Hi everyone,been offline for a while,Bobby and Jock have had there first birthdays and are moulding there indevidual ways!,we had fun and games with jock again whilst walking them in the park,he would not come back close enough to put him back on his lead!,several people in the park tried but all in vain,three and a half hours before a little boy with his mother walked up to jock and held his collar so we could retrieve him i gave him all the loose change on me it was worth it so we could go home,we could not believe it a small child! after all the effort and time and energy several dog owners had put in trying to retrieve him,so now Bobby runs free and Jock stay's on a harness and 22ft recoil lead,he seems ok with this set up and sniffs away in the parks,would like to try him again but after the fourth attempt think i will leave it till he's a bit older.
                                      steverobo

3 and a 1/2 hours! you poor thing.

my eldest girl now 2 and half used to stay at a distance so I couldnt put the lead back on .
(and she was in an OB/AG team )
If he is treat trained let him see you throw  treats at your feet stand upright they usually cant resist it this worked for me at training.
(of course I'm not suggesting this is a way to teach recall just a simple way of retrieving your dog in a desperate situation)

Im sure onetwothree will give you some excellent advice soon

Roni

Thanks Roni !,for your advice,well wait for it,just this Thursday,jock went awall again i had just got him and bobby out of the car this time at a different park,i had fitted jock with a body harness which had been succsesfull after the previous runaround,the park in mention is a local park surrounded by housing and two main roads it also has a lake in the centre,we had just moved about 100yds from the car on a grassed area in front of the lake,when bobby decided to have a no2,he had just finnished and decided to sprint forward on the extension lead and i could not hold him and jock also on a recoil lead and pick up the litter comfortably so i tried to pull them both towards me, jock dug in and in one quick movement released himself from the harness my heart sank!! here we go again i thought, like a deranged mustang jock was off,and because there were lots of dogs and there owners about,it was show time!!! he ran from one dog to another to another in and out of the lake and mud,i was concerned of the nuicence value he was causing,and the fear of him causing an RTA,myself and several owners tried in vain,to retrieve him but not successfully,eventually i telephoned the professionals the dog warden,and waited for his arrival,he found more than his match when he arrived and said that any rugby team would be proud of a player with his balance and tricks,we are now into injury time 2.5 hrs,and jock is still running with the wind in his hair,eventually i returned to my car with some other owners,and a very fretfull bobby,the warden changed his tactics and worked on the aproach of frightening him into a return to my vehicle we waited with bated breath as we watch as jock zoomed passed followed by a more than irate warden, then moments later the same in the opposite direction,this lasted for several minutes,just like a John Cleese sketch!!,then jock seemed to think it was not fun any more and slowly and carefully approached the car,i beckoned to him with a soft careing voice he slowly approached me and he was about arms length away,i could sense the owners around me thinking grab him!! but i just spoke softly to him i eventually managed to srtoke him under his chin and slowly gently hooked my finger uder his collar i then lifted him up and kissed him on his head and gently placed him in his travelling crate we sighed a sigh of relief especially the warden and all was well in the end i returned home bathed both dogs,and settled them down for the rest of the day,jock lay fast asleep exhausted by his antics as if nothing had happend!,Today i have taken them both to the same park again but this time jock has been trussed up with harness and collar saftey linked for added security,Jock is not the main problem i am as i am Diabetic and on insulin and have other problems with my health,although i carry as much as i need in emergency medication sometimes i need to get home to administer injections or take some food on board,this means that several hrs chasing Jock is not the ideal situation,at weekends my wife who works full time,can join us as she did when Jock gave us the run around for 3.5hrs,then i was able to return home to get some food and return when my levels were back to normal,i must say to all the people who have replied to me with good solid advice has been terrific and most careing owners are only to keen to help,so i thank you all and will try out your advice,once again many thanks!.
                                                                                                                                              Steverobo

It sounds to me as if you've gotten into the habit of perhaps always putting his lead on in the same part of the park, and/or letting him take treats without taking hold of his collar.

Just as dogs learn the good stuff from us having routines, so they also learn the things we don't want them to learn from our routines - so picking up the house keys will send a dog with SA into a decline, so a dog whose learnt the lead ALWAYS goes on at point C will happily come at points A & B, but not C.......  As you've found - a change in routine - in this case a small child, was enough to catch him out.

If this were my dog, I'd keep him on the long line, practise the recalls, and when he does get let off lead again, don't let myself be lulled into a false sense of security by always calling in the same place, call him, take hold of the collar, let him go again (which in itself is a reward), call him again, take hold of the collar, food reward and release, call him, take hold of the collar, reward, clip the lead on, short time later, take the lead off again and repeat the whole thing over and over again.  Also, be aware of your body language - many owners carry leads around their necks until that one time they call the dog to put it back in the lead - leave the lead around your neck until you have the dogs collar.........

HTH

I'd like to reiterate what Digger has advised, its sound advice :D   
I also like to add, always take him to the park HUNGRY :D :D  if he's hungry then any treats you give him will be that much more enjoyed :D  and don't forget, rewards have to be worth earning ;) ;)  I met a woman with a border collie youngster recently, who was ignoring her owners training and recall attempts. Nothing wrong with the training, but the rewards on offer were rubbish (gravy bones :rolleyes: )  I asked her if she would work for a piece of bread?  then offered her some of my dried liver treats, the dog's attitude changed instantly :D :D :D

good luck :D :D

You must have been driven nearly demented, steve. I know I'd have done my pieces faced with three and a half hours of this sort of caper myself and I'm amazed he had the energy to keep it up! However, I also have a youngster who thought he was going to play the goat about going back on his lead recently and I noticed two definite patterns.

Firstly he was more likely to try it on when my OH was out walking with me which suggested he hoped there would be a wonderful game of "chase me" and secondly, there was definitely a "point C" being reached because at all other times on the walk his recall was excellent. He tried it on when the OH and I were in the forest last week and I promptly played dead - which he fell for! - but I'm now putting him back on his lead at unpredictable intervals and calling him back when I don't intend to put his lead on but don't intend to let him know this!

I just posted a long reply about training recall on this thread, which you might find useful:

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/85642.html