# Recall problems



## CRS250 (Dec 31, 2012)

YES in spades! 

We're considering doing some private trainer sessions, a day long seminar or such to work on this, as Murphy is awesome on a leash. Literally a dog can be barking and growling at him while we pass them and he stays on heel after a quick 'watch me' he totally ignores them, squirrel darts out? No interest in you! I'm on heel. So much so our trainer said he's beyond her obedience classes and suggests we go straight to the CGC prep class. This has been built over time though. I walk him twice a day on weekdays, once at 5:45am, and then again after work at 5pm. My wife walks him at lunch, and we have a walker any day she cannot come home to do this. We walk him on heel or by saying 'let's go' which means, sniff around and see what you want to - you don't have to stay at my side but don't pull or stop for long sniffs so I have to drag you away.

However out of the classroom and off a leash? Zoom! Go see everyone! Completely ignore any command until the excitement of meeting them wears off, then I'll listen, if I feel like it...ugh you called me and I see the leash? I think I'll just lie down over here and ignore you some more.

I've been doing long lead work and having another person hold him back while I call him till I'm sure he's coming straight to me to try to address it on my own, but I'd love some shortcuts to building the recall quicker.


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Check out this thread: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/golden-retriever-training/63121-rock-solid-reliable-recall.html

I think of all the things we teach our dogs, a reliable recall is #1 on that list. With a 10 month old, there can be different reasons why a once reliable recall vanished, or never took hold from training, etc. 

But going forward, I find the best way to get back on track with a recall is to practice, practice, practice. 

Take them outside, on a long lead, with a pocket full of treats. When they are at the end of their lead and distracted (sniffing, staring at critters, etc), give your cue for attention (we use call name or "watch me") then once they give attention, give your recall command (for us it is 'Come!"). If they don't immediately start coming to you, reel them in with the lead. When they reach you, praise and praise and praise and give jackpot treats. These treats are single treats fed rapid fire one after another for about 10-15 seconds. It's a jackpot! 

Rinse and repeat. 

Once the dog is 100% coming when called on the long lead, you can try it without the lead. If the dog DOESN'T come when called off lead, go out and get them, and walk them back to where you were standing when you called. This teaches the dog that if you come on your own JACKPOT! If I have to come and get you, I will, but either way you're coming with me. Which do you think they will prefer? 

Never call your dog when you don't think they will obey you. Meaning, at the dog park when they are playing, etc. 

My Bear is 17 months old and he still has a few minutes at the beach and park when his brain shuts down because he is experiencing so much so quickly. If I need to get him back with me, I'll call his name, followed by "pup pup pup hurry up!" and will start running where ever I intend to go. He will look up and see me running off and will immediately follow me. 

Anytime we're out and about, if he comes and checks in with me, he gets praise and treats. Every time he comes when called, praise and treats. We've made leaps and bounds in his responsiveness, by taking him out and working him in real life scenarios. I can now call him off another dog when we're at the beach. YAY! 

I also recommend working on impulse control, separately, like "wait" and "stays" and "door/gate etiquette," along with attention commands like "watch me."

It gets better, I promise. You just have to practice and practice and practice.


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## Debs92 (Aug 29, 2013)

We are having the exact same issues with Luna who is nearly 7 months. She had a great recall now is becoming 'selective' and won't come away from other dogs. Practically follows them back to their cars! Our dog trainer suggests random rewards. If I call her and she comes straight back I give her lots if tiny treats( break them up) give then one after the other giving lots of praise. If she comes but is not immediate, taking her time then just one. If she sniffs alot and takes her time then comes no treat. I have also done little games, when she comes I throw the treat through my legs or get her to sit then throw them for her to find. Also vary the treats . I've found chicken, and sausage is very high value to Luna. This seems to be working, she is coming 9 times out of 10 although I haven't added distractions of other dogs yet, just wanted to get her recall back. I think I will try her on a long line when I try with distractions though. As others have said, don't keep calling him if he doesn't come as they just get used to ignoring the recall. Lets hope both our dogs get perfect recalls soon


