I brought Sailor a longline today to use to help retrain the recall and in just one walk this evening I was very impressed with the results

I set off with Ace and Sailor to the field feeling rather positive thinking I had a miracle in my pocket and I really couldnt wait to get Sailor clipped to it and get started!
As soon as I got onto the field, I let Ace off and then put Sailor on his longline and gradually let the line unravel intil I was clinging onto the end of it... grinning like a cheshire cat may I add.

Then I thought, now what I didnt really plan out what commands I would be using or how I would be using the longline to get the most out of it, I guess I was just too excited!

I decided to allow Sailor to walk around me as far as the lead could go, but if he started to run away from me and the route I was walking, I would stand on the lead and shout "WAIT"... at first he ran to the end and it struck him between the legs OUCH ! Needless to say, it didnt take him long at all to know when I said "WAIT" if he didnt stop something nasty would get his spuds and he eventually started to trot rather than run and sometimes he would stop, and wait for a breif second, sometimes take a step back to get the tension off the line himself.

I then decided once I thought he was used to hearing me shout "WAIT" ( which translated to ... WATCH YOUR SPUDS! ) and he slowed/stopped, I would shout "STAY" and keep the longline tight so he couldnt go ahead any further and he had to stay intil I got to him repeating "STAY" as I got closer.
He got his reward and then he was allowed on his way.

It wasnt perfect, but on the whole, he was doing really well!
No more Sailor running at full pelt blindly left right and centre in a desperate search for dogs. But he was more content to just trot around with Ace as we walked. Even Ace got used to the longline... he only got tripped up once, before he started to jump over the longline everytime it whipped across his path!

30 minutes into the walk, I was getting rather disheartened as we hadnt come across any other dogs, but I think it was a good thing, because atleast Sailor had enough time to get used to the longline and the "WAIT" & "STAY".

Finally as we rounded a corner, I noticed the longline whizzing across the ground alittle bit faster than previously, so I stepped on it, shouted SAILOR WAIT! and the longline slowed down enough for me to reel some of it in and catch up with Sailor, to see him stood staring across the field at a set of dogs, "SAILOR STAY!" had no really use at this point, as he was off and Im soo glad I had reeled in most the line, because it really did nack when Sailor got to the end of it !

I knelt down and called Sailor, gave him a whistle and tried to make myself more interesting, but Sailor just stood motionless staring at the dogs in the distance
I was calling him, clapping my hands bouncing about etc but he didnt even flinch so I sat for a moment and thought about playtimes at home and what was the one thing that always got him excited ?

"SAILOR! IM GONA GET YA STICK!"

within seconds he was charging at me and as scary as that sight is lol I had my arms held wide open and I was waiting for impact trying to look happy as he got coser but just as he got closer and realised... just as I realised... I HADNT BROUGHT HIS STICK, he turned and bolted towards the other dogs, I had no time to think of the longline and with in seconds, the loop was almost yanked out my hands, as were my arms almost yanked out their sockets

I instantly thought ... "I was sooo warned about that on pet forums!" luckily it was more embarressing than painful LESSON LEARNT! Im just glad I was sat down.
Sailor wasnt even phased, he was stood 30 foot away watching the dogs again.
By this point, the other dogs owner, had leashed their biggest dog and were already walking off in the opposite direction, so I called over to Sailor.... SERVES YOU RIGHT! and he just looked over to me, wagging his body briefly before turning to watch the other dog walk away ......

I then spotted another set of dogs and composed myself before heading straight in their direction!
They saw us and put one dog on lead, but allowed the other to stay offlead, so we stood a 50% success rate of Sailor getting to meet a dog... but only if he could learn the art of patience.
Ace saw the other dogs and pottered on over to say hello... Ace has a knack of seeming to now, not to approach dogs onlead! He comletely ignored the one on the lead, but greeted the offlead dog, I called Ace back and after he was satiafied with his greet, he came straight back and got rewarded.
Sailor on the other end was already at the end of his longline stood still, watching the other dog.
Trying to get his recall done quickly before they disapeared, I reeled Sailor in as I called his name and whistled, he sort of walked backwards towards me and as soon as he got to me, I fussed him "good boy Sailor!" offered him a treat and took some steps closer to the dog... the offlead dog was heading over to Sailor, but just as I thought Sailor was going to get that greet, the owner called their dog away and they all faded off into the distance
So I gradually allowed Sailor to the end of his lead, so he could watch the disapearing dog and practised recalling him, he came over to me quite quickly and I rewarded him for that. I then spent 5 minutes getting him to sit and focus on treats, and amazingly, for the first time EVER ! Sailor sat focused on me, well the treat bag!
Then as we walked off, I scanned the field and started to head right to the far end where I saw a third set of dogs.
As we walked across the field, Sailor was acting more and more tense and frustrated, he kept running back and forth, searching the horizon and sniffing the ground... trying to run to the end of the longline, not waiting/staying... just pacing and playing up. So I kept recalling as we walked and giving him big fusses intil we got closer to the other dogs.
This time Sailor got as far as I would allow, then I recalled him and he came to me pretty much straight away , but bolted back to watch the other dogs... intil he finally recalled perfectly and sat on my foot watching the dogs from beside me Ace then went to greet the dogs and I started to walk towards them too with Sailor... but the owner recalled their dogs and they were off pretty sharpish.

