Well give it ago, I'm sure I can practice my 'silly, high pitched happy noises' some more.

Thanks for the advice shadowboxer. I'll let you know how i get on.

Great topic for me too. Olive's recall is zero. She is two and a half also and was great with recall up until about a year - now she just doesn't care. Have tried treats, cuddles, running around trying to look "interesting", nothing seems to work for her. Olive has a very high chase drive - she is always on duty. We now don't let her off unless we're up the fields, which is a shame cause she loves running free. I think I will give one of these long lines a go. How do you stop the line trailing on the ground?

you don't, you allow the line to follow behind the dog so the dog is the same as being off.
it is a good way of giving the dog some freedom but you still have control if needed.
its the same as a flexi lead but it doesn't return.
with a line the dog can have more freedom than a flexi due to length plus you can recall at different lengths to learn them to come regardless how far away they are.

Girlsmum & Olive - if you search this forum for "recall" I think you will find several quite detailed posts from various people which might be of help to you