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## golfgal (Dec 31, 2013)

interestingly enough with Rosco if I called him, he was about 70-80% depending on the level of distraction. When i blew the whistle it was 100%. granted he's a goofy 10mth old puppy so when we go to this one off leash dog park, its a delayed recall for either voice or whistle. i always give treats for recall but he's not food motivated so the treat is the bonus rather than a motivator for him. he'll come stand in front of you for a second and take off again without a treat - can't be bothered to sit and get a treat, way more fun to go play again. maybe I need to get a big juicy steak? hmmm


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## Shellbug (Nov 14, 2013)

Wow he is gorgeous ! I will be reading the responses you get 


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## Shellbug (Nov 14, 2013)

As usual Brave, brilliant. Thanks for the instruction. I will be working on this 


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

I started having recall issues with my youngest at around 10 months. He blew me off maybe three times. It caught me completely off guard because beforehand his recall had been basically 99%. Well unfortunately for him, he lost off leash privileges...until about a week ago (he is now just about 17 months) and his recall is, as of right now, back to 99% YAY . 

Brave linked a really great thread and if you do a search you'll find quite a few threads with great advice. If you couldn't tell, this is a common problem :. 

I honestly think what it comes down to is your dog learning that there is no choice in the command "Come" (or whatever word you use, we use "Home"). The minute your dog blows you off and finds reinforcement elsewhere you're set back, waaaay back. Every time is happens you're set back even farther. You have to do (I've read this advice somewhere) like 100 repetitions of the recall to make up for your dog blowing you off once. Unfortunately it's not easy to do. When Oliver ignored his recall he would be bounding off into the woods. I'd take off after him, but he still got in quite a bit of fun and reinforcement before I got to him. So the long line came out and every time he tried bounding off into the woods I'd call, if he came running back he'd get lots of praise and treats and play with me. If he ignored me, he'd hit the end of the long line (ouch on my part - he was wearing a front clip harness to protect himself because he would literally run to the end of the line) and immediately be stopped and then I'd reel him in. No praise, but an immediate redo from a shorter distance with little distraction, then praise (kind of like a reminder for him). We practice every day in the house and a few times a week outside the house. We played recall games, etc. I didn't bother letting him offleash in an unfenced area because I was too nervous he'd blow me off again. That was..until last week when it was so unbelievably cold that I couldnt walk him and didn't want to stand outside for 30 minutes exercising him . So I let go of the reins (scary) and put my trust in Oliver and our training. His recalls were perfect, he got the most delicious treats and fun play with me (yummy dominos pepperoni pizza). He started for the woods once, but turned on a dime when I called him. I'm still a bit nervous to leave him off leash all the time so he hasn't earned back his privileges completely yet. But with consistent training your boy and his teenage brain can get to a solid recall. It comes down to daily training and recall reinforcement, maturity, and your dog learning there is no other option than to come to you (anything else results in fun being over) - that means don't bother training recall when your dog can run off and greet other people or dogs. Leash up in those situations. If you know your dog is going to blow you off, don't call him. Just go get him. And don't ever call your dog to you to do something negative (i.e. scold, bring him inside, leash up, etc). With my boys, I use "come on" when its time to go inside or leash up. There's a big difference, they can stroll on in and sniff along the way, whereas when I say "Home" they're both turning on a dime and sprinting to me - no matter what. 

Oh I almost forgot, if your dog does blow you off it is your responsibility to go out there and get him. Always be prepared for this, because it will help you a ton with him learning that recall isn't an option. There were a couple times when training in the yard under a lot of distraction that my boys would ignore or were slow to responding to my recall. I'd run out there in pjs and slippers in 6 inches of snow and reel them in. I only had instances like that happen maybe twice. They picked up pretty quick that if they didn't listen there'd be a monster mommy coming after them .

Hope some of this helps!


