Recall Tips for Friendliest Dog in the World...?
Discussion
Hi all,
Got an 8 month old golden retriever (girl) and she's largely the perfect dog, great nature, very gentle, doesn't chew walls/furniture, been toilet trained for months with no accidents, sleeps well, obeys most commands (sit, lie down, wait, stay, stop, mat, bed etc)......
In general, if out with no one around she stays fairly close and her recall is good, however, when she spots a dog or person in the distance she goes completely deaf and takes off, even if it's a dog that clearly doesn't want to play!
For the most time she only gets off lead when it's playing with the local pups or I can see no one around.... When I spot someone in the distance back on the lead she goes.... Problem is twice in recent times she's ran over to people on their own and unlucky they've both been terrified as she also likes to compound the issue by leaping up. I know she is bouncing hyper for attention but she's already big (about 22kg lean) and I'm guessing sprinting flat out and jumping up is pretty intimidating!
I'll put in at this point I fully accept she's my responsibility and if she takes off to another dog/person I'm being negligent, try to be as aware as possible and it's only happened twice in several months.... I also don't want to always have her on the lead as think it'll make the issue worse any time she does get off.
In terms of training we've done 2 diets of 6 training classes and like I say she actually excels, very smart and when I have her attention incredibly obedient.... When she see's dogs in particular she just doesn't hear anything, no prick of the ears or anything to her name, "come", whistling etc.
Do regular recall training and often with high value treats like chicken breast or hot dog, same result, no distraction she's perfect, distraction she is deaf!
So, key questions I'm keen to get some input from the experienced dog owners on, especially if you have golden experience;
1 - is the tactic of having her off lead when I can control it majority of the time right, or should she be on until trusted to teach her?
2 - any advice on treats, training, tricks etc to help?
3 - my wife things doing whistle training might help but I'm not convinced, think it's an added confusion and like I say she seems to ignore her training as opposed to not understand.... Worth trying on an older pup?
I know there are worse issues to have with dogs and she's still young but worry the local dog owners will think we're idiots plus there is a potential she'll take off towards the wrong dog at some point and it'll be my fault!
Any input appreciated!
Chris
Got an 8 month old golden retriever (girl) and she's largely the perfect dog, great nature, very gentle, doesn't chew walls/furniture, been toilet trained for months with no accidents, sleeps well, obeys most commands (sit, lie down, wait, stay, stop, mat, bed etc)......
In general, if out with no one around she stays fairly close and her recall is good, however, when she spots a dog or person in the distance she goes completely deaf and takes off, even if it's a dog that clearly doesn't want to play!
For the most time she only gets off lead when it's playing with the local pups or I can see no one around.... When I spot someone in the distance back on the lead she goes.... Problem is twice in recent times she's ran over to people on their own and unlucky they've both been terrified as she also likes to compound the issue by leaping up. I know she is bouncing hyper for attention but she's already big (about 22kg lean) and I'm guessing sprinting flat out and jumping up is pretty intimidating!
I'll put in at this point I fully accept she's my responsibility and if she takes off to another dog/person I'm being negligent, try to be as aware as possible and it's only happened twice in several months.... I also don't want to always have her on the lead as think it'll make the issue worse any time she does get off.
In terms of training we've done 2 diets of 6 training classes and like I say she actually excels, very smart and when I have her attention incredibly obedient.... When she see's dogs in particular she just doesn't hear anything, no prick of the ears or anything to her name, "come", whistling etc.
Do regular recall training and often with high value treats like chicken breast or hot dog, same result, no distraction she's perfect, distraction she is deaf!
So, key questions I'm keen to get some input from the experienced dog owners on, especially if you have golden experience;
1 - is the tactic of having her off lead when I can control it majority of the time right, or should she be on until trusted to teach her?
2 - any advice on treats, training, tricks etc to help?
3 - my wife things doing whistle training might help but I'm not convinced, think it's an added confusion and like I say she seems to ignore her training as opposed to not understand.... Worth trying on an older pup?
I know there are worse issues to have with dogs and she's still young but worry the local dog owners will think we're idiots plus there is a potential she'll take off towards the wrong dog at some point and it'll be my fault!
Any input appreciated!
Chris
Hmm, lots of things happening here but I'll make some observations. I'm not a trainer but have always had dogs. Young dogs really need to stretch their legs and when calmer are more trainable. Your dog see's other dogs as being far more fun then yourself or your wife. Can you up your game some of the time? Reward training is just that, a training method and you can't really feed the dog treats or hand out rewards every time it comes back to you. Nor should you use bribery. At some stage the dog needs to realise that a recall must be acted upon immediately. Oh, never issue repeat commands as the dog soon learns it can ignore them.
