|
Part
1 -
Different types of recall problem - 6th April
Our most popular articles are being updated and
republished
'The Reliable Recall' is by Pippa
Mattinson
Do you long for a dog that comes 'flying'
back to you each time you click your fingers or give
a quick toot on your whistle? Are you fed up with
being ignored?
You are
not alone.
A large proportion of the requests we receive asking
for help at the Gundog Club are with recall
problems. A dog that ignores his owner's
increasingly urgent shouts and whistles, a dog that
only returns when he pleases is at
best an embarrassment whilst out and about in
public. He is probably also a nuisance to
others and a threat to his own
safety.
In some
cases the owner will never have achieved a reliable
recall with this dog. In other cases,
the owner will have had a good recall at some
point, until things started to go wrong.
Many owners will be able to recall their dog very
well in some situations, and not at all in
others. A lack of recall in the presence
of other dogs is the most common reason that gundog
owners are unable to join in our group training
sessions, and an extremely common problem amongst
dog owners nationwide.
We can help
you improve your dog's recall. Some recall problems you can work on at home by yourself,
others will require some professional one-to-one
help.
Prevention is better
than cure
As with many problems in all walks of life, where
the ‘recall’ is concerned, prevention is much
better than cure. Recall problems can be
completely avoided by those with younger puppies if
they go about their training 'armed' with the
correct information and advice. Therefore,
later in this article we will take a look at how to
establish a good foundation for recall in a new
puppy, including avoiding some of the more usual
mistakes made by new owners. However, most of those
that contact us for help are already having
problems, with dogs over six months old.
It is these problems that are the main focus of this
article.
Five types of recall
problem
Before
we look at a range of solutions for recall problems,
we need to decide what kind of problem your dog has
developed. If you are having a recall problem with
your dog, then it is likely that your dog
falls into one of the following five categories
-
The
dog that strays 'too far' on a walk
-
The
dog that does not want to be caught
-
The
dog that won't recall away from other dogs
-
The
dog that chases wildlife or farm animals
-
The
dog that runs away
Problem 1: The dog that goes too far on a walk and
only comes back when he feels like it.
This dog
will often disappear for ten or fifteen minutes on a
walk eventually catching you up when you have
shouted yourself hoarse and worried yourself silly
for quarter of an hour. He charges off when you
first take off the lead, and if he is more than
twenty yards from you, he usually ignores you when
you call him, or comes in slowly with plenty of
stops along the way. This dog does actually
want to go home with you. He is not a genuine
'absconder' and he invariably 'turns up' in his own
sweet time.
Problem 2: The dog that does not want to be 'caught'.
This dog
has learned to hate the lead. He may recall quite
well but will stop short of coming close enough for
you to catch him. This game can go on for ages,
with him dodging just out of reach, especially if he
suspects that the walk is coming to an end and its
time to go home.
Problem 3. The dog that will not recall away from
other dogs
This dog
often comes back beautifully when there is no-one
else around. However, as soon as another dog
appears, he runs off and is completely deaf to your
shouts and whistles. Sometimes he will even follow
another dog’s family all the way home or back to
their vehicle, which is highly embarrassing, as it
seems to demonstrate how little he cares for you.
Problem 4: The dog that chases wildlife or farm
animals
This dog
is an inveterate chaser. He pursues rabbits,
sheep, deer etc with enormous enthusiasm, and is
deaf to whistles and shouts once he is off. He
is a risk to himself and to anything he chases.
Problem 5: The dog that runs away
This dog
is a very different dog from the dog in problem 1.
This dog is a serious absconder. He does not
care very much for his owner's company and is likely
to run off when his lead is removed, and to keep
running. This dog is at great risk of causing an
accident and of being lost, injured or killed.
This problem is less common than problems 1 to 4 and
is more often found in rescued or re-homed dogs that
have had several owners.
Knowing when to seek help
Each
type of problem has different causes and needs a
different approach. The last two problems are
very serious ones and if your dog chases other
animals or runs away when you let him off the lead,
you are likely to need some 'hands on' professional
help from an
experienced trainer.
In the
case of chasing livestock or wildlife, you
will need to train your dog in the presence of other
animals and this will require the controlled
environment that a
professional trainer can provide.
Doing it yourself!
Most
dogs do actually want to 'belong' in their
family. They don't want to be 'wild and free'
or to 'leave home' for good. The
chances are your dog really does want to be with you
and this is fortunate. Because it means in
most cases, that recall problems can be solved
by dog's owner using proven structured training
techniques that focus on what the dog
finds rewarding and that control the consequences
of his actions. The good news is that much of this training you can
do yourself.
You can
work on problems 1 and 2 without assistance,
and we will look at two useful techniques for
solving these problems in this series. With
problem 3 you will need some help because other dogs
will have to be involved. You may be able to
work on this problem with some friends that have
well-behaved dogs and we will look at the best way
to do this. If you don't have any
friends with suitable dogs, you may need the help of
a professional trainer.
The dog that goes too
far on a walk
The
first problem we are going to tackle is
Problem 1: the dog that goes too far on a walk and
only comes back when he feels like it.
If you
would like your dog to take responsibility for
keeping near to you when you are out in the
countryside together, if you would like him to come
back smartly when you call or whistle, then
don't miss the next instalment. We will be
looking at a simple but very effective
technique for improving your recall from your very
next walk.
Part 2 -
The About Turn Walk |
