Since getting Roxy Toby's recall has deteriorated. They seem to egg each other on when chasing (phesants/partridge/rabbits, etc)when they are off their leads.

In 'normal' situations when no animals are around they are pretty good & will immediately turn when I blow the whistkle & call 'HERE' but when they decide to go off chasing they seem to turn off completely.

Yesterday they were great; I really felt positive. We had a lovely walk, they started to chase a couple of ducks, I called them back & they came. I also asked them to 'WAIT' a couple of times as they were getting a bit far ahead & they did - 3 times!

But today was awful. Where I live the fields are edged with water filled dykes & they both decided to jump these to chase pheasants. They were running off across a field ignoring me & I panicked as they were getting so far away. At this point I (stupidly) decided to try & get in to the other field by crossing the dyke - I didn't make it. I ended up waist high in dirty, stinking water & couldn't move (I was lucky it wasn't deeper). I eventually managed to pull myself out but afterwards realised that I was incredibly lucky (I can't believe I was that stupid )

The dogs eventually came back, they jumped the dyke & sheepishly returned. I was soaking so leashed them & we all went home.

Now I am really worried as all the fields are like this round here & I can't risk them doing this again or falling in a dyke themselves. I feel awful keeping them on the leads or always using along line but don't know what else to do.

How can I try & recreate a chase situation & practise recall that way? I'm not finding it at all useful just calling them when at home, etc as they are nearly 100% in these circumstances.

If I do let them off when we are out & they ignore me what should I do? Things I've read say not to punish them for returning or go & get them - what if they are too far away? or should I not let them get that far?

Sorry about the long post I just want them to enjoy their walks & they love having a run around together that I hate to stop this but want to keep them safe.

I'm also not enjoying our walks as much as I'm constantly worrying about them or something happening to either of them.

Lucky you didn't get stuck in the dyke!!!

When first had Bizkit he was a bugger for chasing things and not coming back when I called him. Then I found this article Why won’t my dog come back? – David Ryan CCAB and worked on making myself more interesting than anything else.

My secret weapon is a squeaky toy. He LOVES squeaky toys so I used to use the squeak to get his attention and then call him back. I only ever let him have one when he's recalled from chasing something or walking past another dog when told to leave it. This means the squeaky retains its high value. I always carry 2, one to squeak and one to throw to him as a reward. He only gets the toy once as a reward and has to bring it back to me and I put it back in my pocket until needed again.

I use liver cake for food reward as they prefer it to any commercial pet treats available.

Good luck and don't go jumping in any more dykes eh?

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Honestly, I was sh!tting myself at first as I really couldn't get out. Luckily their was some long grass that I managed to use to pull myself out. Im really aching now as I've pulled all the tendons in my arm - what an idiot I was

I just feel bad that I will have to go back to long lines again. They look like they are having such a fantastic time when they are running around together.

Thanks for the link, will have a read now

This is one of the many reasons why Ollie is not allowed off lead now. If he sees a rabbit, he goes totally deaf and would run across a road if thats where the rabbit went. He's now constantly on a flexi lead or long line and he's perfectly happy with this. He hasn't been off lead for 8 months now and he has no ill effects from it.

I also don't understand how people can say "go and get them" if they are misbehaving. Most dogs won't just stand there and let you put their lead back on, especially if they are running away from you.

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Me neither, when mine ignore me they are off & I can't chase them as they are too far away & I don't want it to turn oit in to a game.

I used to let Toby chase rabbits, etc as he had learned that he could chase a bit but then come back - this was working quite well but now we have Roxy they seem to spur each other on. It can work in my favour with recall as they both run as fast as they can back, Toby especially as he is so worried he will miss out on the treat. But tonight was not like that


Thanks. I think I really scared myself, the more I think about it the worse I feel. My OH had a go at me & he was right to. What was I thinking of jumping in to water when I had no idea of how deep it was?! ANOTHER lesson learned

Oh no poor you - I know the area and how deep fen dykes can be.

Do you call Roxy and Toby to you and tit-bit and praise every so often when you walk them and then let them go off again? Do you also do a bit of training with them on a walk? For instance something like a 30 minute sit stay with you a few yards away, then return, titbit and let them go again. Would they remain in the sit or down if a rabbit shot off anywhere near them?

I constantly call them back & reward when on walks & practise WAIT when they are further ahead - which they do. With Toby this could be in most situations.

We have only had Roxy about 8wks & her obedience has come on so much at home but she is unable to start training classes as she is very reactive to other dogs. We are seeing a behaviourist so I'll speak to her about today as well.

I can say 100% that if a rabbit ran out during a WAIt or SIT then I would have no chance. When Toby was an only dog I knew that he would start the intial chase then I would blow my whistle & he would come back. Now we have Roxy it's almost as if neither of them wants to give up the chase so they spur each other on.

If it were just across fields then it wouldn't be so bad but because the fields are spoerated by dykes it puts more distance between us which worries me even more.

I hate to think of having them both leashed all the time but can't see any other alternatrive at the moment as although there are lovely walks round here all the fileds have dykes & those that don't have livestock

I seem to recall telling you some time ago that those long leads are about as much use as a chocolate ashtray when it comes to recall under distraction.

Long line leads are meant to be used for tracking so in effect you could be making things worse by using one!

Its all about reward value and if that rabbits arse is more valuable than your “treat”, forget it, the rabbit wins!

There are ways to over come this but I would be wasting my breath so I will just wish you good luck.

I don't know whether this has been mentioned but have you thought of teaching a chase recall for the bunny chasing situation.

The following article by David Ryan is fantastic:
How do I stop my dog chasing? – David Ryan CCAB

He has also written a fantastic in depth book on the subject which I have read and would definitely recommend:
"Stop!" How to control predatory chasing in dogs

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