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## golfgal (Dec 31, 2013)

wow. 100 times to correct. i've read lots from ian dunbar and I thought it was important to practice when there are other dogs around so they get used to coming regardless of the distraction. so i thought i was to work up to 100% and expect to get blown off sometimes during the puppy teenage months. is this not correct or should i just not bother practicing recall when there are more than one or two dogs around?


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Brave and coaraujo wrote great posts of advice for you here. Here's my $0.02 on top:

You don't outbid distractions with a great treat, with running in the opposite direction, or with a heavy punishment. A treat is great for rewarding a successful recall, but it just won't work as a magnet to draw a dog to you. Distance is too important to a dog's senses, and if you're always waving a treat at your dog, you're basically teaching him to evaluate what you have before deciding whether he wants to come or not. You want your dog to develop the habit of coming to you, never quite knowing what awesome thing will happen when he does.

Running in the opposite direction can be helpful when you're trying to recover a dog who's slipped his lead, since it triggers a desire to chase and/or a fear that you're leaving, which can motivate a dog to return to you. It's usually a lot better than chasing the dog. But it doesn't help train the behavior if he's already distracted.

You never want to get into a bidding war with distractions where you're trying to outbid something awesome like another dog by waving a treat or by using a heavy-handed punishment. You can break through distractions with _habit_, and what builds habit is repetition and positive reinforcement. You can ingrain in a dog that "Buster, come!" means he whips his head around and runs to you, and by repeating and reinforcing that behavior, you can create a habit that's stronger than just about anything.

What breaks down a habit is being rewarded for breaking it (e.g., you call the dog and he blows you off and then self-rewards by running off to play with a dog or person). Or accidentally punishing it (e.g., you always clip the lead on and end fun time when you call your dog to you, or you grab him and force him to get petted when what he really wants is to be immediately released back to play).

Set your dog up to succeed through gradually escalating distractions. Start in the house with short distances, exciting voices, and lots of rewards. Graduate to teaching your dog to "find" family members who are out of sight in the house. Incidentally, that can be a really fun game. Everybody gets a handful of treats and runs away, and the dog's job is to find the person who's calling him for a treat, and then somebody else calls him.

Then graduate to the backyard, then to more and more distracting spaces. It's absolutely imperative that the dog not be rewarded for blowing you off, so you either need to build slowly in situations where you're 99% confident his habit is stronger than the current level of distraction, or you need to use something like a long line so you can manually prevent self-rewarding. If your dog does blow you off, for the love of pete, don't keep saying his name and/or "come." If you do that, you're teaching him that the command is optional.

Set the dog up to succeed, vary your rewards, and be sure the dog is getting what _he_ finds rewarding, not what _you_ think he _ought_ to find rewarding. For the majority of dogs, several small pieces of yummy treat in a row are a very powerful reinforcer. For others, being immediately released back to playtime is powerful. Some adore attention and petting more than anything else. Others will find a tug toy is their favorite thing. Learn your dog and how to motivate and reward him.


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## Newfywood (Jun 28, 2013)

Thank you to everyone for all your tips & advice. Looks like it's right back to basics for Buddie & I, but as you all say, practice,practice, practice. If we crack this I will be so happy. Just wish the day light hours were longer here in the UK as this hampers Buddies recall training through the week as he's limited to lead walks Monday to Friday., however we will try & remain constant with the recall training in the house & back Garden..









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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

golfgal said:


> wow. 100 times to correct. i've read lots from ian dunbar and I thought it was important to practice when there are other dogs around so they get used to coming regardless of the distraction. so i thought i was to work up to 100% and expect to get blown off sometimes during the puppy teenage months. is this not correct or should i just not bother practicing recall when there are more than one or two dogs around?


Ha! The shocker for me is when my trainer told me it takes 3,000 (!) successful repetitions to get consistent responses. And dogs don't generalize well, so 3,000 sits in the kitchen, 3,000 sits at the coffee shop, etc.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Susan Garrett has a great program called Really Reliable Recall that you can take online. There might be some youtube videos easy to find of people playing recall games.


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