[Cockapoox2]

Ok, I know this is bad but we haven't taken either of our dogs to training classes so what little they know we have taught them.
They sit when told, Bailey will lie down, Lilly won't; they will go and get in their beds when commanded and will give a paw.
We have never ever let them off their leads when we take them for a walk even though we are surrounded by fields and fields. The reason why is because they pay no attention to me when in the back garden. I call them and Bailey will just carry on doing what he's doing. Lilly is slightly better. If i tell her to get in her bed she will 8 times out of 10 come back in the house. I'm terrified that if I let them off they will run off like lunatics and not come back.
Please can someone tell me how to get them to come to me in my own back garden, and how would I progress to walking them without the lead?
When walking on the lead they pull me about so much. I have done the turning back and walking the other way, pulling them to my side, but it's become so much like hard work that I make my husband walk them (who is way too soft with them and treats them like babies....not helpful!!)

 

[MillieDog]

Is there any training class near you, it would be a good idea to learn Clicker training. You can even have one-on-one training in many cases.

 

[Cockapoox2]

I did it!!! Well, she did it!
I decided to take just Lilly out and spend some 1-1 time with her. I took cubes of cheese and we went walking. Everytime she pulled on the lead I pulled her back and to my right hand side and said 'side' to her. She very quickly stopped pulling. and I rewarded her with words and cheese.
I then started talking to a man with a cocker spaniel who was running free and only 10 months old. He said to just let her off but I was too chicken and thought she would really embarrass me by buggering off!
So after we stopped talking and went separate ways, I thought sod it, if she runs she runs, I'll scream and scream and she'll eventually come back.
So I told her to sit and gently took the lead off, and started walking. She followed but never once went more than 1.5 metres from me Whenever I called her she stopped and came back to my side! OMG what have I been missing! I was so chuffed with her (and myself lol). Walking will be so much more fun from now on!

Now, I just have to tackle Bailey and plan to do that tomorrow. He will be alot more challenging I think but they are both intelligent dogs, and I so want to do this for them, and for me!

 

[MillieDog]

Good news. Keep high value treats on you to encourage a good recall. Cheese, Frankfurter, Sausage etc. Take them out separately for a while as I think taking both out will just be too distracting.

Do lots of recall and lots of praise. Try it in different situations. You will find that when they come across another dog, they will be quite distracted and may not recall quite so easily. Don't panic. Wait for a lull in their greeting as there is doggie etiquette thats best not to interrupt.

You must train them to keep an eye on you, this is equally important. Hide behind a tree and call. Lots of praise again when they come to you.

Don't nag with recall. They will learn to just ignore the first couple of calls and come back when they are ready. Call their name to attract their attention and give the recall command. If they wont come attract their attention some other way and being exciting ie waving, dancing around and cheering, lying down.

Finally, sometimes recall will simply may not work and you just have go and collect your dog. Never punish for a bad recall, you don't want them ever feel bad returning to you.

Its lovely seeing your cockapoo enjoying free playing.

 

[Fiver]

Oh well done you and Lily! Milo is much the same and we do go to training classes.He is so excitable around people and other dogs that he doesn't always listen.He pulls on lead but off lead he is a dream.I go with pockets full of cheese and sausage and do play the hiding behind a tree game.He likes to keep us in his sight so he won't stray too far and if he does I change direction and he runs back on recall.Meeting others walking dogs especially in a pack sometimes becomes a whirlwind of chasing fur but I just walk on with fingers crossed and so far so good. Now all I've got to do is get him to walk nicely on lead

 

[Cockapoox2]

Well, I took Bailey out on his own last night and he wasn't as bad as I thought he was going to be. His recall is by no means as good as Liily's, he just wants to run ahead and pee on everything!
This morning I took them both out, on the lead, and when I had them walking nicely, I let Lilly off and she was great.
I got a bit brave after a while and let Bailey off. He walks alot further ahead that Lilly, and she aways returned to me when called. That was until we got to a paddock where a farmer was on a tractor with an Alsation
Bailey legged it into the paddock and no matter how much i called he wouldn't come back! Lilly then thought it looked like fun and ran after him Thank got the alsation was well trained! I eventually got Lilly back after climbing through the fence and put her on the lead but no way would Bailey come back. I climbed back through the fence and carried on walking hoping he would follow. He did eventually and I managed to get him on the lead but i was mortified. The man in the paddock gave me a bit of a lecture about having them off the lead, and I explained i was trying to train them.
So Bailey was walked home on the lead and Lilly was let off again.
Bailey is not interested in any treats when we are out. He sniffs them but then turns his nose up at them, whereas he loves them at home. I have tried cheese,sausage and his usual treats to no avail. What else can I do to try and tempt him back?
Needless to say I won't be letting them both off at the same time for a while. I need to do more training with Bailey but how else can i get him to stop what he's doing and come back and what treat can i use when he does?

