Ugh...recall failure

[Kaiser2012]

I realize I set myself up for failure here, so it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Every morning Kaiser gets SUPER excited to go outside, not only to potty but also because its training time. He loves playing fetch, so I intermix that with some basic ob stuff. Its all off leash unless we are walking through the neighborhood on a walk. During the off leash portion, this is generally what will happen. I do some focus work, sits and downs, waits, stays, and recalls. We do this sometimes in the afternoon as well.

I've had several people comment on how well Kaiser listens to me and how they could never let their dogs off leash like I do. Well, Kaise HAS always listened to me, because I always had something he wanted.

Except this morning.

His girlfriend came out (she's a cute GSD/Chow/Golden mix) and they played for a little while. I brought out a new fetch toy, his Kong, to see if I could build up some interest in it (I normally use a ball). After ignoring the Kong and going for a stick, he didn't realize that his girlfriend and her person had walked off. All of a sudden, he perks up, figures out where they are (across the parking lot and around the side of a building) and he TAKES OFF running.

I tried to restrain myself but I couldn't help it. I yelled "NO" Kaiser, "COME!" Ugh...3 strikes right there. I gave him a free ticket to ignore the "no" command, I used his name during a[n] [attempted] correction, and I gave him a free ticket to ignore the "come" command. Ugh ugh ugh

I will say, I only use "here" command during obedience work. "come" is used the rest of the time. I want him to be able to differentiate when we are "working" (when he has to be serious and focused) and the rest of the time (not that I DON'T want him being focused, because I do! But I'm talking about the focus you get in a heel or watch command versus the dog behaving in a non-obedience setting, such as while in the house or just on a regular walk). At any rate, I refrained from using "here" because I didn't want to ruin that command.

Oh, and I should add that his recalls with "here" during ob are awesome (his sit at the end is too far away and cockeyed, but at least he comes tearing after me at full speed). Same with "here", though I don't use it during obedience, he still understands that I want him to come to me.

I realize I should have him on a long line (which I don't currently have) and I realize that I should have KNOWN he would do this sooner or later. I was just so proud that he always ignored other dogs/people if I asked him to, and even in some scenarios where he would run toward them he would still come back to me if I used my "mean" voice (and I would reward him with the ball so he knew it was a good thing to come back).

Sigh...so did I just ruin my dog? Any suggestions, aside from a long line?

[llombardo]

In one of my classes we were taught to come up with a word that would be for emergency recall. Its the only time that particular word is used and when training the treats are of the highest value. All three of mine picked up on it pretty well. The golden was clear across the room heading toward playing with another dog and when he heard the word, he stopped in his tracks and came right to me. You train this, you practice this, and you practice it some more. I will tell you that a dog should have a 100% recall before its off leash and I personally don't believe that a recall can ever be 100%(but that is just me)

[Kaiser2012]

I like that idea. What word do you use? And what treats? Kaiser is ultra sensitive to most treats so I use his kibble for everything. I'm transitioning to the ball for obedience but still use treats ie kibble while inn public

[Zeeva]

Originally Posted by Kaiser2012

Sigh...so did I just ruin my dog?

Yes. Now can I have him pwease

No, but in all honesty, I think you're doing fine from all your posts . It seems we all have mishaps here and there so don't stress so much over it. Recall has been one of THE most difficult things to teach for us and you're lucky at this point that Kaiser has a pretty good grip of it despite one setback...IMO he's already forgotten and it won't effect future situations. But to be on the safe side, you're right about having a long line...

[Kyleigh]

LMAO You so did not ruin your dog!!!! But if you really think so, give him to Zeeva, she needs another puppy!!!!

Seriously - now you know. There is ALWAYS a point when you are working with your puppy where something else is WAY MORE important than you! It happens, it's life, chalk it up to ... ok, this is the stage we're at ... move on.

Llombardo gave some great advice, EXCEPT - and this is MY brag ... Kyleigh's recall is PERFECT at 17 months. An example - she is chasing a squirrel with her other dog friend, and I call her back to me, and she INSTANTLY turns and comes flying back to me. She is the first dog I've ever had (or worked with) whose recall is so amazing. I have tested her a number of times in loads of situations ... and she has NEVER failed a recall yet! BUT I will cross my fingers and see what happens as she matures LOL

Good luck, and don't beat yourself up about it ... people do WAAAY worse than you've done (which was pretty much nothing in my mind) and their dogs are still fine!

[Zeeva]

Originally Posted by Kyleigh

LMAO You so did not ruin your dog!!!! But if you really think so, give him to Zeeva, she needs another puppy!!!!

Seriously - now you know. There is ALWAYS a point when you are working with your puppy where something else is WAY MORE important than you! It happens, it's life, chalk it up to ... ok, this is the stage we're at ... move on.

Llombardo gave some great advice, EXCEPT - and this is MY brag ... Kyleigh's recall is PERFECT at 17 months. An example - she is chasing a squirrel with her other dog friend, and I call her back to me, and she INSTANTLY turns and comes flying back to me. She is the first dog I've ever had (or worked with) whose recall is so amazing. I have tested her a number of times in loads of situations ... and she has NEVER failed a recall yet! BUT I will cross my fingers and see what happens as she matures LOL

Good luck, and don't beat yourself up about it ... people do WAAAY worse than you've done (which was pretty much nothing in my mind) and their dogs are still fine!

I was hoping you'd comment on this thread. You've given really good advice about training recall before. I wasn't going to steal your thunder, but I remember you saying that the way you practiced it was at the dog park. Where if she didn't listen you'd bring her back to you and make her watch the other doggies play for about 10 minutes then release her and try her recall again...I think that was fabulous...

