Recall troubles.
Kirby and I graduated basic obedience when he was one year of age.he was doing wonderfully obedience-wise. And up until this week, he came when he was called. But yesterday, we were at the dog park, and even though he didn't seem interested in playing with any of the other dogs, and I knew he had to be tired ( he had walked/ran for about 2 hours) he refused to come
Then I called him. There were no distractions, and I even resorted to using his recall, he continued to ignore me, my mom, and everyone else. I tried ignoring him to show him it wasn't a game. I tried using an excited voice and offering this favorite treats, to no avail.
He was finally caught after my group and I "herded" him to one person in out group who caught him. I figured this was just a one time thing, he probly know it was time to go home, so I didn't worry about it much. But today I took him out to a field near my home to run off some energy.
And once again, he did not want to come. There were no dogs, or anything of the sort that would make him tempted not to come when called. I was on my own. I was frustrated. I put on my confident, in charge energy and called him. Nothing. I got down on my knees and called him in an excited voice. I ran away from him to get him to chase me. He always stayed at least 5 feet away from me, sometimes totally
Ignored me. I gave up I looked at him and told him he could stay there all night, and go live with the moose for all I cared (which of course I did not mean. I can't imagine my life without him.) I just started crying. ( looking back I think my blood sugar was low, so I was not being rational) eventually another dog walker grabbed him thank god. So now we have been home for a few hours, and now I am really worried about how bad
I feel like I have screwed up. I am a failure as a dog parent. I love my dog soo much. He is my first priority in everything. I buy his food before I buy my insulin. But I feel like a failure if I can't keep him safe on an off leash walk. He loves to hike off leash and I would hate to take that away form him. But I live in Alaska, so I NEED to have a reliable recall. Alaskan wildlife can be unforgiving.
So I ask you all: do you have any wisdom on how to fix the problem that I haven't likely heard about? He gets tiny peices of chicken jerky whenever he comes when called, so I should think I give him areas on to be inclined to listen. Help. Please.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ellen Andersen on
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Amberlie, I'm looking forward to the responses you get....I have terrible recall issues with one of mine, as well. Don't berate yourself, though! You sound like a phenomenal corgi mom. Corgis are intelligent and a smidge (haha) stubborn! Hang in there.
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Permalink Reply by Kevan hudson on
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My Benson gets the same way,his training sticks for a time and then,like an off switch, it's as if he has forgotten everything.I usually go back to the basics, take out the 30' training lead, and work on the recall for a few days, then he seems to settle back in. You haven't screwed up and sounds like your a good loving,dog owner,it is probably just that Kirby is being a typical stubborn corgi.Good luck, and I also look forward to the replies.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Don't feel guilty; Corgis have a working dog temperament and are not unquestionably obedient. Something made him decide he doesn't feel like coming! I have some tips that should help a lot, but I'm at work now.... will type something out later at lunch or when I get home. But DON'T FEEL GUILTY! You haven't failed as a dog owner. I have one who blows me off completely at agility class. At home he'll weave over liver treats on the ground; at class he acts like he has no idea who I am or what his commands mean. Who knows what they think?
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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You are not a failure...you have a thinking dog! I know that mine look at me and make a decision about whether or not they should come. My Standard Poodle probably never had that thought in his life! Try taking him out on a long (clothes line) rope and after he gets interested in something use your recall. If he doesn't respond immediately, quickly pull him to you and give praise and a treat. Plan on doing this for at least an hour at a time and gradually give praise occasionally instead of the treat. And least I sound really good at this , I find tossing a tennis ball, snow ball, or the broom gets their attention! :) The longer it takes to come the more you should praise, I figure they choose me over something really great.
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Ok, Amberlie, I have a few suggestions. Bev's about the long lead is a good one and can make them think twice about blowing you off.
Here's a few more suggestions:
1) You said he gets tiny pieces of chicken jerky when he comes. Rewards work best when they are random. If he knows what he'll get and about how much, he can make decisions like "Is what I'm doing now worth more to me than 3 pieces of chicken jerky?" I mix up rewards and amounts. So one time they might get one or two little treats, another time they might get 10 pieces of cheese. Jack will actually weight what he's doing against the reward he thinks I have, so sometimes I mix some good treats and some mediocre ones in the same baggie so he does not know what to expect. Giving BIG rewards on occasion is called giving a "jackpot" reward and it works sort of like slot machines do for people. If you knew that for every 10 quarters you put in, you would win 9 quarters, most of us would not play. But if you know sometimes you put in a quarter and get nothing, sometimes you put in a quarter and win 20 cents, but sometimes you might win $50 or even $1000, you'll keep "working" for that reward by plopping in quarters. Same thing with jackpot treating.
