beginings of a good recall

[jacksdad]

Went to a new beach today. One of the locals "only" beaches. not that non locals aren't welcome, it's just not a beach that your typical day tourists would be interested in. well, 5 minutes after getting there I thought maybe I had made a bad choice. technically dogs are supposed to be on leash, but of the probably 30+ dogs running around only 4 had leashes. and that includes Jack. but it worked out, 95% of the dogs keep to them self, only a few initiated "hello" and only 2 ran bee line to Jack. which of course meant stepping into the "breach" on Jacks behalf so they had to get through me first. One was a big ol' doberman *gulp*.

Anyway, I had him on his 15 foot lead and letting it drag. he stayed close and was willing to walk way from the few dogs that he said hello to and was willing to not try and say hello to most. and his body language indicated he was ok so I went ahead and stayed at the beach for his evening walk. When as we hit the end of the beach and started to head back to the car Jack decided he wanted to move closer to a dog, being that he would hit the end of the leash and still not be able to the dog I called out

"Jack...HERE"

He spun on a dime. came running back. I have never seen a crisper, no hesitation change of direction from him EVER.... and this was away from another dog on top of it.

When he got to me it was jackpot time and lots of praise...I can tell by the way he walked for the next few minutes that he got the message that he had done right.

oh, and I got a brief look at what he might be like off leash. he and a mini pincher decided to play some chase and the leash got jerked out of my hand. being that he was the one being chased (his favorite game) he could have taken off down the beach. nope, he stayed close and just ran in a circle around me and other pincher's owner. this was the only time the leash was tight/pulled.

so...keep a lose leash (except to play with that pincher) even though he didn't have to, willingly walked away from other dogs, only looked at most, and came on cue in the high 90 percentile.... I am sooooo proud of him.

[Fundog]

Awesome! There is NO WAY I can let my two off lead (or even drag the lead) in our local park right now. Way too many exciting things to go running off to investigate.

[Mattie]

Well done Jack and Jack's dad, I love these success stories because their owners have worked hard with their dogs to get the successes.

Long lines not only help us teach our dogs, it gives us more confidence to let our dogs have more freedom. Even though my dogs have good recalls, I still use long lines if I don't know the area.

[Noobs]

WOW, well done!

woo hoo!!!

[Fundog]

Well done Jack and Jack's dad, I love these success stories because their owners have worked hard with their dogs to get the successes.

Long lines not only help us teach our dogs, it gives us more confidence to let our dogs have more freedom. Even though my dogs have good recalls, I still use long lines if I don't know the area.

That's reassuring to know, Mattie. Since our move I've had to start all over again with Dottie. I just recently graduated her to trailing a long line in our back yard while she goes potty and explores. Every where else, including the front yard, the lead is in my hand. It's comforting for me to know that backslides do happen, and recall is something we have to practice constantly.

[jacksdad]

I am loving the long leads. I have a 15 foot and a 30. using mostly the 15 right now. and recall is something I have been working on a few weeks now.

I am really hoping to be able to let jack off leash when safe, but the long leads really make for not only good training tools, but a nice compromise. when it's safe and when I can, I just let it drag and let Jack do what he wants...with in reason of course.

I suspect that no matter how good his recall gets, he will never be one of those dogs I can walk down the side walk with an not ever have to worry that he won't bolt after a bird, squirrel, dog, etc. But, that is ok, we are learning to use the long lead and working on his recall for when it is safe for him to be off leash.

[Noobs]

I hear you, jacksdad.

It seemed like everywhere I went in Europe on vacation last month, I saw people walking their dogs off leash, on sidewalks in urban neighborhoods, in open fields (during those long train rides), etc. I saw dogs getting on subways and buses (they sell "1/2 tickets" for dogs!). I saw dogs walking along and keeping one eye on their owner, and with a single hand gesture go darting to get in position to the owner's left side at crosswalks.

