This may be a bit more controversial than the posts above but; Mylo is 15 months now and he knows the recall command...but has chosen to ignore it recently.
I have tried all of the above with no luck so here is what I have done and it is working.
I use a 15 metre line, I let it trail and give him a recall. If he comes then a treat and loads of praise. When he doesn't come, and this is getting less frequent after a few weeks of this, I stand on the line to stop him, walk up the line and grip his collar and the fleshy bit by the rib cage and top of back leg, tell him in no uncertain terms that 'I said come'. I then follow this by a come command while backing up which he always responds to and then give him a treat and loads of praise.
I stress that when I grab him, it is very quick and is not strong enough to cause him pain, just to let him know what he did was unnaceptable.
This started to pay dividends almost immediately and he will return, even when he sees another dog or people which was his downfall, 8 times from 10 and it is now working without the line.
I am aware that Mylo is a 'soft' dog and had I done this when he was younger it would have had disastrous results for him so you really need to know your dog. As it is he is very aware of the come command or whistle recall and just chose to ignore me.
I have 4 leads in total, and normal lead, a slip lead, and 5m extension the recoil type and a 10m free line lead.
I had started to use the normal lead on his collar, and use the slip lead at training classes or to get him to walk to heel.
I mainly use the 5m recoil extension lead for his walks now to pratice short recalls, and to get him to stay if another dog is approaching so he understand he will still see and meet the down but on my terms and when he is calm.
I use the 10m free line lead when I am at a park or something as this is very difficult to keep under control on a walk, it either gets tangled in bushes, in other dogs etc. A 5m free line lead would prob be easier to control for the suggest that you can then stand on it.
i'll look into one of those.
I had him on his 5 m recoil extension lead tonight, and he tried to run for dogs, so I push the button to stop the lead, and stood still and gave the come command and he came after a couple of commands, I then made him sit and stay while I walked away and then said come to make him follow me, I did this till we got to the dogs.
Its going to take time, it can just really get you down especially at 6:30 in the morning and the last thing you want is him, running and jumping on people and running after other dogs!!!
I didn't think the delaying his feed would work, but I thought well you never know. I need to end on a positive no matter how bad he has been, well not bad....just puppy like!!!!
No problems when his command before he gets his dinner tho haha!!!!
So since my last post on 15/12 I have had him back on the lead only off when we are on a walkway route we walk as there as no cars and we can usually see if a another dog is coming and put him on extn lead or 10m training lead.
I've also been taking toys with me and playing with him on walks, and using treats. Sometimes he gets it right with another dog approaching but only because he is on a long lead....and he knows it! Given the chance he's be off.
So I thought this might be going forward until the morning when on the extn lead, the dog we usually meet in the mornings was back (with the holidays walks were at various times) so I said for him to HEEL which he did, the he started to go forward more and I said STAY, he kind of paused for a min and they like a grey hound out a trap he was off, nearly ripping my arm out its socket in the process!!! He was on an extn lead so managed to get him back and make him SIT till the dog was away. The other dog never even battered an eye at him wasn't even bother he was there......and there is me a the side trying to calm down a hyper, out of control almost possessed like dog!
At 8.5 months we have been going through the same things everytime he see's a dog one he has seen before or a new one its like he has never seen a dog before, he just loses the plot completely.
The other problem is that he has pulled my father in law over twice now, however this is my father in laws fault and not Brodies as well he just cant control him at all, he doesn't pull me or my wife to the extent he pulls hims, and if we say heel he heels, but he is just mad with him all the time, basically he never listened to what we told him to due with Brodie and now its like Brodie knows he can run riot with him! This is something we are working on but if I cant control him around other dogs they my father in law wont stand a chance.
So do I just keep at it with him on a lead for now and carry on with this training I've been at for 3 weeks now, I would have thought by know he would be more controlled off the lead. It is getting very draining when you can see its not working.
Does he ever get the chance to play or socialise with other dogs?
I have just been reading another thread and the suggestion made was to try and find someone you can walk with so he has a chance to play with other dogs and thus they become less of a novelty. You could also see if there are any GT's in your area and if not arrange one - see the Lab Liaison & Get Together's section.
Bella is now 8.5 months and I have found she is getting better with meeting other dogs on walks and is more likely to listen to me. This change started since I got Shadow and I also meet up with another member once every couple of weeks (she has 2 dogs) so they all have a chance to play and go a bit wild This seems to have made it less of a novelty for Bella when we see other dogs and she is more inclined to listen to me as I walk away.
