I have a 10 month old rescued springer spaniel, we have had him a month now. He has very little recall, and has a very strong hunting/chasing desire. At the moment i am walking him on a long lead and calling him back to me every few steps, clicking and treating but i don't seem to be getting anywhere. It got better at first and then in the last few days it has deteriorated. A couple of times he has been successfully off lead, but in open spaces, once he gets his head down and starts sniffing, nothing can distract him. He isn't interested in toys outside of the house, although will do a good retrieve in the garden. I know it is early days, but i am starting to wonder if i will ever be able to let him off lead, which would be a great shame as he really needs to run free to get the exercise he craves. I have two other dogs (a BC and a Goldie whom i have successfully trained to recall, but having had them from puppies. He seems completely oblivious to me out on walks at the moment. On lead he will come, but he is relying on the tightening of the lead to tell him to return, even if you call him before the lead is tight, which is probably why once he is free he disappears off into the horizon without a care in the world.

I am presuming he is working strain and not show?  My two working Ess would be on the go 10/12 hours at a time, and without good and proper training would have been impossible to live with.  With Megan training was a doddle, but Connie was a whole different ballgame.  She was independant, stubborn and downright dissobediant.  Recall was just about the last straw :D :D  But she turned out to be a fantastic gundog and an occasional field trialer. They have an enery that is bottomless and need brainwork at the extreme level to keep any sense of normality :D  Have I painted a lovely picture.  ;)

At 10 months old he is now most likely in the teenage rebelious stage, added to the fact he has only been with you for a month, he is now pushing his boundaries as well as yours.  I would leave the serious recall training for a little while and concentrate on sit, stays, and short retrieves. I would also stop using the long lead and revert to short lead, and introduce heel work.  I used short retrieves as the basis for my recall training with Connie, Lengthening the retrieves periodically until she was totally focused on ME.  Springers are not just retreivers, they are hunters, and will, at the slightest whiff of game etc, take off, unless under full control.   Basically, you have to make sure whatever is happening at any given time, YOU are the the main focus of his attention.  Springers respond very well to praise (they tend not to be food orientated). I would suggest you invest in a whistle, and you this as the basis of all your training.  I used different lengths of short sharp 'peeps' for different commands.  My recall command is 1 long and 2 short.

Dont despair, I nearly did with Connie,  I spent nearly 2 hours in the woods searching for her after she took off after a rabbit, I gave up and took Megan back to the car, nearly 3 miles away and Connie, the little 'Darling' was sitting there waiting on me.

I'm not entirely sure which strain he is to be honest. He seems to have the drive of a working springer, but the looks of a show strain. He has very long ears, a very long body and is quite tall. He is the same size as my small goldie! He also still has a tail which is unusual for working dogs. However he has an extremely strong chase and hunt drive, so its hard to tell. He doesn't seem to have much idea about retrieving, he will chase it but outside will refuse to pick it up and return with it. He will sort of retrieve in the garden, but only for a treat afterwards. Otherwise he will pick it up and run off with it. THanks for you help, I'll spend more time working on his general obedience.