Last week my 3 year old Lab boy took off into a very dense part of the wood where we regulary walk.   I called and called for about 15-20 minutes, he usually has an excellant recall.   He finally came back, chomping his chops and stinking.  I've since heard there was probably a dead deer in the bushes.  Anyway,  I was absoulutely furious with him as he's normally so good.  I really yelled at him and pushed him into a down.  I put him on his lead and walked him to close heel all the way home.  I know this is wrong but I was very angry.   Now he keeps taking off,  into the same part of the woods looking for the deer carcase,  into the cow field for a roll and he won't come back for about 15 minutes.  He won't come to me for a treat while we are out,  and he acts really skittish and jumpy.  I've not told off him since as I realise this was the wrong thing to do.  I need to rebuild his confidence and I also don't want to be waiting and waiting for him to come back to me while he's eating yuk or rolling in poo etc.  What is the best way to correct this and get his recall back to how it used to be?

If you call your dog back and he doesn't come, repeatedly calling him (with the recall word) will tech him he doesn't have to respond to the first recall. It sounds like you need to start from scratch, and use a different word for recall as your current word has a negative association for him, I would be keeping him on a long line while you're working on it.
But I am by no means an expert!!! I am sure there will be others along with better advise.

Thanks,  yes I though about keeping him on an extending lead,  I might try walking somewhere else as well  I think he can still smell the remains of the carcase from a long way off and he keeps heading back to it.  he will still do fab recalls at home and in the garden.  I just feel stupid now for being so hard on him.  I know you aren't supposed to tell a dog off when it comes back, even if takes an age.  I can't even get hold of him now when he comes back after he has taken off.  He jumps away from me.  I did manage to down him from about 5 feet away and very gently told him wait,  I made no eye contact and put his lead on him that way.  Oh dear it seems to have gone so wrong now.

> I know you aren't supposed to tell a dog off when it comes back, even if takes an age.

We're all only human :(

If he's still got a good recall at home it's just a case of getting his trust back when out. It sounds like a good idea to stay away from the carcass as he obviously is intent on eating it!!! Lots of treats/praise/games as rewards eyc.. and he'll get there. It may be that he has learnt that he can stay away from you rather than he is too scared to come back.

I remember a bitch we had years ago, she was never punished for returning but she would jump out the way of being grabbed - simply because she knew she was quick enough to stay AWAL when she felt like it :(

The problem is when they disappear like that you start to panic and worry about what might happen to them so when they do appear you yell :-) human nature I think. I doubt you've ruined his recall with one incident but it might be an idea to walk him away from that bit until he forgets about his tasty snack :-D
We found with Dakko (spitz breed - what can you do :-D) that the best policy was not to shout and let them find you. If we shouted then he knew we were there and ignored us til he felt like coming back. By staying silent he would come looking much quicker - we tried it with Bramble (Bernese) and when she came looking for us she looked quite worried when she found us -'where have you been mum?' instead of her usual 'OK i'm here now whats the fuss about?' and she didn't stray as far since. TReacle on the other hand(nutty setter ) is fine unless there are birds to chase then her brains fly out of her tail I'm afraid but she doesn't usually go out of sight.

Don't beat yourself up, yes it was wrong, but you were worried and then to see by the state of him that he was not recalling due to enjoying himself I can understand why you blew up.

Definitely pop him back on a long line, and keep practising recall again, being a lab he'll enjoy his recall treat. :-D

As well trained as an animal may be, a rotting carcass is as difficult to pass by as a WAG passing a clothes shop :-D so during that area a long line is essential, you will soon regain his trust, but start from scratch for a little while.

Our youngest dog is a terrier cross from a rescue. On a long lead he has 100% perfect recall, as he does at home and on most occasions off lead. BUT he sometimes puts his nose down and is off into the woods. Being small he is impossible to see in the undergrowth and it does tend to make one panic when they are out of sight like this and a couple of minutes can seem like a lifetime.

