Well done on going the whistle route. Doesn't matter what rewards you use - food, toy, game - as long as the dog finds it rewarding.

Good luck

Adam... for heavens sake.... we know dogs are very smart.. that's why we do not believe they need to be hurt in order to learn.... they can learn just fine using humane methods....

now you need to learn the same!!!!!!

Loads of people manage without using shock collars or any punishments at all

Or NOT use these suggestions would be my opinion, I have 4 BC's all out without leads, recall would never of been as good using Adam's methods......OH yes they would ''they'd fear me......great suggestion
My dogs already know they are smart, pity people are not so smart

Adam, I must admit to using aversive techniques when I first started seriously training my dog over 2 years ago....I got results.

I then noticed two things...all the people at the dog club who use aversive techniques have agressive dogs and all the people I trained working trials with who were the most successful used positive reward.

So, I switched to positive reward. The difference in my Dog- and me - is remarkable, i.e. positive reward isdelivering better results than aversive techniques.

There was a suggestion earlier in the post that if the positive reward didn't work try your punishment techniques...I would throw the challenge bak at you -try positive reward for a couple of Months and be honest with yourself about how you feel doing it.

Back to the OP question - you have to make coming back to you the best thing in the world, when your dog comes back lots of play like its the best thing that ever happened in its life.

Glad most of you got the meaning of the chocolate davdags, re-read my post

Shame the owners that come to you , are not as smart as their dogs

If you condition a dog to chase something other than prey, it more often than not, will do so.

I have done this with my dog with high predatory chase drive. She will recall off running deer, for her kong I put in lots of work but it all paid off. I originally taught the exercise as a Leave it in fact, not recall.

So yes it is possible.

Wys

I don't know what I am doing wrong but two posts seem to have disappeared, so if this repeating myself - my apologies.

The reason training is done slowly and gradually, Adam, is to give the dog the chance to succeed at every stage and to give him a solid foundation on which to go onto greater things. All too often people try to rush the basics only to find that things fall apart when they try to build on them.

Training with aversives (fear training) is not necessary, or kind. Novice owners often don't understand learning theory and so get sucked into believing that aversive training is the best way to go. I believe that Instructors/trainers have a responsiblity to teach owners correctly and in a way that is humane to their dogs.

Chase recall - calling a dog off of 'prey' - can be taught using reward based methods. It takes time and patience but if trained properly can be 100% successful. I agree with the previous poster - it is a form of 'leave it' (if this has been taught properly - basic foundations are good - it can be transferred to prey). So a combination of a good recall, reliable leave it and dog paying attention to owner = succesful chase recall.

As I say I've trained lots of dogs with reward based approach;'s but I realise that many dogs will benifit from the increased speed and reliablity of training that results when you mix in rewards and aversives.

Adam