Recall command

[sonrae]

hi everyone,

i am interested to see how you all address the recall command. there is so much conflicting advice. i have been taking wilf (17 weeks) out for 20 mins twice a day to the dog park to mainly socialise him and waste some of his energy. he runs free with a ball and is great. he says hi to other dogs and they play a bit sometimes and mostly he comes back to me encouraged by a treat! recently though he has got more confident and runs off to play with a dog and wont come back. a lady at the park told me a very long line is good as you can let them run - seemingly free but with the control of being able to tread on the lead.
i know i must practice the 'come' command but wondered if anyone has had any real success with this or do boxers just decide to do their own thing regardless of lots of training. people have told me boxers are not good trainers although my last one was not bad - apart from the recall :-/

[ELubas]

Boxers are very trainable! You need to work on the recall without any distractions at first, then work your way up to a challenging venue like the dog park. The long lead is a great idea, but not in the dog park-too easy to get tangled or trip folks and dogs up. I used to practice in empty parking lots with a long lead and really good treats. It did not take long to teach it and then, like I say, you need to start adding distractions. It will be awhile before you can insure it is fool proof. I worked on "wait" first just so I could be sure I could get them to stop and not take off across the road or something. Good luck

[Minimyatt]

Hi there,

I have been told to do 30 recalls a day, so just call him to reward him and then let him go and continue playing. I know 30 seems a lot but when you think about how many times you call him anyway its actually very acheivable.

Everytime you call him to you give him a reward.

Never call him into the house from playing, bring him in yourself as you don't want him to think that when you call him it means end of playtime.

Hope this helps

[sonrae]

thanks guys - i started the recall training yesterday. wow - he did it! well in the garden anyway and with treats. we practiced for about 10 mins and then again for 5 mins later on. i have ordered a long lead so we can practice where there are more distractions later on. but i'm impressed at first reactions but i know it will take patience and time to get it right.

[Minimyatt]

No problem, good luck with the training

[rrboxer]

We have been working on recall w/ Lacy as well. We started in house (I'm in another room)and in back yard w/ no distractions. Now we are working outside but she is not reliable outside she gets distracted w/ rabbits, dogs and people. But it is doable and a process.

[MorganBaby]

I am working on "here" with my pup. She is only 9 weeks old, but she's getting it really fast. We are starting out inside using her kibble as treats when she does it. I walk away from her and make sure she's not really following me, then I call her name and say "here" and point to the floor in front of me. When she comes she gets the treat. Then I let her go about her business and then will call her again. We progress by me going further away and at times I throw a distraction by letting her start chasing a ball then call her. Of course being only 9 weeks old and a ball distraction does take her longer but I don't call multiple times, I give her a minute to see if she's "working it out in her mind" which she usually is and does come. I also try this outside with her on a leash but don't expect to much from her outside with all the distractions. Goodluck with your training!