Ditto with ours. They are faultless on a training line in ANY situation. Like little perfectly trained collies. Unlclip the lead and they instantly know that they get to choose whether to listen to you. If they aren't convinced you'll make it worth their while they quite often won't bother. This is why our trainer advises against letting them do anything that you can't recall them from. Over a long period of time you've got to condition them to believe that they never have the option to ignore you. But like you, I'm reluctant to deprive my dogs for long periods of time - years even. In the case of my dogs it would mean not letting them off-lead to run and play - ever - for a long, long time. Perhaps until they're too old and unfit to do anything naughty!

Also my experience is that if you deny a strong instinct you end up with a ticking time bomb. One day the dog just bolts big time and because it's a novelty you have ZERO control in that situation.

Really sorry I am going to reply in your post as it's easier...
Bless her, she sounds lovely.

Yes!!!!! defintally yes! you can be in control but calm, & she will soon learn that that means just Chill & Wait, You can Feed , tickle her Chin, Talk or Be quiet, Its fantastic!!!! & because shes betweeen your legs, you will "feel" her relax etc (or not)

I was saying today to a friend that maybe when she is five years old she may calm down a little. Well only three years to go

I will definitely try that.

I wouldn't stop her playing with dogs full stop...but I would be more picky about the situations when she is allowed to play. Don't always let her play in the same place, as there is then an expectation and before she even gets there she will be high as a kite and much less likely to listen to you.
yes...that's what I thought...Cosmo and Tango would so eat that in a millisecond.
The thing is noone is saying she shouldn't play...just that the situations she plays in need to be addressed.



I think in all honesty she has expectations of the places you take her to...she knows what is going to happen, you need to change routines,change the way you walk around the park, go in a different gate, keep changing direction, don't always walk with people,go to different places, sometimes pop ehr on the longline, sometimes not, sometimes just lead walk her on pavements, walk away fromt he park if she pulls you to it...if she doesn't get in there, she doesn'get in.

The best thing I ever did was stop saying 'I am going to.......' for a walk...and now I don't know where i am going until I get there because if I don't know where I am going, how can my dogs know? SOmetimes I will be half way across a road and go back, sometimes halfway down a street, sometimes half ways down a path in the park/field/woods......I keep them guessing all the time..it makes me much more interesting.

I expect some would. Mine are power chewers and can destroy the toughest of toys quickly. Also, they enjoy puzzle toys that release treats. But the ball trick just worked for us. If I remember correctly I started out showing her the treat going into the ball, giving her it to play with for a few seconds and then taking it back and getting the treat out for her. I guess she learned quickly that I could get it out faster than her. This is one of the most valuable tools we developed. The treat ball lets us achieve all sorts of things that a direct food reward doesn't.

If you ever get the When Pigs Fly book there's a chapter their that describes how to transfer a 'hot' activity (Something the dog loves) to a 'cold' activity (something the dog has no interest in). So in rough terms, your dog likes treats and likes to chase. You incorporate fetching a ball (for example in the way we did). Over time the dog learns to enjoy fetching the ball in it's own right. He gets every bit excited about that as he does chasing and eating treats. There might well be something in the book to help you splice the 'dog chasing' obsession onto something more manageable.

I'm convinced the theory would work for us, but haven't figured out how to get it to work in our specific situation.

ok you can utililze the line better than that, when you go out leave it on at all times for the next few months. Now you need to "load" it as such (same as you do with a clicker) & of course you do this at first so she can succeed each time. So you clip off lead some where quiet , as you walk along giver her a tug on the line & as she looks at you,"name, Come praise, sweetie" So its "tug,look,name praise ,sweetie" the tug is Always first, this should work well if you keep on working on your name response, Now do this when there are no distractions, youve got to put the work in where she can succeed,

Think about her reward when she gets to you, sweetie then what? does she like abit of Physical, rubbing her all over, slapping her bum etc, in a playing way!!!!


Ok so dogs are around, you try to already have her off lead but still on line, youve already done say 10 reps of the line on this walk, let her play, when you are ready move in & pick up line when its safe to do so "tug,look,name praise ,sweetie" if she dosent come reel her in .

Dont let her "go Wrong"

Then when this is going really well by this i mean, Tug & she turns on a sixpence, Start to put her name in as you tug, again practise alot of reps in a calm area. Once this is going 100% well, put the name in first backed up with tug, going well 100% of the time??? few months on?? let her off!!!!

sounds like a good plan to me!

What happens if she runs to the end of the longline? I'm guessing you need to hold onto it?

I understand what you are saying but it is more difficult to put into practice. I do try to vary where we walk but short of getting in the car and driving somewhere we are a bit limited as to where we can walk and I prefer to let her play with dogs we know so that I know the owners won't go wandering off with my dog in tow. Also not everyone likes to let their dog play with a big shepherd. Having said that I allowed her to go to a dog yesterday and the owner pulled it close and she came back when I called It was boring because it wasn't running.
She recognises her 'friends' from a long way away so it would take a long time to get to them on lead so I tend to sit her and make her wait and then let her go. Perhaps this is my big mistake.
She will leave in the house but not outside off lead. She once found a newly dead rabbit and wouldn't come back until she had eaten it. In the house she will sit with a biscuit on her paw until allowed to eat but I haven't managed one on the nose because she moves her head if I try it