This past week the Ginger Sisters started Recall Preschool on our wonderful 50 foot long line from local company Bold Lead Designs. I have to take moment to describe how much I love these lines, which don't tangle or collect dirt and are comfortable to hold. No more cotton knots and scuffed up hands! They are also well made with quality hardware that I trust to secure my little flight risk.
Ruby and Boca had very different training sessions. Ruby's looked suspiciously like a play session with her Frisbee, but I made it very rewarding for her to come my way with tugging and of course, throwing the disc again. Ruby will often not take treats outside, so I have to find another way to make myself interesting. Play is so effective as a motivator and reward that Ruby was able to ignore a boy riding a bike around the nearby basketball court. Because getting to run is such a novel thing for Ruby, we are going to have to build our way to more focused sessions. For now, fun is the name of our game! Here she is thoroughly dispatching her flying disc:
Boca is what you'd call too food motivated. The first time we went out, she watched me fill the treat bag and would not go more than two feet from me. I was able to put her in sit-stay and down-stay to practice recall but really wanted to try a more organic situation, like calling her back while she was wandering around on her own. Today I was smarter and stealthier about the treats, sneaking some less smelly ones into my pocket and not giving her any right away. She went off on her own and I rewarded her for coming back to check in with me. I also threw the flying disc for her a few times, which she enjoyed. Then we did a little more formal work with sit-stay and recall. This is from the blooper reel:
Boca did tend to stay close to me, but if she was busy smelling something or even later during our session when she was tired, she decided she would rather just stay where she was.I learned that even my easy dog has a long way to go before her recall is dependable, and it's no wonder since we rarely practice. Now that the weather is warming up and I have this super piece of gear, I plan to change that. The Ginger Sisters will both benefit from regular long line recall training. The last video is a really nice example of one of my successful tries with Boca - isn't she cute?
This post is part of the Positive Pet Training Blog Hop, hosted by Cascadian Nomads,Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. This month's theme is Recall and the next hop begins on April 4th. The April theme will be training for safety/emergencies for National Pet First Aid Awareness Month. The hop happens on the first Monday of every month, and is open for a full week - please join us in spreading the word about the rewards of positive training!
I'd like to try a long line with the poodles for more public places. I'll have to check out the one you use!
ReplyDeleteMom would never take us off our string but she still teaches us good stuff like this
ReplyDeleteSnorts,
Lily & Edward
I'm loving that line. I'm definitely going to get one for Bain. Can't wait to start working on his recall again.
ReplyDeleteThey are both so cute! Recall training is definitely one of the more challenging things to train. It's good that you recognize both dogs have different needs and are adjusting accordingly. With Boca being "too" food motivated I'd probably add in extra impulse control work with food and you can also even try placing little piles of food on the ground outside when you practice. That's what we do in our impulse control class. We have the students practice calling their dogs away from the food on the ground. :)
ReplyDeleteYour long line is fantastic. I think there are some useful words in this post, but I can't get past the cuteness of the Ginger Sisters. (Just kidding, I read it). Good work, girls!
ReplyDeleteWynston used to have a super strong recall. Khloee ruined it. Although he is better when he's alone. I love these videos!
ReplyDeleteI think recall training is hardest- you're competing with so many other things and the environment has to be almost perfect. It has taken years for two of our three dogs to have decent recall and I still don't trust our three year old dog, Walter, but we're trying!
ReplyDeleteBold Lead does make gorgeous leashes. I've been wanting one of their leather leashes. Toys are a good motivator but Mr. N won't work for them reliably. Now if I had a squirrel in my pocket...
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of using a long line, it's something I'm going to look into so I can practice Laika's recall in more public places.
ReplyDeleteI love Boca's "hey is this thing moving" look in that second video just before she bounces back to you :)
That long line is so nice! Ruby looks like such a fun little fire cracker. <3 Love getting to see inside other's training sessions!
ReplyDeleteYour long line sounds perfect for your situation! For our super-food-motivated Labs, we sometimes get them to stop paying attention to our treat bags by tossing a treat for them to find on the ground. As they search, we drift away from them. Then we call them after they've found the treat.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good prelude to Lauren's impulse control idea!
I'm going to check out that long line for next time we have a new dog!!!
Our dogs have a terrible sit-stay, because I never practice it with them. They do have a great "touch," "sit," and "leave it." 99% for all of them.
ReplyDeleteCome is a little shakier, but getting better. I'd give them 90-95% depending on what's going on with and around my crew.
I'll have to check out the 50' leash. That would allow us to go to a few places that we've avoided.
Long lines are so handy...I'm always surprised more people don't use them. I guess horse experience is handy! After listening longing a bunch of ponies, the dog is no big thing. ;)
ReplyDeleteI see a 50' lead (or three) in my future. Especially one that doesn't tangle! I love that Boca jumped at the leash because that is exactly what Piper would do :-) Recall with Simon and Zora is a little easier to work because both are HIGHLY food motivated. Piper could not care less about food when we are out and about with distractions so I love the idea of being able to practice greater distances without the fear of her taking off.
ReplyDeleteThanks for suggesting these great long lines! I'm bookmarking this so that when I buy us a new line, I know where to go--I've just about had it with our old cotton one.
ReplyDeleteNala used to not always come when sniffing or when tired, too. Practicing calling her away from food thrown first into places that made it inaccessible (like under the couch) and then from sniffing piles of food has changed that! Funny thing--I really like our furniture Zen game (and even wrote about it in my post this week), but it basically came to be because I am really terrible at throwing food accurately and food frequently ends up under the furniture. I am pretty afraid of what we'll see whenever we move the couch.
I'm so glad you posted about these leads, since now I'm obsessed. Even though Buster's recall is pretty awesome, we need to practice in real life situations more, so I'll take him out on this long line to practice. I agree though that recall is absolutely the hardest thing to teach a dog. Good for you for getting out and working on it :)
ReplyDeleteGretel is like Boca - too food motivated. It's hard for me to teach her anything because she won't quit focusing on me with her crazy eyes once she sees or smells them. I can be sneaky and get a "normal interaction" once but then she knows I have treats and won't leave my side. She does have a favorite squeakie toy. Maybe I can get her to walk a bit away from my by throwing that and then call her back. I don't know. It's going to take some figuring out.
ReplyDelete