# off-leash reliability and recall training



## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

At some point I want to be able to take off-leash hikes with Wallaby. My main problem is that I live in the residential area of a city, so there are precious few places nearby that are secluded enough that I even could take Wallaby off of the lead. This is an issue because I don't have anywhere, really, to train off-leash with him. 
He has a pretty high prey drive so I know I'm going to have to work on this for a while. I also don't trust him at all off-leash because when he has gotten loose, he just goes and goes and there's no stopping him. I really am very jumpy and uppity about it and I wish I weren't. 

I'm confident that I can get him to "snap out" of it at least most of the time [with work] because I've seen him do it, on leash of course. But how can I work on this?

I was reading this thread: Dogwise Forums - walking a high prey drive dog in critter-infested areas and I like the idea of a whistle but like the OP I'm worried that if I use it too much it will lose its significance, and how can I know something is reliable if I don't use it very often?


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

One more question-- would it be better to train/use a long-distance down, versus using a recall in the instance that he is chasing/about to chase something? Sorry if that doesn't quite make sense.


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## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

One of the most important things is you need to make sure you are the pack leader and that your dog is following _you_. I have had rather good success with being the pack leader, and having a nice recall. (I plan on introducing them to a whistle soon too, for far away recalls) When it comes to the very first time off leash(after claiming your role as pack leader), I would take the new dog with one of my well trained older dogs, to my college(there is a very large, secluded wooded area behind it). Once we are in the middle of the woods, I let the new dog off. In my experience, they tend to follow the older dog around, and being in the middle of the woods, there is no traffic to worry about. Probably not the best way to go about it, but I would never do it if I truly thought the dog would run off and never return(I have also tied a new dog to my other dog, while letting them run together in the fields). 
I believe being the leader, and trusting your dog is most important. If you trust your dog, and your dog trusts you, it is just a matter of time before the two of you are taking hikes together. It just takes a little time and patience

I hope that wasn't just a jumbled mess of unhelpful information! It is actually a much longer process than it sounds! 

PS, it is always helpful to carry a much loved toy or treat with you too!


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## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

SilverBeat said:


> One more question-- would it be better to train/use a long-distance down, versus using a recall in the instance that he is chasing/about to chase something? Sorry if that doesn't quite make sense.


IMO I think this would depend on your dog. I have one that would listen more to a command than a recall, and another that will listen to a recall no matter what. Never hurts to work on both either!


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

When Khan was in puppy class we have what we call a "Treat Can" Basically it's an Altoid can, that has a few pebbles in it, so when you shake it, it rattles. Anyway, we would shake the can, and when the dog looked at us he would get treats. No talking, no commands, just shake the can and good things would happen for him. As he got older and we started working on "Come" if he didn't come with the first call, the treat can was shaken to direct his attention to me, which usually made the "Come" happen. As we started going to the park, I would use the "Can" rather then call him multiple times with a "Come" (remember they can count, and when you reach the 3rd one they believe you actually mean it)!! It really is a great tool, and pretty easy for them to figure out.


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## Belles Mom (Jun 24, 2011)

Is there an enclosed tennis court nearby that you can train on? It would be fenced in and if you recall did not work, you could catch your dog. Leave a long line (20-50 feet) on to make it easier to catch him. 

If your dog has high prey drive, being off leash is a high risk kind of thing. I personally train all my dogs with an ecollar, but that is not for everyone. However, they all can be trusted off leash in most places (never in a city, but I almost never am in a city), and even when they see a wild critter and take off after it, I can stop them on a dime.

The DOR (Drop on Recall), is a alot harder to teach reliably than a recall. Still very valuable however


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We use a long line when teaching a distance recall. WHen they are reliable on a long line then I switch to a strong but lightweight laundry line. We just go the park and find an area without too many distractions at first, put on the long line and start walking. When the pup isn't paying attention to me I call them to come and praise and treat if they come and walk the opposite way if they don't - even my stubborn ones run after me to see where I am going, when I hear they are close I turn quick and praise them for coming and walk again. We do this over and over adding more distractions and then moving on to the light weight laundry line. My last step would be in an enclosed area like a tennis court or school playground. If he misses one recall we got back to a long line and practice some more. Be fun and animated becasue you have to be more special than a kid on a bike or skateboard or a squirrel running up a tree. Sorry for the long lecture - hope you can glean somethign from this to help. (I have collies and if htey decide to run I am out of luck)


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I use a long line on mine as well- 50 feet. We start by just practicing when he's walking about then eventually I will get to the point where I can call him if hes running or sniffing something intensely. If I am ignored I pull them to me and know they are no where near ready. They always get awesome treats and praise when they come and then get released back to do what they want.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

SilverBeat said:


> At some point I want to be able to take off-leash hikes with Wallaby. My main problem is that I live in the residential area of a city, so there are precious few places nearby that are secluded enough that I even could take Wallaby off of the lead. This is an issue because I don't have anywhere, really, to train off-leash with him.
> He has a pretty high prey drive so I know I'm going to have to work on this for a while. I also don't trust him at all off-leash because when he has gotten loose, he just goes and goes and there's no stopping him. I really am very jumpy and uppity about it and I wish I weren't.
> 
> 
> ...


