hi
my dog is around 9 months old now and when we are at home in and around the house he will come and sit and lie when commanded. however as soon as we go anywhere else like the beach or he is in the field opposite the house it is as if he can't hear me and will ignore me. have tried running after him and he thinks i am playing so runs off to tease me. any help?

__________________
[MiNDFOOD - Smart Thinking

yes long line and treats, and also i would start walking off the other way they soon think your going to leave them.
but you need to do some training out side with the dog on a long line.

__________________

ok i will try that out. i hate keeping him tied up on a lead tho' he likes to play and run around the field

__________________
[MiNDFOOD - Smart Thinking

I agree with you but it's not fair on other people to let your dog off when you don't have control over him.

The op are right until you have a reliable recall your pup should not be off lead, apart from he may cause a nuisence to other people, he is just learning he can ignore you and there is nothing you can do about it.

Good luck with the training.

Sounds familiar!! selective hearing i think its called

keep him on flexilead let him walk a bit in front then call him back take some dog choc buttons when he comes to you give him choc button when he starts coming back regular try him off the lead be con sistant and should work worked with my three good luck

This is a long one I’m afraid, but it is such a common problem, and there really is no quick and easy answer

Training any command consists of several learning phases The recall is no different. When training breaks down it is usually because Phase 3 has been missed out partially or completely from the dog’s training programme

Phase 1.. establishes the meaning of the command word or whistle. Command accompanies behaviour
Training any command begins with helping the dog to associate a particular action (in this case – running towards you) with a particular sound (whistle or ‘here’ or ‘come’) This phase consists of the dog hearing the command or cue, at the same time as he is engaged in carrying out the required behaviour. This starts with puppies when we say their name or whistle them whilst they are running towards us or playing with us. Many people miss out this stage, or rush through it, and go straight to phase 2, which is a shame because this phase helps to make a strong link in the puppies brain between our signal/cue, and the behaviour that we want to see.

Phase 2... establishes that the dog will demonstrate the required action when he hears the sound, in the absence of distractions. Command precedes behaviour
In this part of training the command precedes the action. That is to say, we give the whistle or recall signal, and then the dog comes running. Most people manage this part without too much trouble, as dogs usually enjoy human company and especially when small, seek out their owners readily.

Phase 3 ...establishes that the dog will demonstrate the required actions on cue, even when he want to do something else. Behaviour follows command despite distractions.
This is the part that most people skip. It is the longest part of any training programme, and is commonly refered to as proofing. Often you will manage quite well without this part until your dog matures and loses his fear of separation from you. This can happen at any time from 4 months to a year, but is often at around 7-10 months of age. This age is often referred to as the ‘Kevin’ stage and people are often advised that their dogs will ‘grow out of it’. Which is simply not true. What happens is that either the owner realises that Phase 3 has been missed out, and makes an effort to install it to a greater or lesser degree, or, the owner learns to live (albeit unhappily) with the problems that missing Phase 3 involves

Dogs that are trained properly through Phase 3 do not experience a ‘Kevin’ stage. It is caused by inadequate training

Phase 4... maintenance. This phase carries on throughout the dogs life and involves refresher courses, backing up to a stage where the dog is highly obedient and working forwards again. Most people who get through phase 3 have no trouble with regular maintenance.


What does phase 3 training involve

The process of proofing involves training a known command through an incrementally increasing set of distractions or challenges. Distractions can be many - scent, terrain, people, other dogs, wildlife, cats, physical (tiredness, over excitedness), weather etc etc. The degree of difficulty of any task is also compounded by the distance between the dog and handler, the duration of the task, and many other factors - for example your dog might sit and stay very nicely for 30 seconds when you are 10 feet away, but introduce a longer stay, go further from the dog, have another dog walk past, try it on a windy day, do it in a strange place, do it whilst a squirrel runs past etc etc, and this is a whole other story. Often people combine several factors like this into one training session and then wonder why the dog cannot cope.

This is not because the dog is disobedient or playing up, or any other factor involving the dog, it is because you have not trained him in progressive stages to cope with these distractions. Accepting this fact and taking it on board is like crossing the single biggest hurdle between a badly behaved dog and a well trained source of pride.

What happens when the dog goes deaf or disobeys


Nine times out of ten, this is because phase 3 has not been completed. The rest of the time, it simply means a little maintenance is in order - a brief refresher.

Many times, proofing has not even been attempted. The owner just assumes that the commands the dog has learnt in the back garden should be obeyed anywhere at any time. Often, when the owner realises just what phase three involves, they will decide not to bother and just to ‘manage’ the problem by taking the dog to different places, or keeping him permanently on a long lead. That is their choice. For those that want a permanent solution, there is some work ahead, but it is very satisfying.

When training breaks down, during phase 3 or at any other time, the only successful solution is to go back to a stage in training that the dog has completed successfully and start again from there. Proofing your training means taking each command you have taught your dog and setting up a series of increasingly challenging circumstances in which to train

The key to success is to introduce only one factor of difficulty at a time. Every time you introduce something new - whether it is recalling away from people or other dogs or in a new place, you need to decrease the other factors of difficulty, so ensure the dog is very near to you when you call him, and that there are not lots of other rewards competing with you for his attention.

If you want your dog to recall in the presence of other dogs for example, you need the help of a friend and must look at every aspect of the other dog’s behaviour and introduce each in the correct sequence.

Another dog chasing a ball, or tearing around is very challenging indeed, another dog on a lead sitting quietly is far less distracting, so this is where you begin.

Have a friend stand quietly with a well behaved dog on a lead at their side. Have some handy treats present. Go very close to your friends dog and let your dog off the lead. Call him back and reward him profusely. If he won’t come, you should be close enough to correct him effectively by voice, or you could decide to carry out the exercise on a long lead a few times, reeling him in for his reward. If you do manage to interrupt his game with a sharp ‘NO Bad Dog’ you must immediatlely transform yourself into ‘Mr Nice Guy’ and call him in for his reward. If necessary, ask your friend to be very unfriendly - to grumble at your dog and discourage him from approaching her. If food is not your dog’s thing, use a toy or game to reward him. Or make him hungry and ask him to work for his dinner. When he repeatedly recalls successfully away from this dog, you can up the ante. Call him from further away, just a little further to start with. Then get your friend to walk around, still with the dog on a lead. The moving dog is a little more tempting still so reduce the distance right back down again, call from very near to your dog and only increase the distance when he is repeatedly recalling away from the other dog. I am sure you get the drift. Work your way up making the task a little more difficult step by step

If other dogs is not the problem, work out what your dog finds tempting and break this down into steps of difficulty.

If your dog has learnt to ignore your recall command, you will need to change it to a different word or whistle and retrain right from the beginning. This is likely to be quicker than trying to change his view of your old command word

__________________
Jody Guide Dog Pup,Chloe my chocolate girl


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kd9YL_XNGDw

http://www.labrescuecaithness.co.uk/