Teaching recall

Shellgaz · Old Hand

Teaching recall

bluesmumanddad · Master

Hi again.

You are deffinatly doing the right thing to keep Saffron on the lead until you are very confident that she will come to recall.

I haven't used clicker training with Blue but many on this forum have with their dogs with great success. If Saffron is a foody you will find training fairly easy

We trained Blue to come back to a shepherds whistle. We practiced for ages in the back garden. When he returned he got a treat. Soon he was returning so quickly he knocked me off my feet on more than one occassion.

As for cats exercise great caution! If you see a cat in the street does Saffron notice? Check her body language. If she stops dead in her tracks and stares at the cat or makes any lunging motions towards the cat you will know she is not cat safe. Our Blue in not cat safe but is great with all sized dogs fortunatly there are not may cats around here.

If you have a willing friend with a cat you could ask if they would mind doing a cat test with you but extreme caution is neccessary and Dave (the big cheese!) would be better giving you the guide lines that Gal folks follow.

mclarchitects · Old Hand

To add your own photo, see "Help with the Forum" Section re: Personalised Avatars.

Clicker training does work - especially if you use small pieces of hot dog sausages as treats.

Watch out for cats, squirrels and foxes. Most Greys will go for them automatically, without thinking about cars, fences, glass doors etc.

regards,

Shellgaz · Old Hand

Thanks for the replies. I will try the whistle thingy with bits of hot dogs and hopefully she will learn to come back. As for the putting of Saff's pic on here.... I give up!! I can't make the photo small enough to be able to use it.

Cheers

Shelley x

Siouxsie · Enlightened One

Hi Shelley,

The best thing to do is send a pm to Dave, he'll be able to help with the avatar.

Good luck with the recall. All i can say about that is I kind of get a feeling knowing when the time is right(have with all my dogs) With Zada, I use a word and give her a treat when she responds, she comes to learn this word is treat time - this is while she is on the lead and through out my walking I use this word every so often to get her attention, i can use the word in the house and she will come to me immediately. Also just remember to always have a muzzle on Saffron when you have her out especially off lead (when and if you are able to let her off lead). Do you have anywhere near you that is an enclosed area for dogs to run, check it out if you do and see when quite times are).

Hope this helps a bit.

I now use the word in the house and don't always give her a treat, but lots of extra cuddles which she loves too and she still comes on call.

Siouxsie

mclarchitects · Old Hand

To reduce Photo for WEB use, see my reply to SALDEC under "These are my three Dogs".

Regards,

FAJ · Enlightened One

Steve and I trained Pearly (and latterly) Harry to recall to a whistle. Works really well, especially as the sound can carry for a longer distance than your voice can. Just as Amanda did, we started off in the garden. Everytime Pearly came back to the whistle, she got a wonderful treat - her favourite is cooked chicken and she likes cooked liver too. She only ever gets liver when recalling, so it's kept 'special' and so is highly prized.

One thing that we did was practice recall outwith the safety of our garden by using a flexi-lead attached to a harness (most definitely not a collar). It meant that Pearly could have a little extra room to roam but still be attached safely to us. She could get a good 12 feet away, which gave her room for a nice little scamper back to us to gain her treat for returning to the whistle.

We also reinforce the whistle by playing hide-and-seek round the house. Steve will hide whilst I keep the dogs in the living-room. When he's hidden, he'll blow the whistle and they have to find him. When they do, they get a special treat. Keeps it fun!

Good luck!

Fiona

Shellgaz · Old Hand

Hi Siouxsie,

I appreciate the advice. I will get a muzzle for saff. I am trying to get her to understand the word 'treat', she seems to be getting it, when she goes out for a wee I say 'good girl, do you want a treat' she definately gets what it means! I can just imagine me having to yell it in the park! There is not anywhere nearby me that is safely enclosed for her to run. We have a country park near us which is great for walks but has wild rabbits etc so I reckon she is safer on a lead!

Shellgaz · Old Hand

Thanks Fiona...... the hide and seek sounds fab fun!! I will def try that. There is somewhat of a spanner in the works now tho, just noticed that Saff is in heat! totally gutted..... had her appt booked for friday to get her speyed. Am a bit nervous to walk her on my own now so will have to either put knickers on her or get hubby to go with me.....

Dave · Enlightened One

Hi Shelley, first of all YES clicker training does work on hounds!! Check out the 'TRAINING' thread on this forum, some of the GAL dogs (including my boy Ivor) have been attending clicker training classes and their stories are on there, it's really worthwhile and a great method of training!!