When you're working a GSP that can be 1/2 mile+ away from you, a whistle is the only option. Our dog is whistle trained in a couple of ways:

1) Long distance whistle for recall. Two blasts on this means "get your butt here NOW". He will return immediately & assume either the "front" or "heel" position.

2) Directional whistle (pea). Different calls mean anything from "show yourself" to "go forward" to "change direction [this way]".

It's not difficult to do. It just requires persistence and consistency. But until h/s performs reliably, you'll have to train with it as often as possible until it becomes second nature.

Bonne chance,


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## SilverBeat (Jan 16, 2011)

I have been working on this a lot with Wallaby. The past two times that I've taken him out on the "long line" [30 ft. clothesline attached to his 16 ft. retractable leash] he has been amazing. 

The first time was 6 am a couple of days ago. I had been woken up early and couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to take him out on the long line and go for a nice quiet walk/hike. To get to the woods that we go to, I have to go two blocks up a hill to the elementary school, where there is an upper field, a lower playground and field, a community garden and then the woods. All the way up the hill he was by my side, or very close to me. I made it my goal to never let the leash get tight, maybe he would forget he had it on, and only use vocal cues. He did amazingly. The leash got tight once and it was my fault cuz I stepped on it accidentally. Of the 15-20ish times I called him, he came all but 5. Of those 5, 3 times I was not making eye contact with him [I was trying to get a video of it, silly me, now I just have a bunch of videos of me saying "wallaby! come!" and him looking up, taking a step, and then moving on with his life.] Other highlights of this walk include the two other dogs we saw that he almost totally ignored, him checking in with me quite a bit, and when we were talking back I was checking out some wild peas for like 10 minutes and he just settled right at my feet, without a care in the world.

The other time was this afternoon/evening. I have been less and less able to walk as of late, but I so loved how he behaved on our walk the other morning and I miss taking walks with my buddy. I wanted to take him swimming at the pond near my house. He will go in, chase the ducks, and get some good exercise running in the water. My mom came with us so I could use my crutches and not be a total klutz. When we got there I was adjusting Wallaby's leash when a duck or small animal must've run by because he took off like a shot. This is the first time I haven't totally flipped a s#!t when this has happened. I was calm. I thought, okay, he's going to chase the ducks. This is a busy road, the ducks don't go near it, so hopefully he won't either and I can catch him. He was coming out of the water and I reached into my pouch for some beef heart, and called him. As soon as he looked at me, I clicked him and he came racing over. So I was able to turn it into a good thing, omg it could not have gone more perfectly. The rest of the time we were there, he came every single time I called him, probably 20-30+ times. And a few times he was pretty distracted. We have made much progress.

Do you guys know of a good toy we can use to play fetch in the water? We were using sticks but he doesn't like sticking his open mouth/face into the water yet. So I need something that sticks out a good deal, or something. Not sure if a tennis ball would work.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

My most important command at a distance is "sit." May not be how the trainer would do it, but since we walk in alot of traffic sometimes I want him to stay put rather than come running at me. So I normally ask him to sit, then come. I don't ask him to lay down much because he's 8 years old and has some arthritis, and I don't think it's good to put him up and down, up and down.

We are only about 50 feet away so I can still do it with hand signals or my voice. 

It's very scary to let your dog off the leash for the first time. In fact, I probably never would have done it had my brother not opened the car door and told him to come on out when we were parked in a pasture. I was astonished he didn't just run off over the hill, never to be seen again.

I walked him on a 20 foot leash for a couple of weeks, and then let him off pretty much for good. At the time, I had had him for over a year, walking alot, constantly asking him to look at me, do this, do that, treat treat etc. etc. So off the leash, nothing really changed. He still responded. i only had to teach him to do things where he was, rather than right next to me, like sit down. And to stand still. When I tried it the first several times he wanted to come to me and THEN sit because I hadn't ever asked him to sit far from me. 

Of course, all dogs are different. I don't think any two react exactly the same.


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

SilverBeat said:


> Do you guys know of a good toy we can use to play fetch in the water? We were using sticks but he doesn't like sticking his open mouth/face into the water yet. So I need something that sticks out a good deal, or something. Not sure if a tennis ball would work.


You may want to try a plastic retrieval bumper/dummy like one of these:
Dog Training Bumpers and Retrieving Dummies
Retriever Training Dummiesog Bumpers (100+) Dummy|Bumper Specials

Sometimes you can also find the dummies at Petco or Petsmart.


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