Hi all. Can Anyone send a link to a good training video in order for me to sort out a recall problem! My 15 month old gsp has been excellent at recall but for the last two days has gone off and not responded to my whistle ...she has been disappearing ( in the same place ) for about 20 minutes and only comes back when someone else calls her! I am persistent with my training and try something new with her every day! She is excellent when there are no distractions but in reality I know her recall needs to be 100% for her sake as well as mine! Thanks.

What are you using for rewards, and do you know what she is disappearing after?

Hi Nikita. I use cheese, sausages, beef chicken.. I tried all sorts but she is not food orientated. She knows there is a mouse or rabbit in this particular place in the bushes! When I whistle she always comes but not the last two days. She seems to be playing a game of hide and seek! I like to have her in my sights all of the time and would like to have total recall. But is ( at only 15 months old ) that asking too much! ( she has also just recently finished her first season)
Thanks.

My 15 month old gsp has been excellent at recall but for the last two days has gone off and not responded to my whistle

What you need to do first is change that particular whistle the reason being, you wrote - "gone off and not responded to" - that effectivly means that the whistle frequencie & tone  has become a positive reinforced stimulus for the behaviour of 'going off' after whatever the dog was 'going off' after, potentialy blowing that whistle might initiate it 'going off' again.

Of you have one of the ACME whistles I suggest change it for a Fox 40, the Fox broadcasts simulteaneously on 3 frequencies but non of them are the same frequencies & tone as any of the ACME whistles. Link 1 below demos how to condition a Fox40 to positive reinforced stimuli (short play) for recall, link 2 shows the same whistle in practice, in randomly occurring, unpredictable situations. The Fox Sonik Blast CMG is another fox option whistle, neither will sound like an ACME (if thats what have) that whistle (ACME or whatever you have) is now high risk failure under some circumstances.

Link 1, conditioning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W3s3UfAgO4

Link 2, Unpredictable events, Fox40 In real life applications
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R33iI12-N-U
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Hi Hethspaw. I will look into your suggestions when I get back from my holiday. Thanks to your communication.

Different breed, but oddly I had the same recal problem with my terrier after her first season. Was faultless prior to being in season (during which she was on lead 100% of the time) and is now very selective with her hearing when it comes to coming back! Will be interested to see the options :)

Hi sqwoofle. Interesting to hear that you have the same problem. My little madam ran the full length of the beach this morning and when I blew my acme 210 whistle ( the one I've always used) she turned immediately and ran back at full pelt! If only this would happen every time! I'll give the suggested whistle a try but i think her hormones are on the blink!

when I blew my acme 210 whistle ( the one I've always used) she turned immediately and ran back at full pelt! If only this would happen every time!

Just to clarify why I mentioned the ACME range in my first post, against another type/brand (Fox). I did not mean there was/is anything wrong with acme whistles, there is nothing at all 'wrong' with acme whistles, personally I like them, another reason I mentioned changing it, which I did not mention before, is because there are a lot of them around & if ones own dog heres the other it can potentially respond to the other and head off towards that direction.

Most times I see another whistle it is invariably an acme, including this morning, when i was 33 miles outside London (where I live), I actually got talking to the couple & the same subject came up (he'd noticed my Fox around my neck & asked about it), he had had a couple of incidents (he had 3 labs) where his lab (s) had headed off after another out of sight acme.

Written so its understood the other reason I mentioned them. I never seen a Fox anywhere in public.
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Thanks Hethspaw. I fully understand where you are coming from.

if she isn't food orientated what about toys?

when mine was young and went threw a pain in the butt phase I took the squeaker out of a toy and used it with her recall. It would get her attention from anything.

Hi Jo. When Saffi was about 5 months old ( even before I used a whistle) she used to respond to a squeaky ball! I tried it again the other day but whilst she is distracted with an animal smell somewhere in the bushes she didn't even "bat an eyelid" when I sounded it! Thanks for your suggestion though!

Saga, just in case you are not already a member: Have you considered contacting the GSP Club about their training classes? They have regional branches and groups and most hold training classes on a once a month basis. I am sure your bitch would benefit from them. They are great fun for both handler and dogs and there will be lots of help and suggestions on offer. You can find the South West Group (GSPC) details HERE. I am sure Fleur will fill you in with the details.

Hi Leigh ..thank you for that link. Although I think it may be too far a distance for us to travel. That website is very interesting especially the different levels of training. I think we have progressed to level 2 at least!

I think we have progressed to level 2 at least!

Yea & your probably much better off doing it by your own nous, your post prompted me to upload these 4 very short, joined vid clips, the 2nd was last Sun am I hear an Acme being blown in that clip..........ah well, my nice, quite, sunday walk in the woods of to a haphazard start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDZq77yoyBQ
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I just had to watch that again as I couldn't believe what I'd just seen!! The guy with the black Labradors snatches his dog off the floor by it's collar/neck, swings it round and then drops it from quite a height....beggars belief!! If that's how he treats his dogs in public, I dread to think how they're treated behind closed doors!!