Now when he disappears off, instead of calling his name as I would do for a recall, I whistle to him and call "this way" but keep on walking slowly. He does return ( hope I am not tempting fate here :O ) and as soon as he is in sight of you he rushes back as fast as his little legs can carry him and is very enthusiastic with his return. He used to be brilliant off lead and would always return - our GR has very good recall so he would always run back with him. When he hit the teen stage his recall went downhill and I kept him on a long lead for a couple of months practicing recall all the time on a walk but eventually I had to get the courage up to try him off lead again as the only way to make sure he had perfected the recall off lead was to try it again. As I said he does still have times when he is verrrrrrrry slow to return but it is getting better.

I do agonise sometimes whether to let him off or not but without doing so I don't know if he has finally got the hang of coming back each and every time when asked to as he always does on a long line so just have to take a calculated risk at times.

I have never had a dog before that hasn't learnt fairly quickly what is expected of him so Cooper has been a bit of a revelation :)

Welcome to my world, LOL

To be honest it is pretty typical of the more independent breeds.  They learn what recall is pretty quickly, but don't always choose to obey ;)  They realise we are not going to really leave them.

i recently had to chase my ridgie puppy after he decided to run alongside a jogger, not jumping at him just joined him for a ruin. turned deaf in the process, and theres me chasing after him shouting his name (dammed jogger wouldnt stop) when he eventually returned to me i had to praise him OTT, inside i was raging but i was scared of undoing my hard work over last few weeks. i now have a long line (30foot) for situations where i think there may be joggers or cyclists. good luck

Have you tried using a whistle instead of calling him back by name? My dogs are all used to the whistle and only get a sharp reminder (shouting of their name ;-) ) if they ignore me. Whistles can be heard further away than your voice. Though I sometimes have to revert to putting a blade of grass between my thumbs and blowing on that when my oldest really ignores me :-) There seems to be something in the pitch that gets through her thick skull. :-D

I agree with Lindylou. All my dogs are whistle trained. Dogs respond more to high pitched noises, we've all squeaked at our dog so that it cocks it's ears and puts it's head on one side. It's very easy to train a dog to the whistle. Have the whistle on a lanyard or cord around your neck when you're in the house and occasionally, when the dog is nearby, give a short blast on the whistle, followed immediately by giving the dog a high value treat such as cheese or chicken. When you are confident that the dog now associates the whistle with the treat, start blowing when the dog is further away, or in another room. Progress to when the dog is in the garden. He should come running. You'll soon find that you can whistle your dog from anywhere and the conditioning of associating the whistle and the treat will bring him back. Don't forget to take treats with you when you go for a walk. Good Luck

Had a better walk this morning,  kept away from where he's been going awol.   Had a bag of ham and cheese and a tug toy.  Put him on extending lead when we got a bit near  to his running away place.  He still put his nose in the air and was ready to go.  Lots of treats and praise and he had my full attention for the whole walk.  Normally I switch off or chat away to other walkers.  Anyway, feel a bit happier today.

What sort of whistle do you recommend?    It sounds like a good idea to retrain to the whistle, something new to grab his attenton.

>What sort of whistle do you recommend?

I use an Acme 211.5, as shown in the link. The great advantage of a whistle is that it never sounds angry, so the dog isn't deterred from responding. :-)

Where is the best place to buy a whistle online?   Thanks

good old ebay, the gundog club. I'm sure if you google dog whistle you'll come up with loads of sites.

One of the wonderful things about dogs, I find, is they forgive.  Especially Labs, which don't usually tend to be overly sensitive.  Gee, is that an understatement or what?  I'm confident his recall will resume if you practice some of the tips given.  Mine always did, though only four of them so certainly I am not claiming to be any expert here.  I do think you might find it easier to go back alone and clean up whatever it was he found to be so enticing in the bush.  Whatever delectable stinky thing he found is still there or at least the smell of it is.  So it is still distracting him.  Wild critters may have scattered the carcass all over but if not you will need your oldest clothes on, gloves, a sturdy large bucket or a shovel so you can bury it.  You might appreciate some muscular help.  I would take a large container of vinegar or some cheap biol washing, not bleach, which is bad for the ground water, the plants and the soil.  Vinegar will kill many plants too but is not as bad for everything else.

Something I found useful for recall is making sure I regularly call him back to me just for a treat or a game, or a big fuss, so he's never sure if he's going back on his lead or if it's something more exciting. I'm definitely no expert myself though!
Good luck....and don't be too hard on yourself.