My GSP is 7 1/2 months old and his training is coming along well. Or so I thought.

His recall is very good bascally because he is VERY greedy and loves his treats, so we have used this as a training aid.

The problem is, if there is ANY distractions, no matter how insignificant, he won't respond to recall.

I appreciate that he is going to be nosey and investigative at his age, but he completely ignores you when he has his eyes on something else.

At the moment, if he sees a piece of litter blowing across the grass he makes a bee-line for it, and ignores commands to stop and won't recall at all.

This isn't a massive problem at the moment, but could develop into one when the "distraction" becomes another dog, or someone running etc etc.

I have no doubts that he will be off his mark and in hot pursuit, so I am concerned as to how to rectify this a.s.a.p.

At the moment, I do not let him know that I am annoyed or frustrated, I simply go to him, put his lead on and take him straight home.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.....

Welcome to the wonderful world of the HPR :D

You have hit the "8 month mark" which is when in general a lot of previously "obedient" puppies suddenly go AWOL :)

This is normal, independent apron string pulling. Combine this with the hunt, point, retrieve instincts of the predatory dog and you have a potential recipe for disaster.  Apart from euthanasia, having no recall is a leading cause of death in dogs.

That is the bad news.

The good news is that your dog is eminently trainable, food orientated and obviously has a sensible owner :)

There are several ways to tackle this; one is to manage the environment so that the consequences of no recall are not fatal eg no off lead exercise in a park next to a busy road/railway line etc; do not feed except when out - this will probably result in dog going hungry for a few days until he cottons on, great hunger is a great motivator; take out with you a variety of high value "treats" not grotty kibble or dog biscuit but a selection of cheese, franfurter, liver etc.  Every time you recall your dog give a treat, vary them so that he does not know which one he is getting; fabourite treats for fastest recalls etc

There is an old saying "never blow a whistle up a gundog's a***" , a technical term which holds true to this day.  A whistle will carry further than your voice and be consistent even when you are angry or hoarse :D  Never say "come" to your dog unless it is for something nice; eg if you want the dog't toenails clipped, ears cleaned etc I prefer to go to the dog :D

Recall training must be consistent, relentless, until about the age of 18 month - 2 years when maintenance is all that is usually required.

HTH

Tohme, excellent advice, but as the owner of 2 HPR's it did make me chuckle :D  My 2 year old's recall has never wavered; what a joy he is! (Oops, shouldn't have said that, his recall is bound to go right off tomorrow!) Older one., 4.5 years, is master of avoiding the final recall at the end of his walk. He's even been known to pretend he's got a scent and will go into the typical "I'm onto something" action whilst casting surruptious glances at me to see if he's fooling me.  Which he ain't!!  And you're right Tohme, a whistle is much better than the voice :D 

One wee tip I would add, is if you are in a secure place where the dog can't run out into roads etc, hide behind a tree or a wall/fence or similar, whistle and let the dog really have to look for you, giving him a treat when he finds you.  We find this is great for our older one, keeps him on his toes and stops him getting complacent :)  

Lesley