Murphy will never be like that, and Jack may not either. But long line training is very encouraging in a different way. I have yet to drop the long line when I use it on Murphy because our parks are too close to the street traffic for me to do that. But seeing him about-face and run toward me when I call him feels pretty darn good.

[josie1918]

Jacksdad and Noobs, just out of curiosity since we all seem to have the dreaded "squirrel, cat etc problem" Do your dogs just enjoy chasing these creatures, or do they kill them? I absolutely won't EVER trust Sam off lead anywhere that is not fenced in because he kills things I am curious if those that are serial killers like mine tune out more, or if it is the actual chase that tunes out the recall. Oh then there is Fritz one of my dachshunds that will give you an indecent hand gesture if you try to call him back I don't let him off hte lead either

[Fundog]

This morning I took the girls out on the front lawn and gave them each a nice juicy rib bone (with lots of meat on still). They were just going to work on those when Annie spied a squirrel tight-walking the power line. She forgot all about her bone, and never took her eyes off that squirrel. Even when it finally climbed down the back side of a big tree, still she kept her eyes on the tree, in case the squirrel came back. Meanwhile, Dottie finished her bone and set to work on Annie's. Annie didn't care one iota. We tried and tried to get her attention back on her bone and off that squirrel, to no avail. And yes, if she could have caught that squirrel, I have no doubt in my mind that she would have killed it-- and been right proud of herself for doing so, too!

[Noobs]

Josie, Murphy has never had a chance to actually catch a cat/squirrel so I don't know if he'd actually kill one. I really don't want to find out.

[jacksdad]

I have no idea what Jack would do being I really don't have anywhere I feel safe letting him of the leash yet.

but, what little chasing he has done with squirrels/birds while on leash...I think its more instinct and thrill of the chase. soon as the bird/squirrel ducks into a bush, he loses interest if the bush is thick enough, but knowing him if he learned he can get into the bush, it won't stop him any longer.

would he kill it.....unknown. if he did, it's not the end of the world, he would just be being a dogie.

[josie1918]

I too think it is just chasing instinct, but wonder if mine is more intense cause he wants to kill it, or just that he is an intense dog. I agree he is being a dog, but the neighbor ladies cat doesn't see it that way The squirrels, rabbits and oppossums I don't care about. It is just other peoples pets, while yes, her cat should be in her yard, or in her house, people are people and I know she loves her cat. So...........

[Fundog]

Now I do know that Annie is not interested in actually killing cats-- she will just chase it until either the cat becomes very boring, or she becomes tired. And if she is on leash when she is cat-hunting mode, I can call her off and get her to refocus back on me and our walk.

However, since both she and Dottie have successfully chased, cornered, and killed a rabbit together, I know they are in prey mode when they see "game." And since they are bred to hunt, and I have a goal to go hunting when the season opens up again, I have no desire to suppress that drive. Instead, I will just keep them on leash when it is not okay to go hunting. Lol, poor little Dottie Monster has the hunting bug bad, though. This morning it took everything I could think of to get her away from the windows and front door to come and eat her breakfast! And as soon as she finished, she went right back to the window!

[josie1918]

Fundog, you just don't know how much "fun" a really strong prey drive can be!!! Until you have experienced hitting the ground with a loud thud, and the rush of finding yourself moving across the ground at a good rate of speed, grass, sticks and insects in your teeth as you are trying to get a hairy dogs backside to turn around and focus. Tell ya what, you are more than welcome to Sam's prey drive Gotta love the premiere easy walk harness.

[Fundog]

Oh my gosh, Josie, that actually did happen to me-- well not the bugs in my teeth part, lol-- last year I was walking the girls at our favorite unfinished subdivision, at night, in the dark. Dottie flushed a rabbit and ran after it, taking me completely by surprise. As she dragged me over the curb, I lost my footing and, to prevent a face plant, landed rather hard on my knee. This 40 lb. little "dog of prey" actually managed to drag me two feet, in the dirt. All I could do was lay there and weigh her down as best I could. I was limping for a couple of days after that.