Bomb Proof Recall

[JulesP]

Would she come to you if you were waving a dead bunny around :)

Nope, no fun in chasing something that's already dead Jules :)

That's why you wave it around so she thinks it is still alive!

She may be a greyhound but she's not that stupid :laugh:

I had to shake a live sheep at one of my dogs once. That was interesting!

Are greys allowed offlead anyhow?

[HazyWal]

Would she come to you if you were waving a dead bunny around :)

Nope, no fun in chasing something that's already dead Jules :)

That's why you wave it around so she thinks it is still alive!

She may be a greyhound but she's not that stupid :laugh:

I had to shake a live sheep at one of my dogs once. That was interesting!

Are greys allowed offlead anyhow?

It varies state to state and even Council to Council. In NSW yes in designated off lead parks and beaches in Victoria no, only on private property. I'm not sure on other states.

[huski]

IMO there is no situation where I find it acceptable for my dog not to recall, and recall IMO is defined as my dog comes every time I call, the first time I call, immediately.

If my dog didn't recall straight away or I had to call them again I would consider that a fail.

My dogs will recall off rabbits my chase, their bodies respond to my recall command before they have time to stop and think about it.

There may be 'that one time' but I test my dogs in every situation I can think of to ensure they are as reliable as I can make them.

Both my beagle and my Mals have reliable recall so I don't accept the "oh but my dog is xx breed and they can't be trained to recall" rubbish! :)

You've obviously not had much to do with greyhounds if you're calling rubbish O.o

I have and have not yet found one that can't be trained to recall.

Well you aint met my Maddie, hell would freeze over before she came back and I know her better than anyone. Out of the hundreds of greyhounds I have met I could probably say I know two with some recall but I still wouldn't say they would be 100% reliable and neither would their owners.

I meet a lot of owners who say "my dog would never recall" but again, I've yet to meet a dog we can't train to recall... But of course the owner has to be willing and able to put the work in :)

Edited April 18, 2015 by huski

[HazyWal]

IMO there is no situation where I find it acceptable for my dog not to recall, and recall IMO is defined as my dog comes every time I call, the first time I call, immediately.

If my dog didn't recall straight away or I had to call them again I would consider that a fail.

My dogs will recall off rabbits my chase, their bodies respond to my recall command before they have time to stop and think about it.

There may be 'that one time' but I test my dogs in every situation I can think of to ensure they are as reliable as I can make them.

Both my beagle and my Mals have reliable recall so I don't accept the "oh but my dog is xx breed and they can't be trained to recall" rubbish! :)

You've obviously not had much to do with greyhounds if you're calling rubbish O.o

I have and have not yet found one that can't be trained to recall.

Well you aint met my Maddie, hell would freeze over before she came back and I know her better than anyone. Out of the hundreds of greyhounds I have met I could probably say I know two with some recall but I still wouldn't say they would be 100% reliable and neither would their owners.

I meet a lot of owners who say "my dog would never recall" but again, I've yet to meet a dog we can't train to recall... But of course the owner has to be willing and able to put the work in :)

Oh of course if it failed fault would fall squarely on the owner wouldn't it? So out of interest how many greyhounds have you successfully trained to reliable recall?

[huski]

obviously the owner has to commit to training, and you've already said you wouldn't so much as try. I'm not interested in arguing with you or anyone who just wants to make excuses for why your dog isn't trainable. It's not a competition to find the most untrainable dog. If I ever find a dog that can't be trained I'll let you know.

[Stressmagnet]

Um, before this escalates, I'd like to thank everyone for their input. I don't have a DVD player (gasp!) so I'll have to miss out on what seems to be an excellent resource.

However, you've given me some great ideas. I'm going to head out with Ernie this arvo with a pocket full of cheese and train him to come to the 'cheese' command. He's already figured out I cannot chase him with my knee - so 'come' has already become ingrained in his wily head as 'come if you want a treat'. In other words, optional. I really like the idea of making the command so hard wired that he salivates. So cheese it is.