2) Try NOT to use recall when you are finishing up for the day, unless you have to. What I do on hikes and free play time I regularly call my dogs back to me, give them a treat, and send them to play again. When a dog starts to associate "come" with "game over" they start ignoring you. So call him back to you often and treat and send him back out to do what he's doing. I usually try other things like rustling a bag or saying "Where are the puppies?" when I want to leash them up after fun-time.
3) If my trained, adult dogs blew me off at the dog park, honestly I would have left without them. Went out the gate, got in my car, started it and pretended to drive off. I would have stayed away til they noticed I was gone and panicked (assuming they were in a safe place, and it sounds like they were). For a dog, "losing" its owner can be a powerful incentive to pay better attention next time. (to clarify, I'd stay right in sight where I could see THEM but where they thought I'd gone home without them).
4) Finally, to sharpen him up now, grab a friend and play the recall game: you each go to opposite ends of a big field with treats. One holds his collar, the other waves the treats and calls him using his normal recall command, and when he starts pulling excitedly the holder of the collar lets him go. He should run full speed. The other person gives treats, then takes the collar, and you call him to you and he flies back and gets more treats.
Do the above steps a few times and your dog won't think of the come command as a restriction. He'll think of it as a great fun game that he loves to play!
Then brush up your emergency recall for real emergencies, keep it sharp by practicing once a month or so with unusual rewards like steak or bacon or whatever, and don't use it again unless it's a safety circumstance (lost dog, dangerous road, running towards a porcupine, etc).
Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Amber and Kirby on
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Thank you guys soo much! We will try all of the suggestions!
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Permalink Reply by Alison Prasavath on
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Oh how I remember those days. Noodles went through his terrible 2's and honestly it lasted 6 months. Prior to that, he would come when called and made me look like the world's greatest corgi mom. And then he hit his terrible 2's. I couldn't trust him off his leash and so he was on his leash the whole time and then one day, magically he started listening again. I have not a clue what changed. To this day (and he is almost 7), you can see the wheels turning in his mind if he wants to come when called. He does the looks back at me, back at the direction he wants to go, then back at me, back in the direction and then he decides. I can tell when he decides to not obey me. Sometimes he will listen so well and other times not so well. When he is off his leash is only because I know the people that are down at the park or we are the only ones there. He is loose when we are outside and thankfully we live on a court, so no worry about cars speeding up or down the street. I admit though, sometimes I have to bribe him to come (he takes after his mom...he loves his "cookies"). All in all, he does a good job of coming when called, but that is also probably because of his age. It is funny though seeing him thinking through the obeying process. Man he is smart!
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Hi Amberlie, there are many ways to strengthen a recall and you've had good advice on that. I just want to point out the obvious: NO RECALL IS EVER 100 % RELIABLE. In situations like the dog park, the dog's life is not in question, but in a loose dog situation it definitely can be. Nothing beats a leash, long-line, or Flexi-lead (my favorite). The question is not whether you have a 100% reliable recall, the question is how much of a chance you are willing to take with your dog. My own comfort level is zero and my dogs are never loose when off my 6 foot high, fenced 10 acres..... Finding your own personal comfort level is a must. Dogs who are actively working are a different ballgame. They know and indeed were selected for generations to behave in certain ways when put in the situations they have been bred and trained to perform in and they know when they are working and when they are not. A working dog who is quite reliable when working, may very well surprise his owner when he is not!!!
In any non working situation, the smarter, the more independent, the younger and more physically fit the dog is, the less reliable that dog will be from your point of view.
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Permalink Reply by Megan C on
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As Beth suggested calling him over frequently during play and then letting him go back to playing helps a lot.
Also a strong sit/stay can be a nice back-up to a recall. And if you are worried about wildlife there may be situations where having him stop and sit may be safer than him running back to you.
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I always do that! I think he always seems to know when I want to leash him up though :( as for the sit/stay, I will try that!
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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Al went through a phase like that (I think he was younger than 2 y.o.) when he discovered that he did not, in fact, have to come when called, and I could not, in fact, catch him. He thought it great fun. I did not. He outgrew it.
Google "really reliable recall", Laurie Nelson. Or read about it here, there are several discussions.
http://www.mycorgi.com/forum/topics/1150197:Topic:201457
We had success witrh the "emergency recall" idea, without a great effort. Make it your #1 fun game. Do periodic refresher training.
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