I need help

I have had a 3.5year old golden retriever for about 4 week she is a really lovely dog except for one thing she is dreadful on recall I have tried lots of love and attention when she comes back lots of treats I have now tired a whistle everything works fine in the garden and around the house but as soon as we are out in the field she just completely ignores me, can any one help?

Lots of us have/have had this problem. My dog was exactly the same. I put him on a long line (20 meters) and took some high-value treats. I then took him to the park and kept recalling him - making sure we went when the park was empty and there were few distractions.

At first he totally ignored me, so I went back to trying recalling him from the garden, making a huge fuss of him. Then back to the park on the long line. When at first he ignored me, I would gently tug the long line and hold out the treat.

Here's what REALLY helped: I then praised him THE SECOND he turned and looked at me.


That made a huge difference. I kept him on the long line for several months, repeating the recalling with more and more distractions.

Now I can recall him when there are other dogs around BUT it's still not as good as it can be, so I have him on a long line when there are lots of distractions.

Hope that helps a bit. Sometimes changing the recall cue word can help also.

Thanks very much i will give them a try

good advice
also I would like to add you have had her a very short time really to be letting her off the lead
better to build up slow, work on recal 100% in house, then in garden, then build up distractions she is around
and until you are sure in a situation keep her on the longline

Sounds like you are doing great already with her coming in the house

also dont call her if you think she is going to ignore you (racing after a rabbit or something) because then the word just becomes something they ignore
just go and get her until you have worked with that level of distraction

As said, 4 weeks isn't very long, especially as she may have had 3.5 years to practise bad habits like running off!
I would go back to basics, read up guides on recall (there's several threads on the forum, I'll try to find you some previous ones), invest in a longline and keep working at it. It won't happen overnight but you'll get there if you keep practising

Edit:
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=144344
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=142708
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=142723

I agree, four weeks is really very early. To give you an idea, I've had Dex for ten months and am only starting to really let him off leash in the park now. And even now I have to take the long line with for when he thinks he can just ignore my recall cue!

It can take a bit of time to teach a really good recall, you have to make it SUCH fun for the dog to return to you, I stand and yell and jump and wave my arms and sometimes run backwards so as to almost turn it into a 'chase' for Dexter. (this last thing by the way was advice I got here on this site!)


Stick with it and I recommend getting a nice long line, it really helped me.

Thanks for all the help I will have to go and get a long line,
I am very lucky that is her only problem apart from that she is very well behaved

Good luck I had issues with Summers recall for a long time, I know now I definatley made it worse by calling her when she was completely distracted but I learnt from the mistakes and eventually she got it, there are still situations I need to avoid as she turns deaf you'll get there with patience, perseverance and the great advice lots of members on here give

Let us know how you go on?? x

Hi
This is Issy my golden retriever, a few of you ask to see her so here she is.
Regards
Dave

Nice looking dog!