We live in a world where the biggest and the best is what we aspire to having the best house the best car the best dog all counts. If we can’t have the best then sometimes we need to boast about the worst.
I have the worst poodle; the absolute worst, prove it you say? Well that Is definitely a challenge that I am up for, the only real challenge is not to use naughty words as I write his story. Take this morning for example, my awesome amazing idiot poodle does not like to be caught, he was a rescue dog with no recall when I got him and this has not improved much over the years, so I need to manage him. If I am short for time I put him on a runner, long wire so he can run and chase and play with the other dogs, but when I need to kennel him to go to work I can easily catch him. Today I am working from home so I thought, sure I will let him go free range.
To add to the story back ground I live on 5 acres with many other animals that dogs like to eat or chase, and fences that my poodles and Chihuahua can easily slide through so my dogs are kennelled when I am not there to supervise their play.
As a general rule Sassy will stay out of arm’s length but still close as he has learnt that I will not chase him. I have reduced the game. Not bought it to extinction. I have to be extremely creative to catch him, often it requires someone else being around they call him and perversely he comes to me. This morning Sassy was in the mood for naughtiness and so he ran the block. Even when the other dogs came back he did not. I ended up having to sneak around the house and close a gate behind him while he was looking for me. Then he’s like ah there you are I was just coming to find you.
As a dog trainer, having the perfect dog should be easy. Right? but honestly choosing the right dog for the right job is so important and as the manager of a rescue organisation I advocate for rescuing shelter dogs but wow sometimes we take on trouble.
Recall is one of the most difficult issues that confront people when they get their dog. We are all so keen on the idea of off lead walks and that our dog loves us and will go everywhere we go. But there’s a few steps to getting to off lead we need to consider.
- Develop a bond; are you the most important thing in your dog’s life? Do you at least have a relationship with them that has them wanting to be where you are?
- Be exciting: there are so many things to smell, insects to chase and just interesting things out there that if we are walking along playing with our phones, self-focused or just lacking flavour why would the dog choose us over the rest of the world
- Make coming back fun: I just had to call my puppy back from chasing the geese, how do I do that and make her happy to still come to me, recall needs to be positive and happy and always a reward. My poodle doesn’t want me to catch him, he has to go in the kennel, that’s a no brainer, but when I do catch him its always positive, good boy lots of affection and reward.
- Be Smarter; I always need to be smarter than my poodle, I have to think about the consequences of letting him free, do I have the time, the energy, the patience to still be positive at the end of the exercise, will he be safe?
- Practice makes perfect; be sure that you are taking every opportunity to practice recall, a long lead or a second person is useful to ensure that you have success, high value rewards, whether that is treats or cuddles and pats, reward on time every time.
- Call once: don’t call over and over and over their name will begin to mean nothing, make sure when you call your dog that you know you can get him or her to return to you, or that you can go get them and bring them to where you started from, repeatedly calling the dog and letting it go about what it is doing will only exasperate the issue.
Everything we do it is important to remember
- We give the command- here boy
- We follow through – whatever form that takes
- Then we finish the job -with reward or release.
Whatever you do, do not chase your dog, this begins a game that you will never finish even after years of hard work. Sassy knows that I won’t chase him, but that doesn’t mean he has forgotten the game.
Can’t catch them ? Then try these tried and true methods :
- Move (run) fast in the opposite direction, they won’t be far behind,
- Lay on the ground with arms and legs flapping in the air, (yes, you’ll look ridiculous but it works)
- Hide behind a tree or anything out of sight,
But be smart don’t let your dog off before you are 100% convinced that you have 100% recall, keep them safe and learn to enjoy the on-lead time with them.
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