Maybe do some training whilst using a flexi lead? If the dog ignores the recall you can give the lead a tug and insist it comes back to you. Always finish training on a positive note :-) Play is a good reward. HTH.
Maybe do some training whilst using a flexi lead? If the dog ignores the recall you can give the lead a tug and insist it comes back to you. Always finish training on a positive note :-) Play is a good reward. HTH.
2 Goldens here, same problem. My 3 year old b
h is a bit better than my 6 year old dog, she tends to just run around the people. Dog wants to meet and greet everyone and everything most of the time.
Whistle training helps a bit, you've also got to stay really close to him, if you're less than 10 feet away there's a high chance of him doing what he's told. Keeps me fit running after the daft beggar if nothing else
I think it's a Golden thing, they're just too damn friendly 😀
h is a bit better than my 6 year old dog, she tends to just run around the people. Dog wants to meet and greet everyone and everything most of the time.Whistle training helps a bit, you've also got to stay really close to him, if you're less than 10 feet away there's a high chance of him doing what he's told. Keeps me fit running after the daft beggar if nothing else
I think it's a Golden thing, they're just too damn friendly 😀
You should have a dog like mine, every time she sees a dog (even if its miles away) she wants up (its her love of heights really 
)
Max has not encountered any mad dogs (unlike the chocolate brown Lab that if it sees Lottie, runs over to investigate and play, just seems to be a Lab/Retriever thing).
) Max has not encountered any mad dogs (unlike the chocolate brown Lab that if it sees Lottie, runs over to investigate and play, just seems to be a Lab/Retriever thing).
Boosted LS1 said:
Do any of you think a welsh sheep dog would ignore a recall? It's got naff all to do with tit bits. The dog is like a child, it needs to know who is in charge, not who pets it. Treat it like a dog, not your friend, cuddly cockerpoo, toy etc.
You are totally right, dogs are like children except to train a dog is virtually impossible if you dont use treats as a reward for when they come to you. Very few dogs will willingly return to you unless they get something for it, this is why you start with treats and praise, eventually you will just need praise and after that its up to you. I didnt need treats for Lottie, all she wanted was a hug and to swipe my hanky!! Max requires treats as he is still a little "deaf" when it comes to returning, its THE easiest and most basic method to train a dog.Thanks for the input folks..... Sounds like I'm doing a lot of the right things and will continue to work at it, hopefully as she matures and we continue with the training things will improve although does sound a slight breed trait!
I'm going to have a chat with the trainer who took our classes regarding any additional training work and her advice on the whistle, know she uses one for her dog.
To answer a couple of specific points;
- we do try and make us more interesting, tried ball, favourite toy, allowing her to wrestle and jump up while playing etc, running alongside....all temporary measures that are over shadowed by any dog sadly. Worth noting she is very much "my" dog in all other ways
- while I kind of agree regarding the sheepdog point, couple of counter points. 1) sheepdog(s) are selected for breed and also specific pups I the litters as they show the right traits. 2) she's not a perfectly trained working dog, nor do I want her to be, she's our family pet and my 4 year olds dog too...she's not overly pampered and she'll be out hill walking, wild camping and running with me when she is old enough but again as my companion. 3) would you want a perfectly trained working sheep dog to play with your 4 year old (under supervision)?
I'll report back on a few months, likely tearing my hair out! :-)
Chris
I'm going to have a chat with the trainer who took our classes regarding any additional training work and her advice on the whistle, know she uses one for her dog.
To answer a couple of specific points;
- we do try and make us more interesting, tried ball, favourite toy, allowing her to wrestle and jump up while playing etc, running alongside....all temporary measures that are over shadowed by any dog sadly. Worth noting she is very much "my" dog in all other ways
- while I kind of agree regarding the sheepdog point, couple of counter points. 1) sheepdog(s) are selected for breed and also specific pups I the litters as they show the right traits. 2) she's not a perfectly trained working dog, nor do I want her to be, she's our family pet and my 4 year olds dog too...she's not overly pampered and she'll be out hill walking, wild camping and running with me when she is old enough but again as my companion. 3) would you want a perfectly trained working sheep dog to play with your 4 year old (under supervision)?
I'll report back on a few months, likely tearing my hair out! :-)
Chris
Edited by chris_c201 on Sunday 16th April 08:30
The Total Recall book wasn't much help to us, Goldens aren't especially food oriented so treats aren't much use.
The whistle was the best thing, you need to stick with it and be consistent. We use 1 blast for stop, 2 for here. Used in conjunction with a long line at first helped.
Whistles are not all the same either, the Acme 211.5 is the best for gun dogs. Amazon sells them.
