hard recall 2

Well, not exactly a daily activity. It should be.

Today was interesting as I took all four dogs, the three Cardigan girls and Gus who just thinks he's a Cardigan. Gus never has to be on a leash around here. So maybe he thinks he's a human. While he never left my side the three girls heard the click from the snap rings and they were off. It was the first time I worked them all together and as predicted recall was more challenging.
I'm sure I looked and sounded wonderful to my neighbors screaming at the dogs to "COME!!" and them running around like they're deaf and high on meth. I am so grateful for our little acreage out in the middle of nowhere!

Kayla is definitely the ringleader as once I got her to come (or shall I say once I caught up with her) the other two followed. I put the long lead on Kayla and told them to "Go!" Off they went and repeated the lessons from before. This time when they "came" right away they got chicken and cheese. Wow!! So this is what happens to good dogs.
Getting them to "Go" again met with some hesitation but not for long as we know how much a Cardi loves to zoom. Apparently even more than the possible treat in her pocket. And when we go, but not too far and come when she says we get more? What a great game!!! Let's do it again!

After a couple more tries there was more consistent success. I know repeating this with some regularity will prove rewarding by keeping them close to the pack leader (no Kayla I'm talking about me dear) and possibly save their lives someday.

hard recall

When my dogs call do I come? That's not a grammatical error.

Getting a dog to come when it's called is so important to its safety.
I have been wanting to do it since forever but unsure of myself and not wanting to do more damage than good I blamed my lack of time, lack of energy, the weather.
But enough is enough.
I recently got some advice (thank you Mark Thorson!) on exactly how to teach this vital training. I purchased a long length of rope. Ok so 100 feet of it may have been a bit excessive but I wanted to have it long enough so they'd forget it was there. A snap clip was attached to one end. That, a greyhound collar and some cheese and I was ready.
I started with Kayla. I have to admit I thought it was going to be days and days of working on this. I say this because I trained her to gait by jogging with her and making her stay at a trot. Keeping her from galloping was almost more than she could stand. Took a full mile before she could calm down and just gait properly.
This, however, piece of cake. I let her run and told her "Go!" She took off. About 25-30 feet away and I said, "Come!" She ignored me but I yanked on the rope, not too gently. I wanted to send a clear message that I was serious. I was advised that in this particular situation to drag her if necessary. Fortunately, going that far wasn't necesssary. I kept saying "Come" all the while pulling on her lead. When she got close enough I gave her a piece of cheese and lots of lovin.'
Then all over again with "Go!" and off she went. Over and over and within 5 or 6 times she understood what was expected.
That was yesterday.
Today. She needed a reminder the first time. This time we weren't in the pasture but on the driveway and when the dogs have gotten out they run off up our driveway and down the private road. The full 1/2 mile!! She thought, I'm sure it was time for one of these adventures. "Come!" No? Yank. Oh I see. You mean it here too. After that she came every time.
It's best to work with only one dog at a time and then when they have it solid move on to the thrill of having a cohort. So in the future I will try to share how training two or three at once works out.
1/2 dozen times with her. Started Celie on this training then too. And after Pan (aka Panda) and I worked on show handling. Put everything away and looked at the clock. 1/2 an hour. Um my excuse of not having enough time just bit the dust.




My dogs teach me that obstacles disappear when I stay focused on what really matters.