Recall Question (general, not competition)

[Toffee's Mom]

Yep and from what I've learnt from Susan G's e-course, you really only need to work on it for FIVE MINUTES a day and if you're super exciting and build value for being with you/running to you, you will see improvement very quickly!!
Romeo, who is well known for his inability to hear me call him outside, now RESPONDS and I've used her techniques to get him focused and enthusiastic to work with me! Very pleased. Definitely recommend her course!

I agree
You want to be the most exciting thing ever for 5 minutes a day
Then you can build on that... I remember Michelle talking about Romeo smelling everything in the world instead of coming back to her. So that is HUGE progress, it works!

 

[Diana]

I'm still working with Buffy on recalls. She has never been great at it, and now at a year and a half she continues to have selective hearing. This is actually the reason I have not taken her to the dog park recently without a leash trailing behind her. For her, it's no recalls, no free running.

I think Buffy is training me more than I am training her on this one.

Here's what I am currently trying:

1. We have high-value treats strategically placed around the house. We do random "comes" whenever we think about it.

2. Whenever I'm making something dog-friendly like roast chicken, I do a random come and she can have the scraps. Maybe this is why she hangs around the kitchen at dinnertime....

3. At the dog park or on walks in large park-like areas, I use her old cheap Petsmart leash and halter, and I let it drag behind her. I use stuff like squeaky toys, big sticks, and praise as reinforcement for distance recalls.

(I've found that high-value treats don't work in the dog park. She doesn't go for them, but other dogs do, and I get mobbed.)

4. Whenever she does come when called, she gets LOTS and lots of praise as well as the high-value treat. I prefer to use a happy "YES!" as a positive marker because I can never figure out how to hold a clicker, hold a treat, and give a hand signal at the same time.

5. I also practice off-leash, short distance recalls in our condo hallway. If you don't live in a condo, go to the nearest dog-friendly hotel, go up the back stairs, and practice recalls. If you get stopped, just pretend you're staying there or apologize and leave. (This tip cracks me up. It's from Ian Dunbar.) This is also a good way to practice a long "stay" in an unfamiliar environment.

6. When playing fetch, especially in open areas, I make her sit before I throw the toy. She sometimes throws a tantrum at this one and gives color commentary, which just shows me she is becoming a teenager. She will always inevitably sit if you wait it out and have a cool enough fetch toy.

7. Buffy always responds to hand signals better than vocal commands, so I use both. The hand signal for short comes is like "touch" and the hand signal for distance comes is my hand going all the way up to all the way down. (I kind of made that second one up. But it works well because it is so dramatic.)

 

[k9kreationz]

Oh no....clicker games are fun to Koji because clicker games means food!!!! And remember, food is his NUMBER ONE love of all things.

Anyhow though. Food will get scattered throughout the house, because lets be real, unless he knows I have food, a "come" won't work. And we need it for anytime, anything.

Secondly, he's not big on toys, so I will try other things.

HOWEVER, I have since decided that I will also train a whistle for a come also. I know my first Sheltie was trained to a whistle. So convenient. And as much as I wouldn't want to put my fingers in my mouth at any ole time, I can whistle that way really loudly too. Plus.

I think if Koji associates "come" with food and all good things, then you're right, this will be easier. I am going to start within the halls of my house, then the halls of my apartment complex (sometimes DH lets him off lead at our apt, and I call him to come downstairs so I can "take him potty" but he doesn't understand, lol). Then I'll take this to a dog park, however, he seems to have a recall there, not sure why. Then to a regular park with some handlers around.

Baby steps. First, hiding treats around the house, because he still won't come when called. LOL.

 

[romeosangiovese]

I remember Michelle talking about Romeo smelling everything in the world instead of coming back to her. So that is HUGE progress, it works!

YES! I have made huge progress with him (tho' his problem is always outdoors and never at home where he is sticky as can be!) and he'll actually look up and come when we're at a dog park now. Something I didn't think was ever going to be possible!

 

[SheltieChe]

Oh no....clicker games are fun to Koji because clicker games means food!!!! And remember, food is his NUMBER ONE love of all things.

