Dog training question...

Hi all,

We have a new puppy, a gorgeous long coat german shepherd. We picked her up last Saturday in SA and flew with her back to Vic. She is a beautiful girl and is settling in exceptionally well. She is 15 weeks old and she spent a month in another home but the breeder asked for her to be returned because the first owner was calling to complain that she was too skinny... but refusing to feed her more than once a day!! Anyway, she's a great dog, very calm, not mouthy, very gentle with all the kidlets. She has got the hang of 'sit', 'down', 'no' and gently' - pretty clever, huh?? BUT we are struggling with recall. We live on 2.5 acres and she has discovered the alpaca's next door and is quite obsessed with them. She constantly runs to the fence which borders the alpaca's paddock and she won't come back when I call her. Same thing if she sees some ducks on the dam or spots the chickens out in the coop. I know she is only a puppy, I get it that the other animals look like good fun, but I'm not sure how to get her to come when I call. She is not very food driven (makes it hard to get weight on her!) so offering a food reward is pretty useless, we are currently rewarding with praise. I don't want to chase her and turn it into a game, but I need her to recall when I call 'come'.

We are starting obedience school on Sunday, but I thought some of you lovely BB ladies might have some experience and advice. TIA.

She sounds lovely - I'm not sure about the training sorry. Does she know her name yet? Could you keep her closer to the house while she learns to come to you?

I hope someone can help xx


**Sent from my phone using Tapatalk.

You need to practice recall on a long leash to start with (without any distractions). Also, try a clicker.

I would be thinking about setting up an enclosed run too so the alpaca thing doesn't end badly.

Recall is so important but is quite difficult for them so you need to work up to it.

Firstly have her on a longish lead in an environment that isn't distracting. Have some small pieces of a tasty treat. Get her attention by using her name and when she is looking at you say come "come" (or whatever you are going to use) in a really excited voice and show her the food. When she comes give her the food and give her a big pat. Repeat again and again and again. Get her on a longer lead and do it again and again and again :) Then have her off the lead but still in a nondistracting environment and repeat. Then practice in lots of different environments so she starts to generalise the behaviour (dogs are good at doing things specifically how and where you have trained them so you need to practice in different locations). Some golden rules for training recall are firstly - never ever punish the dog after they have come to you. e.g. if they have dug a hole in the backyard and you tell them to come and then give them a smack or yell at them, you are effectively training them not to come to you. The second golden rule is not to push them past their level of training. By that I mean that if you have done some basic recall training and them take them to a dog park and they run off. If you know they won't come back don't use the "come" command - because you start training them that in certain situations it doesn't matter. If you need them to come back reliably but their skill level isn't there yet it is best to keep them on a lead. The third golden rule is that if you want them to come to you and they don't want to - don't chase them. It then becomes a game. Run away from them and act really excited like you want them to chase you - most dogs will naturally run after you then.

Hope this helps :)

Hi Ash, She does know her name and she will respond to it if she is not focussed on the alpaca's! She knows she is not supposed to go to the fence (which is away from the house and behind some trees) because I see her looking that way, try to distract her and she slinks toward the fence whilst I say 'no', 'Roxy, come'... at which point she bolts for the fence!!

I am praising her for sitting/lying quietly at the front door (outside, but it is right near the kitchen and in the centre of the house) but there is really no way to keep her close to the house unless she chooses to! I have plenty of toys and chews for her and I go out regularly to throw the ball for her and make sure she has toileted on the grass. She is allowed to come inside, but I would like her outside during the day and so I am trying to teach her to lie by the door (or the grassed area directly in front of the house) and only wander the property if we are outside with her.

Thanks MD and krysalyss! We have been practising recall on the lead and she is doing well. Maybe, as you say Krysalyss, I am expecting too much! I know that at this stage she won't always come when called but I want to make sure I am doing the right thing so that eventually she will learn. I have been doing the excited running away and it works maybe 50% of the time. The rest of the time I need to put her on the lead and walk her back to the house as I say 'come'.

MD, we do have a secure run, I also have a toy poodle and I'm looking after my mum's toy poodle for a year. My boy is pretty good but mum's dog won't recall so we had to build the run. It is quite big (maybe 10m x 6m) and I did put Roxy in there today while I ate my sandwich because I couldn't go back to the alpaca's AGAIN!! The fencing on the property is secure and Roxy can't get through it to the alpaca's. They seem to be as into her as she is into them as when they see her come to the fence the come running and stick their head over for Roxy to lick their noses. She just sits at the fence and waits for them to lean over for a kiss, she is not barking or aggressive towards them. I certainly wouldn't want her to get into the alpaca's yard, but I am confident that she is going to the fence to love them, not to eat them!

At our dog school they teach us to put our hands in the air when training them with the recall (so we look like a big Y) so that even when they can't hear us over a distance they can see it.

I'd second everything Krysalyss said. She's only a baby so recall, while the most important thing for her to learn, is a big step for her at this stage. I've got an 8 month old boy and his recall in the house, on the verandah etc is great - will come when anyone calls him including DDs - but get him out further away from the house and have him spot a kangaroo and noooooo waaaay. He's like "huh, who's Gus? I don't know anyone called Gus" and off he goes on his merry adventures.

Just keep practising on the lead and then gradually off the lead (we do training a bit throughout the day but always just before his dinner time, with food rewards), but in the meantime if your fencing is secure and she's not traumatising the alpacas I wouldn't worry about it.