  Remember also that the temptation to scoot off for a play is very hard to resist so make sure you practise at home too so she can learn without distractions :)  As a last resort a flexi lead can be used to prevent her from wandering away from you BUT make sure you don't use it to pull her in - it's just simply to ensure that she can't go too far off track

First of all, avoid having to catch her as this becomes a GREAT game -dog runs off, people chase after her -couldn't be more fun! :) What I would do would be to use two leads for a while. Drop one on the floor and stand on it. Give the command to wait, unclip the other lead -and when she tries to take off, she can't as you are standing on the other lead which is still attached to her. Or have somebody else stand on the lead, so you are able to move away.

Part of the test is to have your dog sit and then remove the lead walk ten paces and call her to you. My little border Collie has been brilliant at this until she learnt that when and as I unsnapped her lead she was able to go and have a jolly old playtime and run around until caught. Would appreciate any ideas on how I can overcome this bad habit - test in one month - very good with everything else!

Having watched someone at classes battle with this for over 18 months and still fail thier Silver because of this issue alone I would say be firmer NOW.

I have seen improved treats, special toys to motivate, change of technique, introduction of clicker, change of cue word - the lot and nothing stops this dog running off as soon as the lead is unclipped.

When another person in class had the same problem they promptly put on a second lead and stood on it.  When they released the dog from the working lead the dog was stopped in its tracks by the second. 

A lot of folk will not approve as it 'stressed' the dog but the second dog has a much fuller, freer lifestlye and the first STILL can't be let off lead without doing a runner.

I kinda think you're seeing this an exercise you want to pass when the bigger issue is that your dog won't listen to you when she is off the lead and is easily tempted by distractions. So I would be practising calling her (on lead) away from other dogs, walking past them, doing stays around them, asking her to watch you for a few seconds and building the time up etc rather than focussing on the 'sit and wait until you're called'. As someone said earlier, your timing will need to be good and your treats/rewards should be things that she really really wants (whether it's food or toys). It would worry me that she is more interested in diving off after other dogs rather than wanting to be round you, especially in a training situation when she should have been building up her concentration/enjoyment of the class. 

kinda think you're seeing this an exercise you want to pass when the bigger issue is that your dog won't listen to you when she is off the lead and is easily tempted by distractions.

That's probably a very pertinent point but unfortunately some relationship issues can't always be fixed by treats and toys no matter how good the timing is as was the case I noted. 

Sometimes there is a deeper issue and fixing it is dependent on the handler and Instructor realising just what the real issue is.

I hope you get it sorted and can progress to working off-lead in different situations as it gives you and your dog much greater freedom.

I think the 'deeper issue' is that she ignores the handler to run up to other dogs. So, yes, I would use the second lead to stop her doing that but I would also work on getting her interested in the handler/responding to commands regardless of what is going on.

Is there any association sneaking in from other aspects of life?  For example, when letting your dog off lead for free play/running, does she immediately run off?  If so, it could mean changing how you do things there because unclipping the lead might be all the signal your dog needs to 'run off' in class.

That's why its important that you and the instructor look at the 'big picture' to see what's really going on. You coudl spend months using food and toys to make yourself 'more interesting' but if unclipping the lead is a signal to the dog to run free then you could just waste an awful lot of time.  Don't focus on just one solution without finding the cause.

She doesnt get many chances off the flexi lead as she has a quite high prey drive and can also be easily scared and also she is a very pretty dog who will go to anyone if she likes the look of them - she tore off the other day when some gypsy ponies escaped their field and she herded them all down the lane - we stood and waited and she did come back to us fairly quickly but would have been off again if we hadnt stepped on her lead - its such a shame that she doesnt get more freedom. All week we have been practising her recall with two leads on and she has been perfect. I have also been practising her loose lead walking and sitting at a distance.

