Tips for long line training

Milford_Cubicle

My pup seems to have 'forgotten' her recall. Well, it's a case of it's slowly got worse and worse over the past few weeks. In the garden she won't come to me when it's time to come back inside. On the beach, as soon as there's another dog, she's off. At puppy classes, I think she'd rather choke herself to death than not get to say hello to every single animal and person there :rolleyes:

I've bought a long line which will arrive tomorrow. At present I shall begin in the garden, asking her to 'come' (she knows the command) and using hotdog as a reward for coming when called. I intend to slowly 'reel' her in and reward her when she's at my feet, so she'll hopefully get a grip of what I'm trying to do. I'm also intending on taking her to the beach with the long line as well and also doing a bit there as there are always other dogs around for her to be distracted by. From what I've read, the most important thing is to keep the line as slack as possible and only taughten it if the command is ignored and you wish to get the dog's attention?

I know there are a few seasoned dog and puppy owners on here so I'd like to get as many tips as possible to try and get the foundations of recall built again. She's only 17 weeks so I don't expect miracles of course, just to start as we need to go on with a view to being able to let her off the lead at least in the garden knowing she's going to come back into the house when I want her to.

I have been advised to get some one-to-one training, but I'm the only one who is employed in the household and it's an unnecessary expense I can't justify at present. She does go to puppy classes, but it's a different environment when we're out and about.
I made quite an error yesterday when I chased her out of sheer frustration - however, we do play a chase game in the garden which is not related to recall. I suspect I might have to put a stop to it though if it's going to be detrimental? I feel I should mention that she's good with commands such as sit, stay, leave etc and is very receptive to training and learning new things. However, she's a bit 'grumpy' at present because she's teething so I wonder if this is going to make a difference...she feels grotty so won't want to do as I ask? If that makes sense?

Anyway, all input appreciated. TIA

Raksha

I've used a long line - yes, I found it useful to keep the line as loose as possible - a) it doesn't teach the dog to pull on it, and b) the dog doesn't then realise when you are holding it and when you move on to stage 2, when you aren't. Try never to let the dog ignore you, and if that means the dog has to wear the long line even in the back garden, then (under supervision) that's how it has to be - by not letting them realise they can ignore you, you will shorten the time it takes to retrain. Another thing you might like to think about is changing the command - if one has started to fail you, maybe think about retaining completly, using a gundog whistle perhaps, or 'come' instead of 'here'....... And use the same command at meal times. Talking of meal times, make your training sessions before meals, so the dog is hungry, and take the meal out with you to use as reward, interspersed with hot dog sausage/liver/chicken or whatever else floats your dogs boat - for Barney it was his Tennis ball..........

callywally

chase games are a bad idea.you want your dog to come to you,never chase them as they will think its fun to run away.
If you teach recall to whistle its a good idea to use the whistle at feed times, make the dog sit and wait and when you place bowl on the floor blow the whistle so the dog learns that good things happen when the whistle sounds also always give a treat after blowing the whistle and the dog comes to you. If taught properly whistle recall is very good as it can be heard over a long distance and also always sounds the same. no angry voice to put the dog off coming to you etc

Mrs_pbradley936

Is it a breed known for being hard to train? I am thinking Afghan Hound, Beagle and lots of others. For them what you want will always be secondary to what they want and you can try training from now til doomsday and not teach them very much. If you have a dog which is "biddable" i.e. open to co-operation with you then you will have much greater success. I would not use a long line, I would start of in a passageway or alley i.e. somewhere long and narrow so there is no opportunity to run away and disobey you.

pboae

Hopefully you already know this, but never use a long line with a normal collar, they should only be attached to a harness. If a dog runs full pelt to the end of a long line and is brought up short it can break their neck.

If you are going to play chase games, then you need to teach her it's a two way thing, and take it in turns to let her chase you, so that she has to keep an eye on you and knows that to keep the game going she has to follow you as well. But really having a good clear well trained 'end of playtime' signal is more important. So that you can stop any game instantly, followed by recall and sit, without it being a battle of wills.

Milford_Cubicle

No, she's a Lab so not hard to train but on occasion too clever for her own good.
When we play 'chase', it is a two way thing and she does get to chase us as well, it's a game she enjoys so I'd like to continue it if possible.
I was going to whistle train her, but my partner has decided he'd prefer her to be voice trained, so that is what we shall do.

We've only just taught her the 'come' command yesterday as initially she'd been recalling to a squeaky toy so hadn't really needed a voice command. I've been using it randomly during the day and she is responding well to it.
My partner attempted the long line in the garden today and she spent most of the time chewing it and getting herself wrapped up in it :rotfl:

She has a harness, I'd not use a long line on her without a harness so worry not on that count

I'm going to have a go myself in the morning. We'll do the training mid-morning, then probably go to the beach and do some there as well.

Mrs_pbradley936

OK you have one of the most biddable dogs there are and with "aids" they can be voice, whistle, hand signals or all of them, not either or. The term "aid" just means a signal for the dog to do something. Hand and whistle signals are useful when the dog is far away.

If for example you want the dog to sit down when you blow one long blast on a whistle once he knows the voice command you just keep a whistle around your neck and several times a day for a few days say "sit" then blow the whistle. After a few days of this just blow the whistle and if he sits praise him like mad but if he does not say "sit" and give him some more practice. When you train a dog you want them to associate a signal from you with an action from them. The signal is not important it is the association that you want. You can train a biddable dog to sit to the word rhubarb if you want!

I have trained several dogs up to TDex in Working Trials and is no accident that most of the breeds that shine are Border Collies, German Shepherds, Labradors and lately Weimaraners. I used to run a training club but I do not have dogs anymore because I travel too much.

Milford_Cubicle

Rhubarb, I like that

We have been inadvertantly using hand signals with her, then realised that she'll do as we want if we make that hand signal such as sit, left paw, right paw, high five etc. If I can get her to come to hand signal, then that would be excellent. I may try to lump that in with the training

Mrs_pbradley936

If you need help try these:
http://www.workingtrials.co.uk/

Mrs_pbradley936

The best hand signal for "come" is outstretched arms because it can be seen from a long way off.