Hi Jenny,
The reason why young puppies stay close off-lead is for security. The world is an unfamiliar, and often scarey, place for a pup so it sticks close for comfort & safety. (One of the reasons why people who train think they see a future obedience champion in their 10 wk old pup!!) As puppies get older & bolder they gain self-confidence plus the urge to explore. I wouldn't mind betting that the 14 week old pup will soon be leading her owner a merry dance in a few months time. Unless she is so cowed by his approach to training that she is simply too scared of him to do anything natural to a dog.

Your problem with Indie would seem to be that you have not conditioned her to recall under distraction. She behaves perfectly in the garden, why? Because she is in familiar surroundings. She knows every inch of the place, nothing is going to surprise her, or be of such overwhelming interest that she would prefer to investigate rather than recall for a tasty treat.

Getting a reliable recall with distraction is not easy and it requires a lot of time and patience. Once she will recall every time in the garden add some low level distractions, such as someone else walking around. When she is solid with that add a higher distraction, e.g. the other person running, jumping about. Solid with that? Add the person singing, dancing, whistling. Still solid? Add the person bouncing a ball or eating something tasty.

Once that is ok take her to a place where there are very few distractions. Start again with the low level distraction and build up.

Then take her somewhere, such as a park, with a few people about and practice recall. Next step, take her to a park with children & dogs around and practice. All this training should be done on a long line. The idea is to give her no opportunity to make a mistake, you give the command and she comes - whether voluntarily or with a reminder that she has no choice in the matter. Always reward her for complying. Get excited, praise her, give her treat, play a game. Being close to you must be pleasurable for her. (I assume you know never to reprimand her when she comes to you whenever & whatever the circumstances. Even if she has been really evil grit your teeth and be happy).

Once you have proofed her to as many distractions as possible then try off-lead recall - starting back in the garden & working up to the busy park. Never call her to you when you know there is a chance that she will ignore you and that you cannot enforce your command.

Sounds difficult, and perhaps tedious, but that is the way to do it. Go from very low level distractions to very high. Go slowly. Make sure each step is solid before moving on. Never be reluctant to go back to reinforce a previous step.

Good luck
SB

Hiya
we've been through this with Murph -he's far to confident for his own good and would run off all over the place -he's still not perfect off lead and I don't trust him yet with too much distraction ( other dogs ) but with most other stuff he's pretty good now -but as Shadow boxer says it can be tedious
What did it for us was a squeaky toy -it only comes out on walks and nowhere else and Mmmmmatesons smoked sausage ( the benefit here that if the dog ignores you at least you've got something to eat lol )The bringing back of the toy has helped re-enforce the recall
Murph has been on a longline now for about 12 months most of the time it trails , its only recently that I can go out with out it
I went to oodles of classes and I felt under enormous pressure to have a good recall and sometimes felt like it was ''only me'' and it must be my fault etc ( one trainer actually told me it was my fault as he said I had no bond with my dog )
Have you ever hidden from her ?? ( in a safe place of course ) or play hide and seek around the house and garden so when she comes to you she gets loads of praise and treats
do you have a tennis court or anything enclosed nearby that you could use ?
Keep her on the long line, let her have a good sniff about and then call her to you -if she doesn't come give her a little tug and reel her in gently -as soon as she starts to trot to you loosen the line and use your stupidest voice to encourage her in and give her something she never gets at home ( i've used smoked salmon before now ) then let her go again -practise this till she turns straight round -it could take 2 days or two months -don't worry -then move on to the open spaces
I used to get so frustrated about it ( still do sometimes ) as everyone elses dog seemed to 'get it' except mine
hth

I should qualify my use of the word "tedious". The exercises may well be tedious for us, but it is important that they are not allowed to become tedious for your dog, and that your dog does not pick up any intimation of boredom from you. Everything in training must be up-beat and fun. If you are not in a good mood, not prepared to be patient and enthusiastic, then don't train until you can be genuinely happy & enthusiastic about your dog's efforts to do the right thing.

Thats how I read it SB

Hi Jenny... I'm a little confused, it's getting late... lol.... but I'm assuming your talking about an off lead recall..... and by recall do you mean you want the dog to come back to you and sit directly in front looking at you, as in trialing, or just come back to you so that you have control..... They are different..... When I'm running my dogs I like to use the second one..... I use the command "Here" and that means that my dog must come to within arm's distance for a pat then they can run off again......

It's important that you know your 'distance of control' ... this is the distance that you dog can wander and you have total voice control.... in most cases this distance is not very great, it takes a lot of training to get it...... when your dog is off lead, firstly dont forget your food treats.... everytime you call your dog and he comes praise verbally and give treat.... its your job to stay within your distance of control... if its 2 meters then you stay max 2 meters from your dog or keep calling him so that he stays within that range..... over time you will be able to increase the distance....

Continue to let your dog wander off and keep calling him back, making it big time fun when he even looks at you, this will encourage him to keep moving towards you.....

Never call your dog then put him on lead and go home..... Put the lead praise him, then take it off let him go off again, call him put the lead on... etc.... so that he learns that comming to you does not mean that its always hometime.. end of game..

Donna T