How to solidify the recall?

[Anthony8858]

Kira absolutely KNOWS her recall. She knows that when I say "Kira COME", I mean come here.
Now... Whether or not she listens, that's another story.

Here's what happens:

I'm at the park, my backyard, or open area..

1) I have her on a 30 foot training lead. I could stop anywhere, issue the "come" command, and she's fine. In training, she'll respond 100% of the time.

2) I could throw her ball off leash. She'll get the ball, and return it to me.....Sometimes. In many cases, she'll run off to a grassy area to the side, and play with it by herself. I would entice her with treats...nada. The ONLY way I've gotten her to recall in that scenario, is the run the other way.

3) If we're in a park (off leash), and she's playing with other pups, I can issue a single recall, and she'll stop in her tracks, and come to me.

So the real issue, is when we're playing fetch, or if she's off leash alone with me.
Unless I run the other way, she's not listening.

I'm hoping it's a "puppy thing", and as she matures, she'll get it.

Opinions welcome.

[Rahrah]

This 100% sounds like my pup- hopefully it is just a puppy thing and they'll grow out of choosing to come when they want to!
I'm interested in hearing some responses.

[JakodaCD OA]

I would say it's a puppy thing...

[gsd_newbie]

Same here, my boy not 100% come when called, unless I walk the other way.

[Anthony8858]

I can totally accept this as normal behavior.
I'm happy to see that others are experiencing the same.

So I guess the answer is consistency.

[sheep]

A few owners told me that I have to be prepared to get my puppy whenever he doesn't answer my call and walks away. Also, although their dogs seems very well trained and responding, it seems that there will always be a few things that might get their dogs attention and make recall difficult, so I guess that there's no 100% sure unless we don't allow them off leash at all.

So maybe the key is to train recall as much as possible, and desensitize through as much experience as possible (different environments and things), and then a puppy will probably be more focused when he grows up.

[SummerwoodSoaps]

I have been making sure Stella has a solid recall. There for while when first hit the teenage stage, she would just sit there and look at me. So what I have been doing and it really seems to be working, is keep an extra ball or toy on me. If doesn't come when called, I get it out and act all excited and talk in a high pitched voice. She comes running and I mark when comes close enough that I can touch without reaching. Her reward is the toy. While she is playing with the reward, I walk over to first ball she had and do it again. It has been working and I have started phases out the second toy.

[Barb E]

I too used the "two ball" method with Dante.

I could see his little pea-brain thinking....Why go back, the game might be over.....wait, what's that, she has another BALL.....WooooHooooo

[Emoore]

A rock-solid, bulletproof recall comes with maturity and it's really not something we can expect at 6 months or even (I have to keep reminding myself) at 1 year. You know how they found out a while back that the brains of teenagers are physically wired differently from adults? Same with dogs. A young dog is literally incapable of filtering out distractions and focusing the same way that an adult can. You know how you can be engrossed in a book, movie, or video game and someone is talking to you but you don't even realize it? Kinda the same thing.

[Josie/Zeus]

It took 2 years of training (going to class every week) before Zeus had a rock-solid recall. I expect the same thing with Koda.