Sailor was happy tho, and seemed more interested in the treat bag than he ever has been and despite the recalls not being that good, I had seen great improvements in just 1 walk.
Feel really bad for Sailor because after all his hard work he didnt get to greet any dogs, but he did get to see Ace the pro dog greeter in action and maybe he learnt something visually lol

Really looking forward to the morning walk now and hoping we get some recalls in and doggy greetings this time!

My only real downside of it all, was the fact Ace was adamandt those treats were for him ... everytime I got a treat out and called Sailor, Ace was by my side siting patiently waiting for it, and if I didnt give it to Ace , he started to bounce around my ankles barking at me so then between shouts to Sailor for his recall, I was also having to try to teach Ace "QUIET" !
I had to then, get 2 treats out my pocket each time I recalled Sailor, so I could hold one infront of Ace for him to nibble at while I was desperately calling Sailor lol talk about multitasking! Oh and at one point, I noticed my clicker whistle had vanished from my pocket... ony to hear a familiar sound behind me, as my daughter was clicking away because I was doing really well No supper for her tonight ... only joking, I was humoured at it and to be honest, I was pleased she had noticed my grande efforts and wanted to reward me for them

Anyhow Sailors been super with his training today and heres a pic of him, not from today, I had no spare hands for the camera lol but its one of him on walk atleast



If anyone can give more advice, tips etc on recall training with a longline Im more than willing to listen! So please post away!

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Blimey that was a long read

But sounds like you're making really good progress and working really hard at it. Only suggestion I have is to start wearing gloves as those long lines can destroy your hands!

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Can't wait to see him in action tomorrow, well done .

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Thank you for reading it all lol
I just got carried away
I too thought about gloves, but we only had one real indicent where it actually hurt my fingers/hands enough for me to curse
Other than that, I got friction burn across he back of my knee and one ankle got caught up which was interesting trying to hop free and not get yanked over
Fun fun fun !!!

I am going to be practising all morning and lunchtime so he will look like a pro
Which Im sure will all be forgotten and he will revert back to madness as soon as he sies his buddy Kilo ahhh well, early days and all that!

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That's fantatsic - well done to all of you!

I must admit that when I use a longline with Roxy is me that needs to learn how to use it. The amount of times we've become tangled up, it's wrapped round my legs & knocked me flying, etc

I would get a pair of gloves as they do help stop getting any friction burns.It also helps if the line drags through dog poo .... happened to me a coupld of times but maybe that's just me

Can you take Sailor out seperately at time to concnetrate more on him? I try & do this with Roxy when I can as she can focus a bit more then. At times she worries if Toby runs off as he may have found something wildly exciting that she's not a part of

Sounds like Ace is doing really well & has settled in brillaintly

Todays morning walk went well, well most of the time anyway!

When we arrived at the field, there was another dog walker just leashing their dogs and about to leave, so I told Sailor to "LEAVE"
and amazingly he just stood beside me whining in protest because he wanted to go over to them!
He patiently stayed beside me with a loose lead as they walked past and out the field... something Sailor has never done, so I was
very happy and pleased with him!

Once they left, I got Sailor on his longline and we had a walk around the field to start with, to help Sailor settle into the walk and then I got
his stick out and started to make the stick look really exciting and as you can see from the photo, it was enough to make him recall quite
excitedly!


Playing a game of tug with a rubber stick covered in drool is, well hard work to say the least lol


I spent a good few minutes throwing the stick and chasing Sailor, playing tug and just making a massive deal over the stick! But as soon
as I noticed Sailor loosing interest in it, I put it away and we went for another little walk and let him sniff about, again calling him back and forth.
When he started to get abit too ingrossed in sniffing "peemail" I distracted him with some simple commands and tasty treats!

He is such a sweet dog when he wants to be bless! He was looking at me soo lovely and getting all giddy over the prospect of a treat
and fuss! If only we can get that behaviour when his not on a lead or around other dogs eh !




He did really well, he also did a short "STAY", "SPIN" and "PAW", but my camerman kid got distracted.

After his commands, I thought he did soo well I gave him a super reward, the chance to ...... lick my ears and cheeks lol


It is something he LOVES, but rarely ever gets the chance to do, because I cant stand it ! But Im willing to give alittle seeing as tho he had been super!

Most of the walk went like this and we did really well, a few times he ran to the end of lead and completely ignored me, but most he time he was
really trying his hardest to listen to me and behave, but well, it is Sailor and his a sucker for fun and excitement!

I continued with the "WAIT" when he tried to run on the lead as I was walking, and also once he had stopped and waited, I used "STAY"
and made him stay by treading on the lead (only when needed), intil I said GOODBOY OK , then he was allowed to go on his way again.

