Hi there, I own an 18 month old Patterdale and a 2 year old Weimeramer. When I take them out for walks and let them off the lead, the Patterdale takes off, closely followed by the Weimeramer, completely ignoring my command to 'come' - its almost like she has suddenly turned deaf! She does always come back for which I praise her but it is just so annoying. I quite often spend my walks with just 2 leads and no dogs. If we are in an open field she is fine, just runs around but is at least in view, but whenever she sees bushes/trees/birds etc she is off. Have tried keeping her on the lead which makes it easier for me as my Weimeramer doesn't run away when he's on his own, but this isn't much of a walk for her as she's still young and needs to be able to run. The rest of the time she is fine and will walk to heel when off lead until something more exciting takes her fancy - a bird/leaf/paper bag - anything that she can chase after. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi and thanks for your post. I would recommend reinforcing the come command by using the long lead method. It may be easier to work with each dog individually. Put the dog on a long lead and let him go out to the end of it. Make sure you have some nice treats in your pocket. Tell the dog to come in a clear loud voice using its name first so it knows you are talking to it for example "fido come". If the dog does not come immediately but gently and calmly reel it in to you using the lead. Either way when it is back beside you immediately tell it "good dog" in an excited voice and give it a treat. It is important that you reward the good behavior immediately or the dog will not relate coming back to getting a reward. Once the dog is coming back reliably start using the food treat only sometimes but always use lots of praise. Persevere and stay calm and your dog will soon be flying back when you call incase there's an exciting reward.
Good luck and feel free to ask any other questions you may have.
There's other thing people aren't really aware of, or should I say people doesn't even know about this. The actual secret for a reliable recalls isn't based only about training the recall, it's also based about firstly giving the dog freedom. What I mean is that when your dog will be let off-leash more and more, he won't be so excited to be free, meaning that he won't hesitate to come because he'll know that it's something he gets a lot. Now you'll ask how can you let him off when he doesn't come on command? - take him for a specific places you know where there are no way he'll get into troubles as much as you can, and soon he'll trust you and won't hesitate to come back.
