the recall

[yogi53]

Hi guys,

we are trying our hand at our first novice A trial in 2 weeks..our biggest concern is the recall. Here it is...she waits beautifully...i call her..she comes running at me AS FAST AND HARD as she can...she looks like a freight train . She either runs directly into me or jumps on me as she slows herself down on the way by - she then comes and fronts....very frustrating.

I have tried to give her a sit command when she is 10 feet away and this does slow her to some extent but she is so excited I am finding it hard to contain her-sometimes she will run by and end up finished in heal position sometimes she will front correctly (very rare indeed)

Any and all suggestions welcome

[Stubby]

Just a thought, try a lunge line or long line with someone on the other end. When you call the dog and give that sit command, your helper gives a little pop to reinforce the command.

[Ann Felske-Jackman]

First, I would not try to curb her enthusiasm. We make enough training mistakes along the way that sucks the drive out of them...we don't want to do it on purpose. If she smashes you, but then sits, or goes past but brings herself back into postion, you will lose points, but not fail. We tend to have "recall smashers" and I've found that the judges aren't nearly as hard on the pencils are they are toward those dogs that look like they're walking to their deaths on the recall. You will also find that your stress and the environment of a trial will take a bit of her exuberance away, and that your recalls in the actual trial might be better than you'd think.

That all said, you will want to fix it eventually. My suggestion would be to do your recall in a narrow hallway, or with you standing between to gates. Basically, something to block her from going past you. Take the smashes as they come, but only smile and reward the recalls in which she chooses to slow down and find the proper spot. Since she seems like she's full of life, be sure to always break off the exercise after a proper recall and sit by doing something extra fun...throwing or tugging the toy, running and romping etc.

Good luck! She sounds like a lot of fun

[yogi53]

Thanks for the great ideas, the hallway or gates will definately work - I can;t wait to try-its always fun to be smashed into by 85 pounds of puppy power!

I just last week started rewarding with a tug toy and it is working wonders I am thinking that she will eventually understand that those times she does not get to tug she has done something undesirable.

My instructor has advised the same..do not squash the enthusiasum but work through it and channel it - easier said than done!

[Miabella]

How do you reward her for the recall? How did you teach the front?

I agree with Ann, I would not do anything to diminish her drive. However, if you are really enthusiastic with your praise, I would tone it down a bit.

Ideally, you want a dog who is going to coming to you quickly and happily but who will be thinking about what she has to do when she gets to you. I like to teach my dogs that they have to look up at me to be rewarded, so they are already thinking about getting their butts down so they can get their heads up. I reward by spitting food or dropping a tug held under my chin for fronts.

You have to teach your dog to catch first, whether it be the toy or the food. Start out low and don't let the dog get the treat/toy if he doesn't catch it. Popcorn works well at beginning because it drops slowly and it's highly visible.

Once your dog is catching reliably, start working your fronts separately from your recalls. Then start out with short recalls ( a couple of feet) using this technique for your fronts.

Incidentally, doing lots of short recalls will generally reduce speed as well.

[yogi53]

interesting, we have just mastered catching food - but not from my mouth, the toy under the chin would work - unless she thinks she can just go retrive it herself on the drive by! (she is 10 months old and sometime lacks self control)

I praise by saying "yesssss" and then release and then a verbal and petting party-I do try to tone it down as the crazier I get the nuttier she gets and I need to refocus for the next round of work.

The next question has evoked much thought.....I am not sure how I taught the front and quite honestly this most likely means I HAVE NOT taught the front.......We went right from the recall to the front but obviously she has no idea what I really want....WOW - all that from a question asked - I never broke it into pieces I just expected her to understand to come and sit in front of me - I guess me telling her to sit halfway was her only clue.

What do I do now?

[Miabella]

Originally Posted by yogi53

I praise by saying "yesssss" and then release and then a verbal and petting party-I do try to tone it down as the crazier I get the nuttier she gets and I need to refocus for the next round of work.

OK, good.

The next question has evoked much thought.....I am not sure how I taught the front and quite honestly this most likely means I HAVE NOT taught the front.......

BINGO!

What do I do now?

Teach the front.

Seriously, start out by having a good treat held in front of you with BOTH hands and lure her into a front. Make sure you give her the treat from BOTH hands together or else you will start teaching her to be crooked. Once she is luring consistently, add in your recall command (come, here, front, goat...whatever you use to call her).

Then move to calling her to front with your hands at your sides, moving both hands together to treat her once she gets close, and so on. Then you can move to the spitting stuff.

And when I say you should be teaching fronts separately from recalls, I mean the dog should only be 4 feet or so away.

[yogi53]

THANK-YOU -- I can hardly wait to get home and being the work to fix itor should I say teach it!!! Poor girl had no idea what to do....I will let you know how we progess!

[Ann Felske-Jackman]

Yup, teach the position "Front". Just like with heeling, doodle around, expecting her to maintain her front position. Call her in to front from beside you, behind you etc. Make it a fun game to see how fast she can find the position. This will help you if you ever do Rally also, as in the higher levels, you may be asked to call your dog to front from the heel position.

[yogi53]

OK, I was swamped at work today but I wanted to tell you that last night we practiced in the hallway and I lured her with the treat and gave it with both hands...I was using about a foot between us and after about 4 lunges at me paws making contact with my stomach she started to get it.

We worked for about 15 minutes and this morning on her walk we get in this big vast field where she can run off leash for about 10 minutes and one of the games we like to play is she goes her way looking over her shoulder most of the time and when I lean forward she runs at me as hard as she can....duuuhhh mom this is teaching the recall and teaching her to run as fast as she can and run by me....what a dope I am...When I am playing with her and trying to excersise her I guess my training mind is completely out the window.

I guess I blackmailed my own attempts at training with this game... thanks for the great tips and the clarity...I will put them to good use and we have class tonight and I can;t wait to go and work with her for an hour!

[Rottlva]

Leslie, are you making your debut at the Thanksgiving cluster in Springfield Ma??

[yogi53]

Jessica...I am making my debut next weekend in Rockville, CT but YES I will be showing Friday through Monday in Springfield (although I won;t be handling) and doing Novice A on Sat & Sun too! I must need my head examined.

We had a great class last night - she worked better than she ever has for me..worked on the fronts again this morning and she is still a little lost but we are gaining on it...baby steps

[workrot]

Remember when doing the Fronts with her that you are feeding from each hand in the center of your body. Give her several pieces and not just one big piece and she is released. When releasing her, have her jump up on you in the front and feed her another piece up on your chest. This will help when you do decide to use a toy under your neck for release. I practiced my short recall front from the dog being in the Down position. This helped him understand how to pop up and tuck his butt under him in the front sit. I was only standing about 1 foot away from him when I practiced this. To this day, he has been very consistent and correctly doing his fronts. I started feeding from the center then moved my hands on each hip. Once he sat in front, I moved my hands over and down to his mouth to feed him. Never feed from your hip position to his mouth because they will start to sit crooked. Always feed from the center of your body, even when you have progressed to your hands at your sides. When feeding remember to keep his muzzle up towards your face. This position will incorporate over to the dumbbell retrieve, so she develops a better presentation.

I would not do anymore long recalls with her, because you know she will come fast. Now you need to work on close front recalls. I would suggest that you do them with the dog in a down first. I know that AKC is a recall from a sit position, but it will not matter, because it is the word command that they listen to.

When playing with her use a different command for coming to you, other than the word you use in training for AKC.

Best Wishes to you on your first leg!