____________ Owned by Bella, Shadow & Cats ....
Never forgetting Harry : 18/01/11 - 14/05/11 RIP
Sadly he doesn't get to walk with other dogs, he does get to play with other dogs if we meet them out on a walk, and there is a couple he can run wild with. The problem is I walk him at 06:30 and there is not much going on at that time, my father in law walks him in the afternoons (but he is totally useless at training him to be honest) and I walk him again at 18:30 where he can get play time with other dogs if there out. Also at weekends.
I was thinking of putting him to a dog walker twice a week for a month to see what develops from that.
It got worse today though......after some time back on the lead I have been trialing him off the lead at stages along the way. Today he sprinted to and elderly women and jumped up at her, lucky she liked dogs but after jumping at her he sprinted passed me and jumped at 2 joggers!
Then again tonight when I was doing sit and stays, I was just about to put him on lead when he seen another women and he sprinted to her, she wasn't a dog lover tho!!!!
I was thinking that some progress had been made and I had been keeping him on a extn lead, and doing little bits off the lead, making him "HEEL" till he meets another dog then let him off the to play as long as the other dog was ok too. I've also been using cheese as a treat to get him to come back or walk to HEEL when another dog is approaching, and also taking his wabba toy that he loves and also got him a safe stick at xmas to take on his walks.
But it would appear all my hard work is done nothing and he is back to chasing people, joggers, anything that moves really.
He is great with his commands outwith that, but these people today were not encouraging him to come to them or anything.
I really need some advise as I cant have him running away from me to get to dogs and now jumping up on people!
Ok look you're working on it but it takes time and lots and lots and lots of practice so don't give up! I personally think the single most effective thing I have done to get Sam walking nicely, heeling, meeting people properly is to take him to classes, bonus feature he enjoys it and so do I! There are lots about you just need to find the right trainer who suits you and runs a class at a time and place you can get to - we go to one that is local and on a weekday night at 7.15pm so Mum can come along too - she's a headteacher so clearly couldn't go to a daytime class with us, that way we're both being consistent in the messages we give Sam, he has a good time, gets plenty of praise and treats and learns not only to listen to us but also how to politely meet other people and other dogs - I really do think it would help and if you could get your FIL to go with you too even better.
Now this might be controversial with some people but personally I would not have him offlead in places you might bump into people who do not like dogs jumping on them until you've taught him better manners. I don't mean don't free run him at all I just mean pick your time and place very carefully - for example my dog Sam has been very frightened of bikes and joggers - we're working on it and now he sometimes is and sometimes isn't but he's on a line in the local park where people walk with their kids or go jogging because I don't want him to run away from them in fear and lose me - I do free run him in the fields because they are away from roads, I can see a long way and the people who go down there are either dog walkers or people who expect dogs/animals to be running about in fields and aren't going to be concerned if he does decide to go deaf. People walking in fields tend to expect to get muddy, you hope it won't happen but if it does its not the end of the world, someone walking along to work in a business suit wouldn't be happy to get jumped on so they may be quite rightly cross if your boy jumps at them as they walk down the street, you do need to teach him that it is totally unacceptable to do that and make sure you can stop it happening even if he does go to lunge - try, it is hard outside of a training environment, to ensure he NEVER gets rewarded for jumping up if some people fuss him then he'll think that behaviour works, try to always ask for a sit and the minute his bottom hits the floor treats and fuss so he realised that sit means please and saying please means you get what you want. I know that sounds simple and its not as easy in practice but it does work and with huge amounts of repetition patience and time your boy WILL get it honestly he will.
Chasing things that move is again a long job and one I would not say is complete with my 2 year old, some people are lucky and their dogs easily lose this behaviour but even without it ever being rewarded by humans mine still thinks squirrels particularly are amazing fun! It didn't help that one in our old garden used to deliberately taunt him by running down and around the trees to get him to chase then escaping up it - quite the interactive toy I have been and continue to work on allowing Sam to see the things he wants to chase but showing him by him being in a harness and on a lead that we need to sit and watch the thing and then get rewarded for that not go zooming off, I believe Laura is working with Tucker on the yes its interesting but watch it not chase it theory too so maybe its something to do with age as much as anything I don't know. We have a 'squirrel ball' a tail spinners one thats like a tennis ball with a tail you can shove in your pocket and squeek as a distraction if say a jogger comes along so you can be more interesting than the jogger and show him that staying with you is way more fun than running after whatever that was, it does take work though and I do sympathise with your frustration sometimes I think yay we've cracked it then something like a real life squirrel pops out on a woodland trail and I realise maybe we're not actually 100% yet! Just look at the number of dogs who are steady and do gundog work on this forum though its imperative they learn to watch until told they can go and do it so its definately possible and we'll all get there in the end just have to keep putting in the ground work. Don't give up and make sure you give yourself credit for all the things he can already do you are doing a great job don't let one thing cloud that.