Well my freezer is now full of treats such as black pudding, sausage, cooked beef heart and frizzled sardines - seems to be working quite well - she only gets the special treats when she obeys the recall with no questions at the moment

I never nailed the recall well enough for the gc work.  She always comes back (and it's pretty prompt) but no matter how much I work the stays and how much we tried she knew the difference between 1 lead and 2.  She can give me 10 great stays with a lead off then the next one she is gone before I walked a step away.  She might give 100 perfect ones but the next one she will just decide she is off.  Equally she will do a foot perfect stay when her lead is on regardless of where I am in relation to her - I can be far too far to grab the lead but the psychology of it means she stays.  I gave up in the end as it was making us both fed up and unhappy.  So good luck but don't stress too much about it, just enjoy your dog

From my own experiences of teaching the exercises for the KCGC awards, and then being on the other end taking my own dogs to training classes. I would say that very often if you are doing a course over a set number of weeks there is too much pressure to get a dog up to a certain standard to do the test.
Also sometimes trainers are pushing dogs and handlers to get the five paces away, before the dog is ready.
The recall and the stay are two very different exercises and as such should be taught separately.
I feel that you should not start doing formal recalls until you have a rock steady stay, and you need to do the exercises differently, so the dog knows what is being asked.
For example if I am doing a stay I would leave the dog and walk straight forward,  but for a recall I leave the dog and walk sideways. Also I use two different commands for the recall I use wait, meaning wait there till I give you the next instruction. For the stay I use STAY meaning stay there till I come back to you.
I think if the dog is being taught both exercises at the same time it is very easy for them to become confused.

When I am teaching my own dogs I only do informal recalls at first, just calling them to me in the house, garden, etc. Starting with little puppy recalls on the lead just literally taking one step away and calling them in, then lots of praise.
I personally think it is better to teach the stay first and then only once you have a rock steady stay move on to formal recalls.
If the dog is not staying then you need to go back to the very beginning, literally asking the dog to stay at your side for only a few seconds then reward, then move on to half a step away, and then one step away and so on. But at each stage the dog needs to be rock steady and know what is being asked of it before you move on to the next stage.
My friend who is a KC accredited trainer herself, have gone to other clubs so we can take the KC tests, and sometimes we have been asked to push a young dog too much to soon. Very often trainer have said to us you need to be five paces away for the test.
We just say that's fine but  we would sooner get it right now and stay closer to the dog, than push it to soon and the dog get it wrong and then you have to go right back to the beginning.
From my own experience with quite a number of dogs, if you get the stay perfected, and a good informal recall practised just as part of everyday life, then formal recalls just follow on naturally.
I would say to anyone, know your own dog, and do what your gut tells you is the right thing for them, and don't be rushed by anyone either trainers or feeling your dog is behind some of the others in the class.

Like us dogs don't all learn at the same rate, some can be more distracted than others, and sometimes those that take a bit longer to learn a certain exercise very often retain it much better than those that appear to be stars in the class.
If they are not ready at the end of the course, I would not worry, if you have to do another course they are still having very useful socialisation with other dogs and learning valuable lessons in working around other dogs.
I know very often there seems to be a race with the tests, my dog got it's gold at six months old !!! Or if they haven't passed the bronze by 12 months they are considered to be behind.
Training should be fun for dog and handler and very often the dogs that have been pushed and intensively trained become as flat as a pancake later on.
I would much prefer the puppy who is a happy and enjoying life who makes the odd mistake now and again, as they will grow into a happy adult who enjoys life. To the one who did everything by the time they were six months, is bored and fed up with training and totally switched off by the time they are two.

Thank you all for your comments, advice and input especially dorcas)161 - pleased to be able to say that Millie has now passed her Silver Test and I do not intend to put her under any pressure for the next step taking the Gold - we will take as long as it takes - would like to add that this is a spendid forum and everyone so helpful - genuine dog lovers I know xx

So pleased for you merrymaid, good luck with the Gold, now you have got your Silver I bet you will find it a doddle x x
Keep us posted on your progress.