 

[wellerfeller]

You could try liver cake, dogs seem to love that. I would also stick to taking one at a time for now or may be just one off lead at a time as its easier to concentrate on one dog and it will reduce the influence of the other dog.
Good luck, you are doing well
Also may be worth buying a long training line for Bayley as he is less reliable, you can recall and if he ignores step on the trailing lead, just keep him with in a reasonable distance though, so that the end of the lead is always close to you.

 

[MillieDog]

You're doing great. Don't give up on Bailey. He'll get there. We've all been in similar situations. I had Millie run into a field with horses and thoroughly enjoyed eating their poo running round like a demented idiot. No amount of calling would bring her back, she was having a wail of a time. I sent poor hubby into the field to retrieve her

I didn't stop off lead training, just learnt to time it better.

 

[JoJo]

I want to reply to this thread, but yesterday on our walk my puppy Fudge went off and I was laughing so much at my naff recall. I actually had to go and get her, so I will leave this topic to the experts.

Saying that my Picnic is very good at recall, just Fudge (aka F-Lo or Pudding) who is not good at all but she is still very young, well that’s my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Another JoJo saying as Colin likes them so much, Rome wasn't built in a day so a cockapoo can't be trained in day either. Stick with your recall training and your dog will get there in the end, all training is about consistency and practice.

 

[Cockapoox2]

I've never been able to enrol in the training classes because I work shifts and husbands hours are varied so there would be no consistency there.
I've ordered a whistle today and am going to try that with Bailey. I've been practicing in the garden with him, clapping my hands and waving my hands like a demented fool and he's come back a good few times.
I know it will take time and I really want to enjoy walking my dogs so I'm prepared to stick at it.
Hotdogs are ready to be chopped up for tonights walk

 

[xxxxxxxxhantsmummy]

We use a whistle, an acme 210 (they all have different pitches) blow it 3 times and she comes running, only took an hour to train her, hiding and blowing whistle then treat when she comes, works well for us! When stressed or worried our voices change pitch but a whistle always the same. May e worth a try? X

 

[2ndhandgal]

The most effective way to use a whistle is to condition the dog to it over a couple of weeks - so every time you feed your dog blow the whistle - always the same whistle and the same signal of pips. After this you can start around the house and garden using the whistle and rewarding with a high value reward when the dog comes back.

For now with Bailey I would be using a harness and long line and rewarding him every time he comes back or pays you any attention at all. Now he has had lots of fun with the other dog he is likely to run off again and it would be better if you can use the line to prevent him doing that whilst you are training him.

 

[MillieDog]

Go careful with the whistle. There's a lady in my park who used to always shout at her Pointer dog to recall, using his name over and over again. She obviously took advise and was told to try a whistle. Now she shouts his name over and over and blows the whistle over and over Its called nagging - don't nag your dog They need to learn to come back on the first recall, possible second if they missed the first because they were too engrossed in something.

 

[2ndhandgal]

Good point MillieDog!

Another point is that although I usually use my voice to call her Molly responds very well to the whistle - which was slightly embarrassing the day a very posh man with his labradors and springers loudly blew his whistle and was almost bowled over by 5kg of flying fluffball his dogs meanwhile ignored him

She was also really distracted last week when I was doing a formal recall at training class and the football players in the next field were doing some sort of training which involved blowing a whistle lots - which Moll was very interested in

 

[colpa110]

Julie is right do not keep calling your dogs name or repeating commands - our trainer calls this poisoning the word as they will come to ignore it. She even recommends never calling your pup by it's name unless coming to you for a reward ( she suggests just say pup pup pup)..that way every time you do call it's name it is more likely to come because a reward is on it's way.

 

[tessybear]

Yes my trainer said only ever give a command once or it will learn to ignore you.