Retriever running away on walk!

RedBern

JCR - it has made a tremendous difference. He has a terrific temperament anyway - but he's just not so boisterous in the mornings and is generally more chilled - and more importantly he doesn't run away or try to hump anything that stands still;). Walking him is back to being a pleasure, it was becoming a real chore as we were constantly having to keep him on the lead or chase him up to the farm to get him back. He's really good fun again.

If you go onto profile you can upload an avatar - it is surprisingly easy - give it a go and let's have a look at another goldie.

RedBern

Update - Update - Update....

Had a bad few days - walking Floyd has turned into an extreme sport recently as he is so close to my heels I've fallen over him, and he pulled me over when he went sprinting down a footpath.

However - today we went for our regular walk - when we got to the gate to come home I stopped and turned to call Floyd and he was waiting for me to put his lead on! Since he was castrated he is absolutely fantastic - he is fun to walk again and doesn't wander at all. It has made such a difference to him - thanks to everyone for their advice and support.

So I think we've nearly got the recall sorted ... now for the emergency recall!

MrsTinks

Awwww bless him!!! I still think he looks dead handsome and I'm delighted walking him has turned into a pleasure again for you
The recall and emergency recall will come Given time and practise I think he could do anything, mainly because you're not competing for his attention with his hormones And as we all know... mens hormones tend to shout VERY loudly

Ani-Mate_67

Supermezzo is right - this is learned behaviour. I walk dogs for a living (and also own a Golden Retriever) and have found that lots of Goldies are actually quite neurotic - they can become quite manic about certain behaviours. I would get your dog on his lead long before the offending gate so that he can't rush up to it. If he does get to it, a great tip that I got from a behaviour therapist is to tell him to sit. Sounds daft but there is a good reason for it. It is easier for him to sit than to come away from what he wants to do so he is more likely to obey you. Once he obeys you have 'won' part of the pyschological battle (also your annoyance at your dog ignoring you is likely to abate at least partly which will make him more inclined to come back to you). Once he is sitting you can then tell him to come - if he doesn't then tell him to stay and go get him. If he won't sit, again tell him to stay and go get him. He has to realise that when you call you mean it and that he doesn't have a say in the matter. I would also make sure that on walks you do lots of little training sessions - every 5 minutes call him to you, have him walk to heel for 20 yards or sit and lie down a couple of times or do a sit stay. Initially only call him when he is coming anyway or when he is looking fairly bored. Dogs work best for random treats - sometimes he gets one, sometimes two, sometimes nothing and sometimes loads. Vary it so that he never knows what he's going to get. If anyone tells you that they don't need treats now that there dog is trained just smile sweetly at them and ignore them. Dogs do what rewards them and you need to make sure that coming back to you is always more rewarding to your dog than anything else. Another good trick is to keep hiding from him (obviously make sure you can see him so he can't get into trouble) - this will make him think that if he doesn't keep an eye on his silly human then they will disappear. It is easy to teach a dog to come when called in an area with no distractions or temptations - the difficult thing is getting the dog to come when it has other things to do. Gundogs are among the most difficult to teach this to as they think about it! They know what the command means they just don't see any benefit to them in obeying. You need to work hard and be consistent for at least a month and then you will have a beautifully behaved dog and can relax a bit. Beware though that if you don't get him neutered he will be off again when the !!!!! comes back into season - getting them castrated, apart from the health benefits, reduces their willfulness so can help with training issues but beware if your dog is at all nervous as removing the testosterone from a nervous dog can often result in the nervousness becoming fear and then fear based aggression (I walk 3 dogs that this happened to - all of them an absolute bundle of nerves when I first started to walk them and attacking anything that was new or unexpected and all of them 'fine' up until they were castrated (apparently)). Best of luck - hope all goes well.

RedBern

thanks for the tips Ani-mate - he's now castrated although only about a month ago so not sure if how long it will take for the hormones to go completely. He now answers to 'hey no nuts' as well as Floyd!

thriftmonster

Don't know if this helps but when we having trouble recalling our dog (he was 4 when we got him and recently castrated) a man on the beach (thank you ) told us that dogs have different tolerance levels of how far they can be from you. If your dogs is 1/4 mile then as long as you keep walking towards them you are extending that distance and they can keep moving. So either stand still or move in the opposite direction and you decrease their comfort level - so they should start to come back.

Obviously this doesn't work near roads etc. Our dog now believes that the lead is to attach us to him and not vice versa - although obviously the odd reward doesn't hurt.

Ani-Mate_67

It can take up to 6 months for the hormones to go completely but you should start to see a difference in willfulness within 4-6 weeks. One of the guys that I walk with on occasion now calls his dog Nobby - as in Nobby No Nuts - since having him castrated 2 months ago. He was a complete git about running away (Nobby - not the guy) and is now hugely improved.