[HazyWal]

obviously the owner has to commit to training, and you've already said you wouldn't so much as try. I'm not interested in arguing with you or anyone who just wants to make excuses for why your dog isn't trainable. It's not a competition to find the most untrainable dog. If I ever find a dog that can't be trained I'll let you know.

Number of greyhounds?

I'm not arguing with you I'm questioning your bold statement that all greyhounds can be taught, by you, reliable recall. I'm not interested in if you ever find a dog that can't be trained, I'm interested in how many greyhounds YOU have trained and so are many other greyhound owners that are reading this interesting claim on a public forum. I didn't say it was a competition and becoming defensive is not very professional now is it? I'm not making excuses for my greyhounds as I said, I know them better than anyone and no I wouldn't risk injury or death to them just so I could say they had perfect recall. That would be plain old irresponsible.

[kayla1]

The notion of 100% recall for every dog is not only unrealistic, but downright dangerous. As Denise Fenzi said, believing your dog has 100% recall is a great way to end up with a dead or injured dog.

I've used TID when training recall with my dogs, which has been fantastic, but I'd be deluded if I thought they would recall 100% of the time. There is no way I would knowingly place them in danger by allowing them off lead in unsafe areas. One of my dogs is very small and very fast, and wouldn't stand a chance with a car. So they are only off lead in secure areas.

Far too many dogs, many whose owners mistakenly believe their dogs have 'perfect recall' and 'wouldn't go anywhere', end up under the wheels of cars.

Lots of good tips already. Have fun with your training, Stressmagnet.

[huski]

Lol, I'm not being defensive.

If I said I had trained 590 greyhounds to recall reliably, you'd still say "but it wouldn't work on my dog". People who are only interested in proving why training wouldn't work will never get results.

[Stressmagnet]

Hey folks:

1. This isn't another greyhound thread. It's a thread asking about 100% reliable recall training.

2. Thank you for letting me know that there's no such thing, and for the tips and ideas. I'm finding them helpful, and I'm sure other owners who have pups will find them helpful too.

3. Can this NOT turn into another bun fight thread?

[Kavik]

Um, before this escalates, I'd like to thank everyone for their input. I don't have a DVD player (gasp!) so I'll have to miss out on what seems to be an excellent resource.

However, you've given me some great ideas. I'm going to head out with Ernie this arvo with a pocket full of cheese and train him to come to the 'cheese' command. He's already figured out I cannot chase him with my knee - so 'come' has already become ingrained in his wily head as 'come if you want a treat'. In other words, optional. I really like the idea of making the command so hard wired that he salivates. So cheese it is.

Does your computer have a DVD drive? Most do? You can watch DVDs on your computer :)

[Roova]

I don't look at training a reliable recall as a reason to let my dog wander off lead but as something which may save her life one day. My first dog in my youth ran across four lanes of traffic to say 'hello' to another dog and I never ever want to go through that again.

I have a terrier now and could easily have said why bother, she's only going to be interested in chasing something or where her nose leads her but a minute or two each day practicing and I feel confident she'd recall out of danger.

There's no way I wouldn't have tried though. I'll do whatever I have to do to teach her this behaviour. I'm not asking her not to be a terrier just come when I say come.

[Stressmagnet]

I don't look at training a reliable recall as a reason to let my dog wander off lead but as something which may save her life one day. My first dog in my youth ran across four lanes of traffic to say 'hello' to another dog and I never ever want to go through that again.

I have a terrier now and could easily have said why bother, she's only going to be interested in chasing something or where her nose leads her but a minute or two each day practicing and I feel confident she'd recall out of danger.

There's no way I wouldn't have tried though. I'll do whatever I have to do to teach her this behaviour. I'm not asking her not to be a terrier just come when I say come.

Or come when I say 'cheese'?

I definitely want to have something which motivates Ernie to come instantly. And I'm not going to give up.

[HazyWal]

Hey folks:

1. This isn't another greyhound thread. It's a thread asking about 100% reliable recall training.

2. Thank you for letting me know that there's no such thing, and for the tips and ideas. I'm finding them helpful, and I'm sure other owners who have pups will find them helpful too.

