Basset Fauve de Bretagne - no recall!!

Hello, I am new to Dogsy and wondered if anyone could throw light on something for me. I have a 7 month old Basset F de B (Brittany Basset) who is the friendliest, lickiest dog in the world (though he is yet to make friends with my cats, right now they live upstairs and he lives downstairs). He went to recall training but is at that age now where he is getting a bit rebellious and now I'm scared to let him off the lead because he just runs off and will NOT come back, he just loves running and woofing and sniffing out scents. When he sees me, he does a U turn and goes the other way! My question is: could he be retrained or because he is a hound will he always just prefer to be off the lead than come back to me - will i be forever chasing him to get him home again? I dont want to keep him on the lead as he loves running around so much and needs the exercise. He has also dug up our garden (even though he's got lots of toys and is hardly ever left on his own) but that is another problem. Thanks for any replies.

Hi & welcome to Dogsey.

You will probably get more responses if you post your question under the training/behaviour section.

(now moved)

I know of people who have bassets and, as you say, they are not the most reliable at recall, but they aren't too bad - so it is possible, though it will depend on the individual - I'm sure some are more independent/strongwilled than others.

Have you tried a long line? This is a fairly good means of getting the dog used to the idea that it must come when called...the long line gives them a reasonable amount of freedom, but when you call, if he doesn't come, you start 'reeling' him back in.

Playing games with dogs generally encourages them to get to listen and pay attention to you. For example, my rescue dog had no 'stay' or 'leave' at all when I first got her and she didn't really enjoy the training sessions. However, she loves the game of 'find the toy' and after just a couple of games she understood that staying when i asked her to was a necessary part of the game. Now her stay command is pretty good wherever.

Not sure if you already play games like this, but they really can help with the understanding between you and your dog, as well as being something to challenge his mind. If you don't already do this and don't know how to get started, I can give you some pointers

Apologies for posting in wrong section, i am still trying to find my way round this site. Thanks for your reply - i think thats a really good idea about hiding a toy and playing to encourage the stay command - i might try that. We were discussing the idea of a "holiday home" for a week or 10 days - they promise to retrain your dog for you so that when you pick him up he will be perfectly trained!! We might give that a go for the recall, but its a bit pricey.

(not a problem about the posting - it was only that more people who may be able to help are likely to see it in this section)

Personally I think sending him off would be a waste of money - if you need help, IMO you would be better finding someone who will train you both -you need to know how to get the best from him as much as he needs to know he's supposed to obey you (I'm also not convinced there is such a thing as a perfectly trained basset so would be weary of their claims. I would also try and find someone who has trained bassets as they aren't your average dog

The idea of the game isn't just for stay - you will be able to work it for recall as well. e.g. if there are 2 of you - one stays with him, the other goes off and hides and then calls him - has to find you, with encourage from the other person.

The more fun he has the more doing what you say won't seem like such a bad thing - at the moment it seems that coming back to you is much less interesting than running off doing his own thing.

Hi

I have a male Basset and he never comes back first time if he has a sniff of something - he will come back eventually but that is just the nature of most Bassets. He has got a lot better now he is older (2 years old) and doesn't run off. and will wait on command. However, I do meet another Basset owner who always has her dog on the lead as he never comes back to her. Training is a good idea but if he is anything like mine, he will only participate if he feels like it. If he can't be bothered nothing will get him to budge. The only thing that my Bassets ever seem to take notice of is food - maybe a bag of his favourite treats might encourage him to come back?

Sarah

Hi Sarah

thanks for your reply. I think we have kind of accepted now that our basset will always be a bit stubborn - which seems to be the nature of bassets - and as he has a big fat independent streak it will always be tricky to get him back on the lead when he is off enjoying himself sniffing out various scents. We have tried treats but i think i need a more aromatic treat so that he can smell it from a short distance - we have tried biscuits etc but i think because he cant smell them then they dont lure him in! But i do think you are right, treats are probably a key to getting him back. He does seem to be ruled by his nose.

Perhaps you could get him something particularly tasty and smelly, cooked sausage or something that he loves especially that you give him ONLY when doing recall and when he comes back straight away - perhaps he will associate that then that coming back means he gets something really fantastic? Just a thought, I'm sure there are many more experienced trainers on here who can offer you some sound advice...welcome to dogsey

Hi,
Welcome to dogsey,
I have Beagles,not a Basset Fauve de Bretagne i know but still a Hound and still very obsessed with any scent they find lol !
We got Alfie at 8 weeks and his recall isn't too bad but we can only let him off in certain places where we know his nose won't take him off, as he can be very 'choice' in deciding wether or not to come back when called,the scent is always far more interesting than us apparently !!
Daisy we got at 14 months and tried letting her off a couple of times and her recall was terrible,

What i do now is take them over to a field during the week near my home every day which has a basketball court in the middle of it which is all fenced off with a gate (not very high at about 3ft but they don't jump over) I make sure they've been to the toilet first before taking them in,
I take a huge bag of treats and radomly recall them,particually when i spot that they are interested in something or can see a dog in the distance,,which has helped immensly,Daisy is really improving (as she is very food motivated)
I'm not at the point where i can let them off anywhere and to be honest don't think i will ever be able to,because of their breed i will always need to excercise caution with them.
But their walks are far more enjoyable now and when i do let them off i don't feel quite so panicked as i did before.
This is something i will keep up however as i think it works with Beagles to give ongoing reminders and training,

I wonder if there are any fenced off fields or play areas similar that you could use ? It may help some,

Good luck,Hope to see some pictures of your boy,he sounds lovely.

I met Basset Fauves for the first time earlier this year and fell in love with them!!!!hopefully we will have one in the future.Would love to see some pictures of your boy.

As to the recall problem not sure what to advise, perhaps a return to basic training in a confined space, really reinforcing the recall response. I have Pointers and a Springer which can be quite headstrong breeds when out in wide open spaces, so from a very early age , even in the house, i frequently call them and treat them. I find that if you do it often enough it makes their response almost an automatic thing that they don't even think about, they just respond. I can remember talking to a Basset Fauve breeder at a show we were at and he did tell us that their recall can be bad due to their Hound instincts, but he did say it was possible to overcome it with training, he also advised taking them out with other dogs whose recall was very good, let them learn by example I suppose.
Best of luck with your boy