Recall problem

[wendywoo]

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Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum and was most interested to read the discussions on the pointer field training and recall.

I have a four year old english pointer called Monty who is an absolute dear and,by and large,is no problem to walk off the lead EXCEPT when there are small birds (swallows ect) around. He will chase them until he is completely exhausted and all attempts to recall are useless.

I have contemplated buying an electric collar but am reluctant to cause any pain to the dog in any way but I am currently at a loss as to how to stop this distressing trait.

Is there anyone out there who has a simelar problem or any remedies.

 

[Athebeau]

I have dogs that will chase anything they see, actually once they took off chasing something (which I thought was a bunny). I started calling my dogs and they started yipping back towards the sound of my voice. Little did I know they were chasing a Moose and when they heard me call them they started herding the Moose towards my voice. I was standing on a trail in the middle of the woods with dense alder bushes all around. My dogs were getting closer and pretty loud crashing through the bush. All of a sudden a huge Moose jumped out of the alders and almost ran me over. I did the freddy flinstone run first then managed to get out of it's way. It ran towards me, around me then off in the woods. My Rottie, Dobe and Alaskan Husky came out of the bushes and pretty proud of themselves...I did praise them for coming back while in the midst of a chase...but, I was shaky lol

The thing is when you have a breed with a high prey drive the satisfaction of the chase is much more pleasurable than most anything you could offer. The thing I have done to be able to walk my dogs off lead are walk in really remote areas and not during hunting season. If I see an animal before they do I will turn the other way and run so they will follow me. If I see a porcupine (which is really bad) I will run and give a high pitched shrill yell so I will excite my dogs into chasing me instead of the porcupine. But, then again it just depends on how much more exciting you are.

I do know some owners who have used shock collars, some with success and some with huge failure. You really have to know how and when to use them. A friend of mine ended up ruining his APBT with a shock collar. You would need special training...even though he did receive training from a friend of his who works as a Police officer in the Canine unit.

 

[Athebeau]

One last thing a client of my Sisters (my Sister is a dog groomer) got a hunting dog, what breed I can't remember. She just got the dog and was driving along a huge River that goes into the ocean (many people commit suicide jumping off this bridge) Her dog saw ducks and the owner had the car window down, the dog jumped and jumped in the river and went after the ducks. The lady ended up giving the dog to her son who is an avid duck hunter and he LOVES this dog. The dog was not right for this lady though.

 

[Tazwell]

The two basic techniques are to gradually build up to that level of distraction, preferably using long-leads as safety measures (not to reel in the dog), and at the same time, use more valuable rewards. If you call too many times and the dog doesn't listen, he's un-learning it.

One thing I've come to find out is slightly helpful in some of my situations, and hopefully in yours, is being in control of the "ultimate reward". If the birds are more valuable than the treats, use the birds as a reward. In practice situations, Call him to you, and reward him by letting him run at the birds. But not until he comes to you first. You could shape that into a reliable recall. I had no idea how stable it was going to be when I tried it, but It worked for me!

Another tip might be to "catch and release," instead of calling him to you and restraining him from the birds, you could call him to you, reward him, and release him again-- so not all recalls end in "Aww, no fun!"

 

[Athebeau]

One thing that has helped me over the years as well is a good reliable down. If you have a well trained down it can be wonderful and has saved me a few times. The dog can still see the prey object and eye stalk it but if trained properly will not take off until they are released. This has given me a chance to walk up and put on a leash. It's more difficult when you have multiple dogs out as they will feed off each other. With my alaskan husky type (border collie mix) I will make her down and wait for her fetch game. By downing and then releasing this has taught her some manners that I can live with.