Sandstorm was awful!! : (

[mbfrench]

Michele....thanks for the reminder.....

I agree that shreaking like a Banshee at your dog is no solution for reliable recall. I've done it and failed, of course!

And I'm not even for a minute going to give advice as to what is the right way, because both my dogs recall's are only at about the 80% level.

We all got caught up in the story and foregot the most important message...and yes, reliable recall is no. 1!!! Safety is everything. Thanks for the slap on the side of head!

No problem~
I just felt that a bit of reminder was in order,and wanted to share my recent experiance with Trapp. And how his trainer had me approach & correct the behavior.

 

[KarenCurtis]

We have damdeers. They are The Enemy. I think they are the same as regular deers. I chase them so they will not eat my chickens. Come visit and we will chase damdeers.
Colonel Underpants

Mom says yu live too far away! I want to come over and chase dam ears!

 

[KarenCurtis]

It's true a good recall is the key to everything...
The situation Karen had could happen to all of us. It's great we're learning from this and have a laugh, too

I recommend this video, because it has many great tips in it, and is full of common sense! One of the MAIN ones in my opinion is that we often lose our dogs again who have a recall, by making them COME and immediately follow this with an obedience command, too soon and some learn that is not fun, so the value for the recall has gone down the drain, if the obedience command isn't a high valued one (yet)... The second most important thing is that if you are unsure whether the dog comes THEN DON'T call at all... rather step on the lunge line so that they donr't learn they can ignore you and get away with it.
The more a dog gets to practice a behaviour the harder it will be to un-train it..

Now depending on where you are in your training, I think this is a great idea how to use your lunge line and do some training with and have fun at the same time, yet still feel safe that you're going to get an even greater recall. The lunge line is not used to 'reel the dog in' but just to gently get the attention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHk9k4x0h1k

I think Caro actually even knows these people? They train close to her, I think...

Great advice about the lunge line-I have stepped on the line also when I was not sure SS would come-he got the message. Sandstorm just needs a reminder!

 

[bwibwigouza]

Another question came to mind while reading through the posts and viewing the video.... I have 8 family members living under the same roof. Usually I'm the only one that takes Mozart in and out but sometimes others would too. I know for some commands like sit and down I only need to tell him once but my sister-in-law may need to tell him 5-6 times before he complies. If other members of the family doesn't follow through with the same method of training, will it make Mozart think it's ok not to respond to a recall by me?

 

[mbfrench]

Another question came to mind while reading through the posts and viewing the video.... I have 8 family members living under the same roof. Usually I'm the only one that takes Mozart in and out but sometimes others would too. I know for some commands like sit and down I only need to tell him once but my sister-in-law may need to tell him 5-6 times before he complies. If other members of the family doesn't follow through with the same method of training, will it make Mozart think it's ok not to respond to a recall by me?

Trapp does the same thing with Brian...

I do not use a verbal for Trapp to sit.I use my hand palm up,raising it slightly about his head. He knows to sit. But have Brian do it...and Trapp looks at him sometimes like "what planet are you on"...

Trapp looks to me,as well as your pup,as numero-uno,the one that works with him 99% of the time. So its a matter of having that person(s) work with the dog to be sure the communication is clear..no matter who does the command. Same words,same tone.not to many words to confuse. Dogs only comprehend so much at a time.Using to many words only confuses them.

The other day at park,I switched dogs with Brian.Usually he has Jasper. Well I took Jasper,as he needed some refreshment lessons on sit/stay/leave it.

Jasper was looking at me like..."lady..what planet are you from". While Trapp was in the hands of Brian,I had him take Trapp to another area and work together on things.

The same thing here at home. At one time,not long ago (July) I had asked Shelli for some tips on Jasper's 100 mile an hour spinning when the word "potty" was said.

Seriously was annoying,and was getting to me,as he was beyond vocal.
Well we nipped the habit. What I was doing,I made sure Brian was doing it as well.That way no confusion at the door.

End result...a very quiet dog,no spinning,no barking,no wiggling. And he is not released,nor is the door opened until he shuts his mouth. He has learned very quickly it does not matter who it is,we both do the same training.

 

[k9kreationz]

Another question came to mind while reading through the posts and viewing the video.... I have 8 family members living under the same roof. Usually I'm the only one that takes Mozart in and out but sometimes others would too. I know for some commands like sit and down I only need to tell him once but my sister-in-law may need to tell him 5-6 times before he complies. If other members of the family doesn't follow through with the same method of training, will it make Mozart think it's ok not to respond to a recall by me?

IMHO, I see these two major things with most dogs. 1. The dogs know who they can walk all over and who they can't. 2. when training something new or breaking bad habits, you NEED ALL parties to be on the same page.

So, if Mozart's commands are solid with you, great. Maybe he knows your SIL isn't "serious" about it so he takes his sweet time. He may recall to you immediately, however, recall is one you want him to do with everyone, so that's when you'd need to be on the same page.

Hope that made sense.