I'm conflicted....dog recall help!
So Kipper has taken Puppy K/Jr. High and has also been to puppy socials since she was 10weeks. She's currently 6 1/2 months now and after all this training, I think I am ready to TRY the dog park. I've been working on her recall indoor, in class, at puppy socials, and at a small park. She's been doing great at all of those and I think I'm ready for the dog park. However, I'm not sure how to go about doing the recall training with her there. I mainly use enticing treats when telling her to "come" but many people told me not to bring treats at the dog park because other dogs will hound me. So do I bring treats or not? And if not, what kind of recall training methods can I do with my pup at the dog park? I'm really conflicted and any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Geri & Sidney on
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Oh boy, recall! Even Sidney, who is marvelously trained, has selective hearing and many times will "ignore" me when I call him.
You want to avoid taking treats to the dog park when there are other dogs there. Can you go during times when there is nobody else there, like very early or weekday mornings? You could work on it then. If you want the distraction of other dogs, try sounding very excited when you call him. You might feel like a fool but your corgi should respond well. You could also bring just a few very tasty treats and keep them in your pocket. Call Kipper and make sure he goes into a sit position in front of you before you reward him. You can pat him when you tell him what a good boy he is, and sneak him just a little piece of treat without the other dogs noticing, hopefully.
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Permalink Reply by Beauty and the Beast on
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Sound like an idiot, hehe. I know what it feels like. Although it does help in switch from frustration to excitement and Shiro comes running much faster that way.
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Permalink Reply by Tegan, Carol & John on
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Tegan is the same age, and I was also nervous when we took her to the big off-leash park for the first time -- it's huge! I did exactly what Geri suggested and it worked like a charm. I may have sounded like an idiot, but Tegan came bounding to me every time. And I am now an EXPERT at sneaking her treats. The one good thing about it being a huge park is that I can be at least far enough away from other dogs when I call her that I can sneak her the treat. And now I only sneak her one treat the entire time we're there -- it only took a few times going to the park for her to not need them. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Kieu Huynh on
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Thanks for the tips! I will try to sneak in some treats and hope all the other doggies don't follow me.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on
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a good idea is to put them in a zip lock bag in your pocket, so the smell is a little less obvious to the other dogs :)
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Ziplock bags are useless for containing smells. Porous. Left one in a pocket once, lost a good pair of pants that way, dogs chewed right through the pants. I have these heavy-duty screw-cap palm-sized centrifuge tubes, leftovers from work, but a screw-cap prescription pill bottle is a decent substitute.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I would really discourage bringing treats to the dog park, unless you are the only one there. Mine would realize you had treats in a heartbeat, and then would be following you around instead of playing. And some dogs get aggressive if there is food around. Most dog parks have a "no treats" rule posted right at the entrance for those very reasons.
Usually if my dogs are playing with other dogs and I need them, I wait til they have wandered off to sniff something and I go and fetch them. I try to avoid using recall when I'm taking them away from something fun. What I do for training is that when we are out and off-leash, I will frequently call them to me, give them a treat and then send them back to do whatever they were doing in. When I do need to catch and leash them in a non-dog-park situation, I just make sure I give them several treats after leashing them. So then on the rare occasion when I need to call them to me to take them away from something, it doesn't really stand out to them and if I don't have a treat I just use lots of excited-sounding verbal praise. If you have a marker word like "good!" or "yes!" that normally means that a treat will eventually follow, you really shouldn't have to treat every time they do something good, just use your marker word. The secondary reinforcer, if used properly, becomes just as good as the primary reinforcer (the treat), meaning the same endorphins are released by the dog with the word as with the treat.
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Thanks! I haven't weaned out the treats for the recall yet so I'll be sure to try it when we're practicing at her playgroups/small park.
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really reliable recall
We had good success with this and it was easy. Pick a "Magic Word" that is never heard in daily conversation (we chose "Venite!", Latin/Italian for "Come!"). This is not your ordinary, daily recall command; this is for when the dog is about to chase a squirrel across the freeway or bite a porcupine. Do not use it casually or lightly. Reward LAVISHLY with cordon-bleu treats and shamelessly slavish praise. Introduce it when you KNOW the dog will come -- dog is hungry and sees the bacon dripping in your hand, and will come if you say "aardvark!" or "go away!" Do this a couple times a day for a week, then taper off and eventually fade the treats, but reinforce occasionally, always with a special goodie.
The first time our dogs heard "Venite!" was the first time they tasted bacon. It's the only time they've ever tasted bacon. They probably think "venite" means "bacon, come and get it!" They will forsake their soccer ball when they hear "venite!" I am impressed.
Practice the recall when they're playing, and let them go back to playing immediately, so the recall is not a signal that the fun is over.
NEVER call them in for something unpleasant. When I clip their nails, I go and get them.
other end of the leash
This is a good book, read it. She suggests making the recall into a chase game.
Pinkwater wrote, "Why reward a dog with treats, when it's perfectly willing to work for praise?" But dogs are like humans, they'll do anything for a suitable bribe.
Keep treats really tiny. I use a prescription pill bottle -- screw-cap, nearly odorproof. Don't let treats get too old.
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Thanks for the book suggestions. I'll take a look at it this weekend and hopefully it'll offer some tips that I can use on our next outing. I like the idea of using an obscure word because I've seen people in my class and when I'm out on a walk use "come" too freely. I eventually just want her recall to be good enough so that she'll come back when she's wandered off too far from me. I'm always freaking out that she's gonna run off and never come back. Yes, my trainer also told me not to use the word "come" for anything unpleasant so if I need her for something (bath, grooming, go home, etc.) I usually just go over to where she is and carry her over to where I need her.
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Some dog-class instructors don't even use the word "come", because the dogs already know they can ignore it.
But you do want to have a routine recall command, and save the emergency recall for when you really really need it.
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