A few times I made him stay and made him stay by walking up the rope, and once I got to him, made him sit by me before I let him go again.
He wasnt perfect at it, but Im sure with persistance he will get better at it , or I hope so anyhow!
We also did more recalls, but they were hit and miss.... he has started to run to me, but not stop, he just runs in a circle and back out again
the little bugger lol

On the way back, we came across 2 sets of dogs and again, as Sailor spotted the dogs and started to quicken his pace, I shouted "WAIT" , he
slowed/stopped, I shouted "STAY" and he would momentarily, but then started to walk off and quicken his ace again, so I repeated myself and
stood on the lead, then give him the OK and so long as he walked nicely, he got to keep on heading towards the dogs, if he quickened his pace too much
he got the "WAIT" and "STAY". But once again, the owner and dogs made a hasty retreat, but Sailor did well and as they walked away from us, I did some
recalls with Sailor, a few commands and tried my best to distract him from.

We then saw another set of dogs, so made our way over to them and Sailor again was doing well, but as we got closer and I was stupidly getting complacent
the owner throw a ball for his dogs and they went racing past Sailor ... OMG .... there was no point in even trying to control him at this point!
All I could do was done some nifty moves to get my feet clear of the line and brace myself.
I got slightly twanged, slightly muddy, and slightly friction burnt.

I was annoyed because the man had just been watching me train Sailor to be calm and polite as we approached, so for him to then throw a ball straight past us
and allow his dogs to stampede us ... wasnt too clever! And also annoyed with Sailor for bolting like that, but who can blame him when temptation was literally
running past his face!
Once I counted all my fingers, I reeled Sailor in with a less than happy tone to my voice Im affraid.
I got him by my side and told him "SIT", which he did beautifully and he did get praised for it.

I then stood for awhile to just calm before we set off again. We did see more dogs on the field, but I thought that was enough for one day... and as we was by the exit and Sailor
had done an EPIC FAIL, I decided we should just go and maybe it will make Sailor think bolting like that ends in home time! I dont know, I was just clutching at straws at that point!

But despite the bad end to the walk, it was actually a good walk and I am still pleased with Sailors progress so far.
Fingers crossed for the lunch walk, which is abit late today.... but so was the morning walk !

Thank you for reading


Ace has been taken out seperately... he got to go to pets@home for this mornings walk and then he had a game of fetch with his brand spanking new squeaky tennis balls he is settling in lovely, thank you

I have now resorted to treading on the line, instead of reeling it up... and sort of "whipping" it up and over anything it might get caught on... with varying levels of failure lol
Still not got any gloves on.... was going to use my bright pink gardening gloves, but my pride just wouldnt allow it, I would rather lose a finger or touch poo

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Well done to you and Sailor - sounds really successful in the main . Lovely photos too .

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I seem to have too many threads going of the same thing... Sailor and his longline, its like Im obsessed or something

Anyhow, since reading about bonding with a dog on a walk can help with detering them from chasing, I have made soo much progress with Sailor

I have made a few sausge trees which Sailor loves soo much so, he has been going back to the same trees in a desperate bid to find the sausages again... so I have had to keep changing the trees I use, but we are running out of areas and Im having to run to trees faster, to make sure I get to them first... Sailor does indeed watch me more now, but when he sees me looking at a tree or walking towards a tree, he tends to get their before me and he cant be the one who finds the sausage tree
Its like a massive race now, to beat each other to the trees
But its well worth it, it is fun, for both of us

Also as much as Sailor watches me I have been watching him still. Trying to make sure my eyes are on Sailor all the time, so when ever Sailor looks back at me, Im 99% of the time watching him and I have noticed that this makes him run back to me more and I rarely even have to call him, he absaloutely loves the fact Im watching him! This morning walk, he was stood staring at something, so I stood staring at him... he turned to look at me briefly and noticed I was staring at him... but I kept my face straight and stood still, he wasnt sure what to do at first but soon started to run to me and I then smiled and praised him loads.
Altho this has had all the success when other dogs are not around, so still plenty of work to be done. But I have noticed, if I tell Sailor "STAY" - "LEAVE" a couple of times, he has just stayed and watched the dog intil I have caught up with him, which is much better than the usual of him dragging him all the way intil he gets to sniff the dog! Hopefully at some point he will beable to break his stare from other dogs and watch me alittle more and not be as focused on other dogs ... heres hoping!

I have noticed tho, that when walking across the field now, instead of constantly running to the end of his lead and scanning the horizon, with out relaxing, altho he still does this to a certain degree, he is looking at me more and will run back to me, get a fuss and even settle by my feet sitting down for a gentle fuss around his ears etc. He is scanning the field as I fuss him... but he decided to suit by my feet as he did this I didnt have to recall him or even ask him to sit, so I am very happy with him and I think its good progress in the right direction.

Would really love if we could have this reaction when dogs are closer, but poor giddy Sailor isnt ready for that yet

Anyhow, here is Sailor enjoying one of his sausage trees NOM NOM

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