Paws had offered sound advice there. It sounds like your doing the right things. You've got to realise you won't see results in days, unlikely to see them in weeks, its long term and can take a few months. Training classes will help, they'll be able to watch what you do and offer advice and provide feedback. The only thing you can do is keep at it and remain consistant.
Thanks for all the sound advice and I wont give up and understand this will take time I had just hoped at 9months he would still not be reacting the same when he sees a another dog as he did at 3 months. This morning I had to hold him by his collar to try and calm him down and try to get him to sit before he could go and greet another dog, he was practically doing flips in the air trying to get to the dog. While the other dog is just sitting there next to their owner!!
He has been at classes since the age of 13 weeks, only in the last 4 weeks we have stopped going mainly due to it was shut for 2 weeks over xmas and new year and I have seen no improvement in him with the classes and he been there nearly 6 months now.
He is good and will sit before he crosses the road with me, if I tell him to LEAVE something he will leave it even food that is lying about the ground when out for a walk (well apart from horse poo!!!). He will sit and stay, so he is generally good and the classes and training I have being doing is working but its just when he meets other dogs (and now back to meeting people) he had stopped running up to people and jumping on them!
I will return to classes, go on walks with treats and toys, keep making him sit and calm before he meets another dog and see what develops over the next 2-3 months. I will also keep him on lead unless we are down the walkways which are for walkers, and not people returning form work! I guess I am just a little disappointed at 9 months I cant let him off the lead without fear of him running after other dogs or people, but the main let down is that he is still just as hyper when he meets another dog as the day we first took him out!
I will also but him to a dog walker to get him out with other dogs, and try to get him playing more with dogs.
As for getting my FIL to go to classes he wont and to be honest its great that he helps out with him, and takes him out in the afternoons but he is worse than useless, its actually been harder to train him than the dog!!!
Fingers cross it all just clicks into place with him!
So what's the best way to approach another dog! I have tried a few things for the last few days, first I tried getting him to eat a bit cheese from my hand while we approached the dog, but he just was not interested in it!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing as he does anything for cheese....or so I thought!
Secondly I tried using his wabba toy, which was successful but now he has caught onto to this after only 2 days and is now not interested in the toy when approaching another dog! If I squeak the wabba and call him while he is playing with another dog he will come to me, which is great!
Tonight he nearly took my arm out my socket, trying to get to another dog! We then met a group of 4 dogs playing so I made him sit, the only dogs ran over and he was hyper as anything but I didn't let him off till he sat for a few seconds!
So I understand it will take time and I need to use aids to help him but what is the best thing to do when approaching another dog to try and keep him calm?
He's obviously very social and that's a good thing just needs to learn some manners, when I had this problem with molly I made much more of an effort for her to interact with others dogs, this meant going round my neighbors and suggested we walked in the eve together. So when i did go walking without them, molly was less likely to go and seek out other dogs. Along side that I taught molly "watch me " . in order to make this work and to compete with al the other interesting things it had to be something really tasty, I used the same treat as I use for recall. Another thing to try is if you are walking past another dog and he lunges, is to turn around in the other direction so he can't meet them until he is calm..and another thing! I had a couple of friends who would come and greet molly rather enthusiastically which I don't think helped the situation on walks. So whenever they came over I would ask tthem to ignore her for a few moments and keep the greeting calm. Factoring all of that and molly is much better at meeting and greeting.
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This seems to have made it less of a novelty for Bella when we see other dogs and she is more inclined to listen to me as I walk away.
I have been and continue to work on allowing Sam to see the things he wants to chase but showing him by him being in a harness and on a lead that we need to sit and watch the thing and then get rewarded for that not go zooming off, I believe Laura is working with Tucker on the yes its interesting but watch it not chase it theory too so maybe its something to do with age as much as anything I don't know. We have a 'squirrel ball' a tail spinners one thats like a tennis ball with a tail you can shove in your pocket and squeek as a distraction if say a jogger comes along so you can be more interesting than the jogger and show him that staying with you is way more fun than running after whatever that was, it does take work though and I do sympathise with your frustration sometimes I think yay we've cracked it then something like a real life squirrel pops out on a woodland trail and I realise maybe we're not actually 100% yet! Just look at the number of dogs who are steady and do gundog work on this forum though its imperative they learn to watch until told they can go and do it so its definately possible and we'll all get there in the end just have to keep putting in the ground work. Don't give up and make sure you give yourself credit for all the things he can already do you are doing a great job don't let one thing cloud that.
