Candy is extreme in her disobedience. She knows how to come, she is very responsive if it suits her but she actually runs off with no warning whatsoever and refuses to listen. She has got to the stage now where I cant let her off the lead out of the garden and cant always get her to come in the garden. The other day I had her loose in the field, she was playing with the other dog and coming when she was called, playing with me and generally behaving like a nice well trained dog. I had just called her and was fussing her and playing when she turned round, shot off like a bullet, straight through the barbed wire fence and was away. My husband was at the farm and saw her fly by him but couldnt stop her and eventually we found her eating a very dead rabbit. The day before that the garden gate was open and she was with me just coming into the house when she shot through the gate, across a field, over a bank and disappeared, no warning at all. Another time she was beside me going through a gateway when she turned and ran through 3 fences and onto the main road. We have a huge garden and a couple of days ago she decided she could force her way through the sheep netting and run off. I went straight to get some chicken wire and now she cant get out she runs manically up and down the fence and refuses to come when called.
She gets plenty of interaction and is out of the house with me several times a day in the horse yard or getting a walk (now always on the flexi lead) and comes out carriage driving so she gets walks then. She has loads of toys and is always either playing or sleeping so she isnt bored.

I am at a loss as to what to do. She knows what come means, she doesnt give me a chance to correct or distract her, one minute she is there and responsive and the next she is in full flight away from me.

Any good ideas. I am an experienced dog trainer, trained a lot of my own and other peoples dogs, done obedience, instructed at classes etc, but this loses me.

Hi,
We had similar problems with our setter. I went to recall classes, where she proved to be top of the class, and I continued the training at home. She is very strong willed and used to choose when to come back or not whilst out on walks.

We trained her to 'down' so that we could approach her, and on the occasions that she would wait until we were 2 feet from her and then bugger off, we would give a quick shake of our training discs.

She is a very quick learner and is now pretty good at recall - we always make sure we have our discs though, just in case she has other ideas.

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It seems to be the unpredictability that's the issue.

If there is no warning you can't really pre empt it.

Oscars recall isn't fantastic and he will just "go" sometimes but he does come back eventually.

When his has been really bad i have just put him on a long line and gone back to the beginning. Just keep training through it.

Does she like a ball ???

I have just bought Oscar the squeaky tennis balls that Kong make and have started working with them to improve his recall/attention on me when we are out. He isn't that interested in normal tennis balls but he does like these

Good Luck and hopefully you can get it sorted before she puts herself in danger again

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Have you tried the usual things of running in the opposite direction or lying down on the floor, this usually sparks a reaction of curiosity and the dog coming back. Do you always go home after recalling and putting the lead back on? Maybe try recalling putting lead on and then having a longer walk/ a play? . Always give treats on a recall and do not scold eg "oh about time too" etc, just praise her for coming back. Try a favourite toy or a really high value treat (something irresistable) . Sorry if this is all stuff you have tried .Good luck!

I would suggest going back to basics on this with a long line. The problem is that every time she runs off she is being self-rewarded, so the more this continues, the more it will happen. She's not being disobedient, dogs don't think like this, they simply do things that work

With a long line, if you call and she doesn't come, you can gently reinforce her recall, and then reward her for coming back.

Also sounds like she simply has a strong chase drive, so use this but convert it to play. Teaching her to chase and catch a frisbee will help a lot, you need to keep her focus on you and frisbee games.

This post is great: My Dog Won’t Come When Called!

Check out his blog, knows his stuff, fun to read, and helpful.

Angela

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How old is she now! is there a chance she is going through the teenage stages? the phase where many seem to forget all they have learnt!!!

According to some people on here DT the teenage phase is a myth rolleyes:

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She is 7 months, has always had that tendency but it was contollable with distractions most of the time. She has been back to her breeder for a few days while we were away and though she was getting worse before we went is now impossible. Distractions, running the other way etc do not work because she is running flat out in the opposite direction doing her best to get out of sight as fast as possible! She is not called back and put on the lead to take her in, her walks are generally on the farm or she is just supposed to be with me on the farm so that is not what is setting her off.
I am keeping her on a long flexi lead and doing a lot of calling her back and praising her and correcting her if she is slow in responding but I am fairly sure that will make no difference if she chooses to go when off the lead.
I think it is rather a poodle thing as I had the same problem with my standards but they only went if both of them chose to go, on their own they would never leave my side. Candy is far too independent, she doesnt seem to have any need of anyone but herself in her life.
It seems awful to have to keep her on the lead and to tie her up in the yard when she could be running around enjoying herself.

Bullpoo! I know it's not!!
lol
DT

LOL. Couldn't have put it better myself.

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"I am not perfect and i don't have to be, before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean" - Bob Marley

https://sites.google.com/site/blisschalet/