Hi Hethspaw . Just watched your recall videos with great interest! Your dog Thingy is brilliant at recall, although I don't like my gsp to be that far away from me! I like to have her in sight on all walks! Maybe I'm overprotective as I use my whistle as soon as I think she is about to shoot off. At what age did your Thingy perfect her recalls? Thank you for your input and help with this problem.

At what age did your Thingy perfect her recalls?

Well I picked her up at 13 weeks on 13/03/2003, she showed strong indications within a couple of weeks that hunting/chasing was what she wanted to do/fullfill her needs/self so I made the recalls from multi species chases goal after around 3/4 weeks of ownership.
She was doing well on the OB (obedience) exercise foundations leading to reliability of high drive 'in chase process' recalls by mid to late June that year but I remember clearly I had to slow down & stop any training by Aug 03 due to v hot weather.
I picked up again by early Sept & by appx end of Sept she was at a standard of me being able to mix a training exercise with some real life recalls from chases. It might seem from that video that Thingy has been recalled from her chases when that happened, of so, thats not the case at all, Thingy has been allowed to hunt & chase game ever since the points I mentioned, but she also got recalled from some chases on a 'variable ratio schedual' of reinforcement (link 1) of both the "leave" & "recall" exercises, that gives a steady , reliable rate of success throughout life & Thingy was doing just that until she slowed down around late winter of her 10th year.
She now simply uses her nose sense a lot more than any of the other 2 (sight & sound) senses that initiated her activity levels. So, to sum it up, the "leave" command is the basis of an effective recall under all circumstances & situations, that exercise is very soon graduated into "leave"-"down"-"recall" from prey object to raise the threshold of temptation, some call it the triangle of temptation, some call it the "red light" "green light" exercise, the sole purpose is to give the dog as much freedom in its all to short & let it live its dream, a dream of which we can only watch but never be a part of. See link 2 for the red light green light exercise - its a silent demo but I wrote in whats going on:

Link 1
http://psychology.about.com/od/vindex/g/def_variablerat.htm

Link 2, red light green light reinforcement exercise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42tNOWAbEE8
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Hi Hethspaw . Thank you very much for taking the time and effort to help me in my efforts to train my pup. I will study the link you have kindly sent and try to put the effort and persistence into action. Thanks...appreciated.

Hi all. Can Anyone send a link to a good training video in order for me to sort out a recall problem! My 15 month old gsp has been excellent at recall but for the last two days has gone off and not responded to my whistle ...she has been disappearing ( in the same place ) for about 20 minutes and only comes back when someone else calls her!

This to me is key; if your dog responds to someone else in situations when it won't to you, then I would be looking at my body language and general demeanour. 

I have a naturally strong presence and in the past I swapped dogs with someone else at gundog training; my timid, boot licker of a  viz became a hunting machine with someone else and his hooligan bogoff  GWP became  (sort-of) obedient in just the one session with me!  So much depends on personalities....yours and the dogs.

Hi all. Can Anyone send a link to a good training video in order for me to sort out a recall problem! My 15 month old gsp has been excellent at recall but for the last two days has gone off and not responded to my whistle ...she has been disappearing ( in the same place ) for about 20 minutes and only comes back when someone else calls her!

Two things:  firstly, she's an adolescent so will be testing the boundaries and hormonal, so this is NORMAL.
Secondly, she is a GSP. They are bred to hunt.  Not sure if she is working or show bred, but somewhere in her genes will be the hunting blue-print, to some degree or another.  If she has a lot of german blood in her then you need to start working with her....you will not eradicate the hunting desire.  You need to teach her that you know where the best smells/game are.  This is a whole different topic and can take up a whole book!

Many of the show bred dogs sadly exhibit little or no hunting desire so with those you are more likely to succeed if what you want is a pet that trots by your side.

If you are seeking to train her to work then I can recommend Rory Major's DVDs on training the HPR.

If she has a lot of german blood in her then you need to start working with her

Yes, without a doubt, I had meant to ask OP if there were recent Euro dogs in her pedigree & forgot all about it.
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Hi JRL. You may have "hit the nail on the head" by mentioning body language ! My partner and I have been walking her together for the past couple of weeks and now realise it is with him that she has a negative response! I've let him have the whistle to try and train her but his patience had failed him! Now this week I've had her solely on my own and she's been brilliant! Although she had been well bred and her lines health tested she is not from either a hunting or show pedigree. I had a gsp previously from 8 weeks to 12 + years so have a broad knowledge of the breed and know that they are born hunters but can also be amazing pets (but also need to be well trained of course) I shall look into the DVDs that you recommended. This was the whole object of my initial question...to gain more knowledge from those who know! Thankyou for your time and advice. I will endeavour to try a new approach by trying to "train" my partner!

DVDs that you recommended. This was the whole object of my initial question

I mentioned the 'variable ratio schedual of reinforcement', below is a link to B F Skinners short edu vid on that schedual.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxp1yrEkGOk
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Thanks Hethspaw