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Saved by sausages!

1K views 12 replies 12 participants last post by  B&Cgetapup 
#1 ·
So, I had to share this because one of the things I have read on here is how important it is to train your dog to have 100% recall. Every walk (almost all our walks are off leash in fields and forest) we practice and Sookie always gets a sausage when she returns and sits. She is great at this, she even will stop chasing a hare to return when I call her, but I've never had to test it when she can't see me or vice versa.

Today my partner didn't latch our gate properly. We live in a rural area and there are only 3 houses within 1.5 miles, so no fear of traffic, but our neighbors have chickens, kids, dogs and horses, so she could easily be a nuisance. I am upstairs, putting on makeup, and suddenly I hear lots of distant barking. From the front. When Sookie is supposed to be in the fenced in backyard. I shout at Steve it sounds like Sookie and he checks, sees his mistake and goes running outside towards the barking.

I open the window and shout as loud as I can (I can't see her and have no clue where she is really) "Sookie! COME!" - and race downstairs to put boots on to go searching - when just as I put my hand on the door handle there is a full body slam against the back door. I open the door: Sookie! Steve said as soon as I shouted out she appeared and came racing down the road towards him, didn't pause at him, but ran past him to the house. When I opened the door she bounded in and sat with the facial expression: "sausage?" So I moved it double time to the fridge.

Lesson of the day: latch the gate properly and use sausages!
 
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#2 ·
Great story. Good Sookie dog!

It's wonderful to see your hard work pay off, particularly with such a solid response to a distant, no look command. I bet it gives you some nice peace of mind too. Nice job.
 
#6 ·
Great story. I can imagine her face thinking "sausage now?" I do the same with my dog only I yell Cookies and she will do an about face immediately. I started with come and still use that but in an emergency I know yelling Cookies will get her attention off whatever she is chasing and back to the important stuff - like where the cookies come from. Good job.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Good job Sookie.
You earned your sausages. :)
We used dried sardines to train the recall. he loves them.

Time to start working on transferring the obedience to a praise reward
.
I know the opinions differ in that matter but I like to switch the reward form time to time (food, play or cuddle/praise)...but perhaps It is just me liking to spoil my dog. ;)
when you have a dog that is easy to motivate with food why not use it from time to time.
dogs are opportunists they might choose against when the human is too boring for them. When you have a great "Super awesome reward" its cool to have it as a back up in situations, when it is difficult to get the dogs attention.
Just my oppinion...I don't think giving a the dogs food or a toy as a reward isn't necessarily a bad thing.


(just deflowering my account, after being a lurker for some weeks, I really love reading stories about GSDs and sometimes I was really thinking it would be great to comment, that's why I registered even though I don't own the breed.)
 
#11 ·
Good job Sookie!! :D
 
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