Searching game – teaching the “Find it” cue

Putting a cue to an activity is important so when the dog has associated the cue words with an action you can use it in different situation to let the dog know what is about to happen.

1. For three days place a portion of food on a jam jar top in front of the dog and say an excited “find it” encouraging the dog to go and eat the food. Repeat 10 times.
2. For the next three days continue placing the food down whilst the dog watches but now place it further away or just around the corner/behind furniture. As the dog is released to find the food say “find it” in an excited encouraging voice.
3. The following three days continue as above but gradually make it harder for the dog to find, around the back of a chair, in another room out in the garden etc but always letting the dog see that the food is being taken and placed somewhere. If the dog dashes out and gets each portion quickly and appears confident in what he/she is doing you can then move on.
4. Now the food portions are placed around the kitchen and garden but the dog does not see what you are doing. Make sure one or two of the portions are really easy to see so that it encourages the dog to find them. Then release the dog with an excited “find it” and let the dog go and hunt the dinner portions. If you have areas of the house/garden where you do not want the dog to go just never hide food there and the dog will eventually not bother looking in that area. Gradually the dog’s determination and stamina increase so that they will spend up to 20 minutes searching for food portions. You can then start using the same game out on walks in the following ways:

Start off as you did in the house/garden so start off by putting the food just in front of the dog and saying “find it”, repeat as in the above, letting the dog see you put it down then gradually put it in long grass, behind trees etc. If the dog has a poor recall a trailing line or extendable lead can be used.

This is a particularly useful exercise for dogs that get distracted out on walks by chasing scents. By having food available they receive a reward unlike the often fruitless searches for rabbits that have gone to ground or other elusive scents. It also helps by putting the “hunting” on cue and by working cooperatively with the dog because the handler is the facilitator of the game.

Is it possible that you are the trigger? I have seen dogs that have legged it when the pressure of training got too much. 7 months is very young to know many commands and to know them well.
What sort of service dog is he, as a matter of interest?

I do think it's either a case of intense zoomies (Bubble gets them but doesn't go as far, but she does go off as though on a mission) or he's caught a scent and because he's so good at it, you're missing the signs.

As I said, a different pitched whistle for emergency recall or 'stop' that is ONLY used when he gets a VERY high value reward might be worth a try.