[Kyleigh]

Thanks Zeeva ... feel free to steal my thunder LOL I'm a sharing type of person and don't mind at all!!!! Do you really want another puppy? ha ha ha

[Kaiser2012]

Originally Posted by Zeeva

Yes. Now can I have him pwease

No, but in all honesty, I think you're doing fine from all your posts . It seems we all have mishaps here and there so don't stress so much over it. Recall has been one of THE most difficult things to teach for us and you're lucky at this point that Kaiser has a pretty good grip of it despite one setback...IMO he's already forgotten and it won't effect future situations. But to be on the safe side, you're right about having a long line...

Lol joint custody?

Originally Posted by Kyleigh

LMAO You so did not ruin your dog!!!! But if you really think so, give him to Zeeva, she needs another puppy!!!!

Seriously - now you know. There is ALWAYS a point when you are working with your puppy where something else is WAY MORE important than you! It happens, it's life, chalk it up to ... ok, this is the stage we're at ... move on.

Llombardo gave some great advice, EXCEPT - and this is MY brag ... Kyleigh's recall is PERFECT at 17 months. An example - she is chasing a squirrel with her other dog friend, and I call her back to me, and she INSTANTLY turns and comes flying back to me. She is the first dog I've ever had (or worked with) whose recall is so amazing. I have tested her a number of times in loads of situations ... and she has NEVER failed a recall yet! BUT I will cross my fingers and see what happens as she matures LOL

Good luck, and don't beat yourself up about it ... people do WAAAY worse than you've done (which was pretty much nothing in my mind) and their dogs are still fine!

How did you train this? Kaiser will respond that way if I have afrisbee...maybe I should always carry one? Lol

Originally Posted by Zeeva

I was hoping you'd comment on this thread. You've given really good advice about training recall before. I wasn't going to steal your thunder, but I remember you saying that the way you practiced it was at the dog park. Where if she didn't listen you'd bring her back to you and make her watch the other doggies play for about 10 minutes then release her and try her recall again...I think that was fabulous...

Hmm I've done this when he has a reactive moment to another male and it *sometimes* works. I think he got into a zone I was unable to snap him out of this moribund. That little. Stinker!

[Kyleigh]

Up until Kyleigh was about 5-6 months old, recall was a cinch – she’s a puppy and puppy’s want to be near their owners! And then of course, they discover freedom!


Once Kyleigh knows the commands, I do A LOT of my training at the off leash park near where I live. It’s a HUGE park with trails, woods, water, and about a million squirrels. I am NOT in a small dog park like I’ve read about on here, so please keep that in mind when I talk about how I worked with this.


The first time she gave me the finger was actually quite funny (and similar to your story). She was playing with a puppy and they were moving further and further on the path and I couldn’t see her anymore. I finally saw her, called her to me and she turned, looked at me, looked at the puppy, looked at me and BOLTED.


Personally, I cracked up laughing and looked at my friend and said – and so it begins … the taste of freedom has emerged!


Instead of chasing / screaming / calling her, etc. my friend and I simply followed them. When we got close she came right up to me, I clipped her leash on her and my friend and I walked back to a more populated area.


We stayed about 10-15 feet away from where a couple of dogs were playing (friends of Kyleigh’s LOL) and I put her in a sit, kept the leash on her and we stood there. My expectation was that she had to sit there for 5 minutes without being a brat (lunging to get at her friends, mouthing at me, etc. Any behaviour that was unacceptable). It actually took 10 minutes … I added a full minute to her wait time for every serious infraction (lunging to get to the other dogs, biting at my ankles / hands, etc.) We were far enough away that the other dogs weren’t interested in her, and there were not a lot of dogs … I would NOT have chosen an area to do this where there was more than 3 or 4 dogs.


After 10 minutes, I took her leash off, told her to go play and off she went. A couple of minutes later I called her back to me … she FLEW back, and I mean FLEW … she ran so fast back to me that I thought she was going to knock me flying!

I’ve had to do this with her TWICE … that one time, and another time when she was about 11 months old. Since then, I’ve never had her fail a recall.

The training I do with Kyleigh is quite different from what I've read on this forum, but I've had a lot of success and positive endings!

[Kyleigh]

Too late to edit ... I just realized that I didn't explain HOW I taught her recall when she was a puppy.

First off, when I am training with Kyleigh I NEVER speak to her, unless it's the commands I want her to associate the word with the her action.

So, as a puppy, from day 1 - 9 weeks old, I started recall training.

We would be in the backyard playing, and I would back away from her and then I would say Kyleigh, COME and I would crouch down and open my arms. Naturally, she came running towards me - all puppies do! I'd do a bit of tussling with her, back up and do it again.

I did this three times in a row and when she came to me at the THIRD call of come, I would praise her to high heaven ... GOOD COME, GOOD KYLEIGH, GOOD COME and we'd play and tussle some more.

10 or 15 minutes later I'd do the same thing all over again.

Once we were out of the yard, I'd bring her to the off leash park, put her in a sit / stay (with the leash still on her, and away from other dogs, but still near distractions - squirrels, trees, leaves, etc.) and I would back away and call her to me. She came. Same thing ... three times in a row and huge praise.

I'd mix it up - put her in a sit / stay and then run past her and call out KYLEIGH COME - she'd fly to me.

Kyleigh's rewards were always praise from me and MAJOR play / rough / tumble time with me.