Anyhow though. Food will get scattered throughout the house, because lets be real, unless he knows I have food, a "come" won't work. And we need it for anytime, anything.

Secondly, he's not big on toys, so I will try other things.

HOWEVER, I have since decided that I will also train a whistle for a come also. I know my first Sheltie was trained to a whistle. So convenient. And as much as I wouldn't want to put my fingers in my mouth at any ole time, I can whistle that way really loudly too. Plus.

I think if Koji associates "come" with food and all good things, then you're right, this will be easier. I am going to start within the halls of my house, then the halls of my apartment complex (sometimes DH lets him off lead at our apt, and I call him to come downstairs so I can "take him potty" but he doesn't understand, lol). Then I'll take this to a dog park, however, he seems to have a recall there, not sure why. Then to a regular park with some handlers around.

Baby steps. First, hiding treats around the house, because he still won't come when called. LOL.

then you have to start small and have those basic puppy games- 2 people in the hallway recall to each other... feed, grab the collar... once it is reliable add name to it "here" or "come" then move it down to living room, bedroom, between rooms, floors etc. I would still drop the clicker as you are training a total behavior as one and it would be pretty hard to break it down IMHO

 

[k9kreationz]

then you have to start small and have those basic puppy games- 2 people in the hallway recall to each other... feed, grab the collar... once it is reliable add name to it "here" or "come" then move it down to living room, bedroom, between rooms, floors etc. I would still drop the clicker as you are training a total behavior as one and it would be pretty hard to break it down IMHO

Food is around the house. So far, so good. Actually, I think he responds more to his name, but I'm still using, "koji, here". NO CLICKER!!! Yes, I took that out because he knows what it is. Little stinker. Its more because he associates clicker with food, which means in my face. Hence, no come would work.

I will do the calling him back and forth with hubby, good point, that way we can call him to each other and there's no stay involved.

Oh the little things that help.

 

[romeosangiovese]

Good luck getting hubby to help out! Mine takes alot of guilt-tripping ("Recall is could save your dogs' life! What if...." plus a bunch of horrid scenarios where recall would help), but when he does decide to give up 5 mins of his TV time, the dogs have a ball running back and forth.

This might actually have the added effect of teaching Koji to LEAVE a source of food (and still be rewarded!).

 

[k9kreationz]

Hmmm...not sure if this is an issue or what I should or should not do. thoughts?

Right now, when I call Koji to me from another room (remember, no more clicking but hidden treats everywhere), I say, "Koji, here". I say his name to make sure he pays attention then the command.

I am 99.9% sure he's responding to his name, NOT the command. Why? Because I said, "Koji, come" oops. He came. Hubby said, "koji, come here", he went. I said, "koji, here", he came to that too. I could probably say, "koji, go away" and he'd come. Ugh!

First, changing a command is not easy (mostly for me). Secondly, saying "here" is so unnatural.

Lastly, with all that whining of mine......thoughts? Should I just say here? Should I drop the name for now? Should I say here when he's looking at me, but again, do it out of the blue, not during a training session etc so that he's already focused on me?

I'm trying not to pollute the cue, but obviously, something is already overriding it (his name).

 

[Silaria]

Well, with two dogs, dropping his name may be tricky unless you are sure you are able to work with Koji and not get Miko aslo. At home, using him name does get his attention and he "knows" you are addressing him and not Miko. I do say "Edan, come." in the house when he's out of sight and I need to call him. Does that make sense?

You are correct though, you should also get him use to obeying even when you don't use his name.

Did you see this post by SheltieChe about Susan Garrett's Brilliant Recall seminar free download: http://sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=9544

 

[SheltieChe]

you can train recall to name only or to any other word, "Broccoli" if you want to
what you are doing is backchaining his recall word "here" or " come here" to his name to which he normally responds to...
I would suggest sticking with one command and make sure it is not a " poisoned recall word"- check on definition at Susan Garrett Brilliant recall presentation.
You can also train recall to name and to other word separately, just have to be consistent