OK, on the getting off lead thing, GAL always advise ATLEAST 6 weeks on lead only for newly adopted dogs, this is to allow the dog to get to know it's new owners, it's surroundings, the places where it will go for a walk and the neighbourhood dogs! Take it easy with Saffy just now, it's still early days and it will be a few weeks before her real character starts to shine through.

Recall training is fairly straight forward, incorporating the clicker will make it easier, basically it's a case of calling her name and if she comes to you she gets a click and a treat. Hounds are usually SO food orientated they will respond very well (small bits of Hot Dog seem to work the best!) repeat this process for 5 - 10 minutes a few times a day and you should start to see some good results, this can be done indoors or in your garden if it's nice and secure, remember if she doesn't come when called no treat!! The important thing here is you need to be confident that every single time you call her name or whistle she will come a runnin to you.

Now remember that the great outdoors holds many more distractions than your garden so you need to be confident when first letting her off lead. Don't let her go too far and certainly don't let her go out of sight. Let her get a few feet away then call her back (giving her a treat obviously when she does!), keep her close to you and keep an eye on the surroundings for any distractions in the form of other dogs, if you spot any distractions call her back to you and put the lead on.

If you do keep her onlead for a few more weeks then you'll have the chance to meet lots more dogs (big and small) on your walks and you'll be able to see what her reaction is to them (especialy the small furry ones!)

Finally the first time you let he off lead try to pick a fairly safe quiet area and do it just before tea time so she's hungry and will respond to the recall to get her treat..

Even more finally, remember to pop a muzzle on her when you let her of at first..

GOOD LUCK!

-- Edited by Dave at 18:59, 2005-10-25

Lesley · Guru

Shelley - do you have a local dog training class? When we first got Sim I took him to our local class and it was a really good way for him to meet other dogs of all shapes and sizes. At first he had his muzzle on until I was confident of his reaction to small, busy dogs.

You will probably find that she is quite distracted at first with everything being knew. Even different shaped dogs are new to greyhounds.

A training class is also a really good way to work on your bond with the dog. I found it really helpful and am intending to go back soon, to improve on what we have done previously.

Shellgaz · Old Hand

Thanks Dave and Lesley, you have given me some great advice and I intend to use it to the full! I really want to do the best I can for Saffron. I don't know anything about her history and I want to make her feel as secure with us as possible. I will let you know how I get on!

Shelley

Dave · Enlightened One

I see you got your avatar fixed Shelley, she's adorable...

Shellgaz · Old Hand

Aah thanks Dave... I got my better half to do it. Took him a minute and I looked really stupid! He said it was really simple. Tut.

Siouxsie · Enlightened One

Saffron really does look like a real beauty. Great to see her pic now. Hopefully you will post many more in the future.

Siouxsie

Vee · Graduate

Saffron is a gorgeous girl! You should be very proud of her shes lovely!

Steve · Master

Just adding to Fiona's comment on Pearly and Harry.

We worked on the recall thing and whistle for a long time - with Pearly it was around 2/3 months before she got free. First time she was off chasing rabbits and ignored everything. We used the whistle whilst on the lead and then using a lunge rein (used for horses) and then a flexi lead and harness. There's lots of dangers with flexi leads and you should only ever use them with a harness and if you are confident that you can manage/anticipate your dog's actions. Worked well for us anyway.

We built it up bit by bit and the key for us was the use of the lunge reain/harness outside - plus the chicken.

I used to continually walk them, tell them to stay, then whistle - even if it was only 6/7 feet away. I'd let them bimble around on the flexi then whistle and treat with lots of fuss.

Let them off somewhere quite enclosed too first of all. And , if you can, get another couple of freindly dogs with you as dogs tend to stick together. If the other dogs are ion the lead, and yours is off, I bet you'll have less problems to start with.

Oh - muzzle is a big definte to start with - you never can tell much about your dog until after a month or two. They always behave best when you get em then start to come out of their shell a few weeks later - wee demons!

And, if they start to run off or wander off a bit then run the other way and shout/whistle - they enjoy a chase and usually come running.

Christine Young · GAL Newsletter Editor

Hi Shelley

Saffron is a beauty! Hope everything goes well with her training - I'm sure it won't take too long for her to learn, especially if there's a juicy hot dog or piece of cooked chicken waiting in your hand for her! Good luck - and let us know how she's getting on.

Christine

Shellgaz · Old Hand

Thanks for keep coming with more advice. I really appreciate it. And thanks for all the compliments about Saff, I agree! She is a lovely girl!

Shelley