So bear with me here as I continue to ask stupid questions!
Pippa thus far has an excellent recall. We practice constantly, with puppy ping-pong, stupid sheep, and lately I am getting her to recall off her tennis ball during fetch. She calls off other dogs during play with no problem (unless the other dog physically prevents her from coming). She has never refused to recall and so far I have never had to call her more than once. But I am looking for new ideas/games to help her stay really solid while her prey drive develops, since we had a little hesitation this morning:
She was maybe 40 feet out from me and a squirrel ran in front of her (about 10 feet from her diagonally headed into the woods). She took off, I recalled, and she continued after it. I took off in the other direction, and she chased the squirrel for another 3-4 seconds before coming back to a handful of high-value treats.
I am not really willing to break out the e-collar at this point (she just turned 4 months old), but what are other things I can do to help proof her out in the woods? She does drag a long line, but I am hesitant to chase her at all if/when she refuses to recall since I don't want to turn it into a game. Again, she is typically very good…I just don't want her out in the woods if I'm not sure she will call off when I need her to.
We do practice with animals that we see/hear off in the distance, and I got her mid-chase off of a pheasant earlier this morning…the squirrel was just so tempting! Am I being ridiculous? Is it reasonable to have a no-questions-asked recall as an end-goal? I just don't want her to learn to ignore and then get herself in trouble with a meaner critter.
Pippa thus far has an excellent recall. We practice constantly, with puppy ping-pong, stupid sheep, and lately I am getting her to recall off her tennis ball during fetch. She calls off other dogs during play with no problem (unless the other dog physically prevents her from coming). She has never refused to recall and so far I have never had to call her more than once. But I am looking for new ideas/games to help her stay really solid while her prey drive develops, since we had a little hesitation this morning:
She was maybe 40 feet out from me and a squirrel ran in front of her (about 10 feet from her diagonally headed into the woods). She took off, I recalled, and she continued after it. I took off in the other direction, and she chased the squirrel for another 3-4 seconds before coming back to a handful of high-value treats.
I am not really willing to break out the e-collar at this point (she just turned 4 months old), but what are other things I can do to help proof her out in the woods? She does drag a long line, but I am hesitant to chase her at all if/when she refuses to recall since I don't want to turn it into a game. Again, she is typically very good…I just don't want her out in the woods if I'm not sure she will call off when I need her to.
We do practice with animals that we see/hear off in the distance, and I got her mid-chase off of a pheasant earlier this morning…the squirrel was just so tempting! Am I being ridiculous? Is it reasonable to have a no-questions-asked recall as an end-goal? I just don't want her to learn to ignore and then get herself in trouble with a meaner critter.
