Hi guys and gals,

Wibble my almost 7month old WGSD is causing me a bit of bother at the moment:) up until yesterday he was fantastic off the lead, when I called him he would come back to me, not always first time but he always came back and sit for me while I put his lead on, we were in the woods TWO days ago and he saw a rabbit and started to chase it but I called him and told him to wait as the road is pretty close to the woods and he stopped dead and came back to me, I was sooooooo proud I couldn't have praised him anymore! Then yesterday came and OMG the adolesence (SP??) phase must have kicked in because he just does not want to know! YESTERDAY we were back in the woods having a nice long walk when he spotted a rabbit again and darted after it but would he listen NO he ran and ran and ran luckily not in the direction of the road this time eventually and I mean EVENTUALLY he came back, and the today we were in the park, there was not a sole around so we had a nice game of tennis, it was going lovely......Until a dog came along. This dog was on the lead and we see it a lot. Wibble is very nosey anyway and loves going up to people/dogs to say hello and yes it is harder to get him to come back but he always has done and I've never told him off no matter how long its taken him, at first I wasn't worried I just thought ':D damn nosey dog' but he just kept following this dog all the way along, its 6am in the morning and I'm yelling 'Wib Wib Wib Wib Wibble' as excitedly as I can because he NORMALY loves that (how embarressing :ROLLEYES:) but would he listen? Would he $%!? the owner could see I was having trouble getting him back but he just kept walking, at this point I am at one end of the park and Wibble is at the other so its pretty damn hard for me to catch up. In the end the man stopped and I caught up and put Wibble on his lead, appologised to the man, blushed and started to walk off with my (that now looks like) uncontrolable dog, part way home I stopped to put Wibbles ball in a bag so I said 'sit,wait' as you do...And he did.....for a second, he obviously got bored of waiting for soooooooooooo long that he decided that the dog he was sniffing is much more interesting than coming home with me and darted back after it!!!!! This time after calling and calling I found him with that dog by the shops!

I'm sorry for going on but its soooo frustrating. Please tell me, is this because adolesence has kicked in or am I doing something wrong and should I keep him on the lead from now on? I'm just so scared that he will run out in to the road.

Thanks for listening
Zoe
xxx

i had this trouble before,how depressing it is think you have him trained and then they dont listen to what you are saying,anyway was this dog a bitch? if so mybe it was due,in or on way out of season that would explain things a little better,im sorry but im know expert but sounds like you might need to back to the basics if this contiues.

No its not a bitch, I dunno why Wibble was so obsessed by this other dog.

Thanks anyway

I am interested in how you started letting the pup off lead. I have a English Pointer pup which is about 4.5 months. I am very nervous to let her "run" off lead. When did you know it was the right time?

hi if your pup has 100% recall then you can let them off the lead,

The idea is that you let them off the lead as soon as possible, while they're still a bit nervous of the great outdoors and want to stick with you for security. Once they are more confident and want to go exploring is when the problems start, so hopefully pup will have the basics of recall.

You can have 100% recall in your house and garden, and even training club, but that doesn't mean the pup will come back in a strange place with new distractions. You have to train recall everywhere! And that means being brave enough to let them off the lead and make yourself more exciting than any distraction.
:)

Hi Zoe been there done that and it is frustrating .... dont accept it just go back a stage and put him back on the lead maybe try a long line and make recall your project until he comes away from whatever is distracting him every time. We do this and repeat this ......etc:)

I had the same problem so I asked my trainer. She told me when I see another dog, person or anything he might be tempted to run to. Put him on his extending lead. That way he will soon realise he cant run away.
If he sees the object before you and starts to run, shout his name to get his attention and either run in the opposite direction or run and hide. The main problem is he feels comfortable knowing you are coming after him or waiting for him. I tried this with Monty. Admittidly, i did just stand and shout and he ran up to the woman but when he looked again, I was running off and he came straight back to me, which he hasnt done before.
hth :)
Sam x
Edited to add - as said below, pretend to hide. Make sure your dog see's you going out of view as said below he will panic. I'm sure none of us are that cruel!!

Yes, I have had a similar problem, but only with other dogs.
I found that if my dog sees me going the opposite way, she will panic, thinking i'v abandoned her, and come after me.
Although, I really wouldnt recomend hiding away, especially if you dog sees you as a kind of "parent", as he may panic, like my friends dog, and run in all directions, brfore finally making the descision to try to find his own way home!


Good luck with your dog!
Luv Lea.
x

I tried running away, it used to work but not anymore:(

I trained my pup to come to the noise of shaking my keys. I did this in the house and gave her a treat evry time( at first) she came to me.
Then I reduced the treat to only sometimes. I use the keys when out, She comes immediately 9 times out of ten...........

Ahhh, I tried that with his treat bag. Worked when he was near me with no other distractions, or when we were at home. Now he just looks at me then keeps on running :)
I think I just have a mental dog!!! :)
Sam x

My nearly 6 month old pointer pup has decided she doesn't need to come back after her having a fantastic recall a couple of weeks ago. I've gone back to basics with her and she now trails a lenght of washing line to her collar so I do have something to grab if she looks like she is getting into trouble. I've found that when I walk her in new places, she tends to be a little more nervous of being too far away and keeps an eye on me.

Helen

Glad its not just me ! Silverback ( my husband) read your post about pups great quartering and now relates this to Morse running ahead in fields and sniffing about ! There must be more to it.... His pointing not rushing is coming on but hes not always reliable at staying down until I get to him - is there a better way of stopping him rushing birds/dogs offlead? We are still going form onlead to off lead until his recall fails and having to go back. Im seriously considering these training disc things used in Dogwise although the dog is older than Morse at the beginning as he just cant be distracted from the dog/bird etc ....

Quartering is just that...a dog running in front of you from one side to the other. Some dogs you have to turn them and some dogs just naturally keep at a good distance.

I can't think of a way of stopping him rushing in off lead. We tend to keep a long line on the dogs until they do have a steady point. Have you got Derry Argue's Pointers and Setters book? It's very good.

I'm not sure how training discs work but I have seen them discussed on here.

Helen

i have to say best way i get my pup to come back when i let her off in a field is to walk offf or hide the pup will get worried wen he/she cant c u and as soon and u appear he will come Running back. its scarie and u feel really bad but they do come back

Thanks Helen Im off to get my hands on that book! We can now keep him in a Down long enough to step on the long line or call him back if we feel like living dangerously, and he is starting to realise that you dont have to chase birds every time. Not that he has to work hard to find birds here. Im trying to teach him to fetch things just now and its a riot, he's just learned to fetch the toy flung out the kitchen door into the garden and looks really puzzled when we do the same in a field. Find the person hidden in a wood now thats FUN.:D