hello wondered if anyone can give me some advice on how to recall my staff. She is 16 weeks old and in the house she is really well behaved. I have already trained her to sit ,stay she doesnt jump at people and is house trained she even comes when we call her and we're in another room.When i take her out on the lead she is brilliant sits before crossing the road and comes when i call her (on the extendable lead) but if i take her off the lead shes like a dog on a mission no amount of walking away calling her name whistling or offering treats gets her to come back.Also everytime the front door opens and theres a gap shes gone which is so worring in case she gets run over.We've resorted to putting a stairgate up in the hallway to prevent her from getting out is this the right thing to do?Ideally we would like her to come back when shes off the lead and if she gets out but im too scared to let her off in case we dont see her for dust.Any advice would be gratefully recieved.xx

She's still very young, so don't feel like she SHOULD be doing things already. If you want her to come back to you, you have to teach her that coming back to you is worthwile, it's better than anything else around!

I had great success in a wide open space, with nothing around, just me and the dog, to teach recall. I had her sitting and staying though. (You may have to teach a 'stay' command). I'd make her sit, say 'stay' and slowly walk backwards, still facing the dog, until I reached a certain point (Not too far, at the most 20 yards). Then make a big enthusiastic command to come to me. When she comes, she gets a treat or a ball to play with (After sitting of course) and/or lots of fuss. It will take a few goes but she'll get it before too long.

Repetition is certainly the way to go though. If you say something enough, teach something enough, she will cotton on to what you want from her and do just that. A staff is very much a person pleasing dog, so once she gets the hang of it, she'll be great. The main problem I had was the jumping up, whch you'll probably encounter over the next few weeks/months. So keep all the things you want from her well and truly within the lines at all times and from everybody she comes into contact with and you'll have a great dog. (Your commands to sit should mean commands to sit for EVERYBODY, so dont be shy in making other people do this, you will almost certainly get her jumping up and knocking over a small child if this isnt taught!).

Where i live there is always so many people around the fields walking there dogs and it was such a distraction for my staffs so i used a long line that way they could run quite far away from me but if they didnt come when called i could just give a little tug on the line so they remembered i was there and 9 times out of 10 would then come running back, it took a while but they got there and now come the minute they are called no matter what or who is around because they know if they come back to me when called they get a nice toy to play with or a yummy treat,
We did the same in the house, we would leave the door open slightly with the dogs on the long line and we taught them to sit and stay and atleast if they bolted for the door they couldnt go far because of the long line.
Just remember shes still a puppy, just keep making it fun for her and rewarding her.
You will get there.

As far as the door goes I will never ever trust my dogs with an open door and they are from 1 to 10 years of age.  No dog has road sense and the best trained one can be attractd by some movemetn and be off under a bus.

I have a baby gate on my kitchen to livign room door, and they are behind it if the door goes, and the livign room door is msotly closed, btu often because the ahll is small teh first person will o-pen the livign room door before the frotn door is closed.

For added safety I have also taught by dogs to wait at doors.  It is quite easy you can sit them by the door and slowly open it while getting a stay command, if they lift their bums you close the door.  Eventually they will reliably sit and stay when the living room door is open.

Next I have them sit with their leads on in the hall while I open the front door, and they must remain sat with front door open for increasing periods.  I then move out the door holding lead at arms length and they must still stay.  They are allowed through when I say come.

These steps have helped with the bolting for the door if anyone has not followed the house rules about the baby gate and doors being shut.

My Jozi first came back to me with that exact problem bolting out the door and running around the village she used to live in.  It has contributed to her unreliability off lead (she bogs off every now and then) and she is 8 years old.

Despite the house rules she gave my old enough to know better kids the slip when I was at the Vets with another, and bolted up the street.  We live on a very busy road with a bus route.

Thank you so much for replying,i dont feel as dishearted now i know that Raven is not the only dog that legs it at the first oppotunity lol! As you said she is a still a puppy and shes done so well with everything else im gonna try the long line lead so i've got the added security that if she ignores me i can give a little tug and that should do the trick. The stairgate seems to be working so maybe it wasnt such a bad idea. Thanks again.xx

I am FULLY against leaving front doors open in front of dogs, its too much to ask of them to not chase something that catches their eye, or for someone to nip in take the dog and go, so all doors are firmly shut in my house! Apart from the back door of course into a secure garden! ;)

An extended lead is what I find works wonders, but just general consistency with recall training is a good gurantee!

A fun game for pups is to play to learn recall is hide and seek. make her stay in one place while you go and hide somewhere(behind the couch, behind a door) call her name or what ever your recall is and when she finds you reward her straight away and make a great fuss of her, worked wonders with our SBT! And its really fun! :) :)

Hmmm sounds exactly like my Cole! He wasnt 100% reliable until he was nearly 18mths-2years. But as all staffie owners know they are like naughty children till the finally get round to maturing at 2yrs old (sometimes longer!).

I agree with Brainless on the babygate thing. I always use gates, with the back room/living room doorway having one and I always close the porch door before answering the door too. You should always be safe rather than sorry. I live on a main 'A' road so I just wouldnt risk it.

When out on the lead just stick to a good strong extendable one so she feels she has some space but you know she cant bolt off if something takes her fancy. Practise recall using the lead (or even a lunge line if you need more length), take a squeeky toy and some stinky dried liver(this is like chocolate for dogs!) and keep practising until your pretty sure you've got it 100%, remember to use plenty of praise when she reurns to you, preferably in a silly high pitched voice (sod what others in the vacinity may think of you, your dog comes 1st!). When using the line/lead do it in a fairly quiet place with only a few other walkers/distractions(if you can), so she has the opertunity for distraction but you can test her reliability.

Once youre sure she wont bolt then find a quiet field with little chance of distraction. Walk her round it on several occasions so its not so brand new and exciting for her. Once shes familiar with this area, practise your recall minus the lead/line. Its quite scary but dont let your nervousness show. Be confidant. Let her wander a short distance, then call her back with lots of the high-pitched praise and offer her a teeny bit of liver. Keep repeting this, letting her go a little further each time. If she ignores you for any reason then squeek the toy and call her. If she looks at you but still doesnt respond, then walk away slowly, keeping a watch on her out of the corner of your eye, call her name and say "come on lets go home..." this is usually enough to make her follow. If you build the bond with you dog then she wont want to be seperated from you and will follow.

Hope this helps, it always works for me :-) x