We stay in the Highlands so it's not a big issue, we don't meet that many people when we go out, which probably makes it more of an event when we do meet someone:-)
The whistle was the best thing, you need to stick with it and be consistent. We use 1 blast for stop, 2 for here. Used in conjunction with a long line at first helped.
Whistles are not all the same either, the Acme 211.5 is the best for gun dogs. Amazon sells them.
We stay in the Highlands so it's not a big issue, we don't meet that many people when we go out, which probably makes it more of an event when we do meet someone:-)
Our cockerpoo was like this, a bundle of completely unstoppable overfriendliness - food or called instruction didn't have any effect whatsoever.
Tried training with treats - 'come' and arm vertical holding a treat, and if she was already distracted it was a waste of time.
Then she was spayed and serious greediness kicked in, a complete change of reward/results, so during off-lead walks I now keep treats in my pocket - I can usually get her to respond just by calling once to get her to look back at my raised arm.
Tried training with treats - 'come' and arm vertical holding a treat, and if she was already distracted it was a waste of time.
Then she was spayed and serious greediness kicked in, a complete change of reward/results, so during off-lead walks I now keep treats in my pocket - I can usually get her to respond just by calling once to get her to look back at my raised arm.
I don't have any real knowledge of Golden Retrievers, but I'd say this behavior is fairly normal for an 8 month old pup. Obedience and control are two very different things, so while some people may have an obedient dog, are they really under control? Obedience can be taught from a young age, but control comes with time and isn't taught.
Our male (not a retriever) was unpredictable until he was about 2 years old. We trained him in Shutzhund and he was very good with potential to compete internationally. While his obedience was pretty damned good, control was a different story altogether! Whether it was out on the field or just out on a walk, every now and again he'd sometimes just bugger off! This use to frustrate the hell out of us as he'll do anything and everything you ask but would randomly break command and do his own thing. Approaching people / dogs was always an issue and it wouldn't matter if you had his favourite toy or a kilo of Liver cake, you weren't on his radar and he didn't care.
The thing with the training we've done is that we never tell the dog to 'stay'. If you tell a dog to sit, lay down, heel or whatever, it means you keep doing that until the human tells you that you can break command so the dog understands that he should be doing whatever the last command was until told otherwise so running off isn't an option and against the rules. Despite having a well trained dog, the running off thing was a constant source of irritation! The only thing that really changed was our hyper-playful dog got older and grew up.
As your dog sounds playful and super friendly, I'd say that as the dog gets older and learns self control, this will become less of a problem. He's only a pup so expect this kind of behavior if he's that way inclined. A long training line can always be used to help round him up!
Our male (not a retriever) was unpredictable until he was about 2 years old. We trained him in Shutzhund and he was very good with potential to compete internationally. While his obedience was pretty damned good, control was a different story altogether! Whether it was out on the field or just out on a walk, every now and again he'd sometimes just bugger off! This use to frustrate the hell out of us as he'll do anything and everything you ask but would randomly break command and do his own thing. Approaching people / dogs was always an issue and it wouldn't matter if you had his favourite toy or a kilo of Liver cake, you weren't on his radar and he didn't care.
The thing with the training we've done is that we never tell the dog to 'stay'. If you tell a dog to sit, lay down, heel or whatever, it means you keep doing that until the human tells you that you can break command so the dog understands that he should be doing whatever the last command was until told otherwise so running off isn't an option and against the rules. Despite having a well trained dog, the running off thing was a constant source of irritation! The only thing that really changed was our hyper-playful dog got older and grew up.
As your dog sounds playful and super friendly, I'd say that as the dog gets older and learns self control, this will become less of a problem. He's only a pup so expect this kind of behavior if he's that way inclined. A long training line can always be used to help round him up!
Our 5 year old female Golden Retriever is very similar.
If something gets her attention, normally birds like swifts flying along at a lowish level or Willie Wagtails (widespread Australian small bird) she appears to be completely deaf and will chase them for a good 20 minutes before deciding to come back. On more than one occasion she has come back to get a drink then gone down to the sports fields again to chase them some more!
She is generally pretty good with most things but if she gets focused on something specific she will not respond to calls, and may as well be completely deaf.
She is not interested in food in the slightest so that doesn't help.
I may get a whistle as mentioned above.
If something gets her attention, normally birds like swifts flying along at a lowish level or Willie Wagtails (widespread Australian small bird) she appears to be completely deaf and will chase them for a good 20 minutes before deciding to come back. On more than one occasion she has come back to get a drink then gone down to the sports fields again to chase them some more!
She is generally pretty good with most things but if she gets focused on something specific she will not respond to calls, and may as well be completely deaf.
She is not interested in food in the slightest so that doesn't help.
I may get a whistle as mentioned above.
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