3. Can this NOT turn into another bun fight thread?

Um yes that's correct it's a thread asking about recall training, my breed is greyhound, I didn't realise we were excluded from the discussion.

[Stressmagnet]

Hey folks:

1. This isn't another greyhound thread. It's a thread asking about 100% reliable recall training.

2. Thank you for letting me know that there's no such thing, and for the tips and ideas. I'm finding them helpful, and I'm sure other owners who have pups will find them helpful too.

3. Can this NOT turn into another bun fight thread?

Um yes that's correct it's a thread asking about recall training, my breed is greyhound, I didn't realise we were excluded from the discussion.

You're not. But neither is it a thread debating whether greys can be trained to recall and then arguing back and forth.

Happy to have your input, just don't see the need for arguments taking over the thread.

Apologies if I worded it badly or excluded you. I shouldn't have been so blunt.

[huski]

The notion of 100% recall for every dog is not only unrealistic, but downright dangerous. As Denise Fenzi said, believing your dog has 100% recall is a great way to end up with a dead or injured dog.

I've used TID when training recall with my dogs, which has been fantastic, but I'd be deluded if I thought they would recall 100% of the time. There is no way I would knowingly place them in danger by allowing them off lead in unsafe areas. One of my dogs is very small and very fast, and wouldn't stand a chance with a car. So they are only off lead in secure areas.

Far too many dogs, many whose owners mistakenly believe their dogs have 'perfect recall' and 'wouldn't go anywhere', end up under the wheels of cars.

Lots of good tips already. Have fun with your training, Stressmagnet.

I wouldn't let my dogs off leash in dangerous area either, but accidents can happen so I train recall to the highest level of reliability anyway.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Lemme see if I can sum up the dvd...

It involves treats that your dog loves...

You may have to reduce the size of his dinner for while.

First you have to have control over the environment - so the DVD suggests starting at home - in the house... I might have to review it for details

but essentially - it's like physio - you do three recalls in the house with a new word for recall not a previously broken one eg "Beer" (sounds a bit like here)...

say word when dog is already headed your way, when dog arrives feed it cheese - try to drag the reward out for 30 seconds telling the dog how insanely clever he is... 30 seconds is a really long time but Afghans can be a bit slow on the uptake.

Do this three times a day. Do not use your special word any other time than when you're sure the dog is already coming.

You can train a less reliable every day recall word as well but don't break your Beer.

You need to get about 100 perfect responses in a row (record keeping anyone?) before you try the word in a less controlled space. Takes about a month if you're doing the three times a day.

And when you've got your super recall word - you need to maintain the training - maybe not 3x a day but fairly often - otherwise instinct drift will win. If your dog has a natural tendancy to nick off - you will need to train for the rest of it's life - intermittently.

I will watch the dvd again and check - but that's the gist of it.

The hard part is doing the 3 times a day - which is why my dog responds so well to the fridge door opening - cos that's where the good treats live.

You can prime your house ahead of time and put some treats in the telly room, in the bathroom, in the kitchen... or out on the sulo bin etc.

Start in the house, then the back yard then the front yard (on lead)... then a small fenced space that isn't home eg inside a friends house or yard... a neighbourhood public tennis court (is Adelaide the only place that has these?) - make it fun, and drag the reward out for 30 seconds, 3 repeats per day).

[Stressmagnet]

Awesome! Thanks RB! I can easily add this to his nighttime training routine - I use the ads on the telly to time my training with him.

And since 'come' is broken, (for now), I'll find a new word.

He'll love the newness of a new 'trick', I think.

[JulesP]

'Come' for me is a formal recall. I use 'here', if I mean get your bums back but I don't care how you position yourself once back. They usually return to heel, which makes me look like a super trainer

[Jemmy]

I've been playing around on the long line this last week, Luna seems to have a distance of about 10m and then she'll stop and wait, or run to catch up with me. I've been rewarding for her choosing to return to me, this coming week I'll add in the at home training Mrs RB just mentioned - sounds like a great building block :)

Edited April 19, 2015 by Jemmy