Looking for some feedback on my method of training the recall. I started by teaching sit/down and stay ("wait"). I gradually began walking away from the dog while he was down, using the word "come" as his release, then praise and treat when he came running to me.

Now, he's coming in at 100MPH (to seated position directly in front), and we've switched the reward to a ball. He's about 85-90% on the recall, only turning off his K9 listening device when he's after another dog (although still responds most of the time in that circumstance, too). We're working on that with corrections now.

I still use this as the first exercsise every day at the park-it's sort of the precursor to everything else he does during each day's training. Is this going to have a negative impact on other training? My objective in this is to take the dog to at least a SchI.

I don't see how it would have a negative impact. You're doing it as a motivational exercise, he loves it, gets a reward,... sounds like a good way to get the juices flowing before working some more tedious stuff.

Iain
Quick question.
What do you say if your walking down the street off leash and he stops to smell the roses? Do you tell hin to come , come on, or something like that?
As for the rest.
A lot of us patern train becouse we know what the schH 1 routine will be. In your case. Remember in schH1 when you put your dog in a sit and walk away you DO NOT want him to come to you. You will return to him.Only in the down will he be asked to come-fore. I would keep your fun to a return from the down and not the sit, less he start anticipating.

Ron

Thanks Ron. Good point.

He doesn't get to walk off-leash down the street just yet, for two reasons. First is that I don't think he's ready to do so yet-he heels great at the training field, and seems to like it, but is way too wound up on the way to the park. I'm not sure he's ready for that distraction yet. The second reason is the high-traffic nature of the area, including officers known to hand out $300 tickets for violating the leash law here in Chicago.

But when he does stop (or move too far forward), he gets a "hey"; sounds alot like "uh-uh" when I say it. This is sort of a guiding noise short of "no", which means NEVER EVER DO THAT. He responds really well to the gentle sound, and on those occasions when he doesn't he gets a light pop on the collar. He's pretty soft, and that little pop has been the end of almost any correction I've had to give him.

On a few occasions I have let him drag the leash on the way home from the park, but only for short distances, and only because he's flat-broke tired by that time (although he'd become energized by, say, the neighbor's cat!). When I did this, he walks nicely, his shoulder 6-12 inches in front of my left knee. I'm still not very happy with the positioning, so I don't let him do this (walk dragging leash) much.

I hadn't thought about the anticipating-but so far he does great on return from down or sit. He's definitely wanting to spring out of the hole, but waits to do it until the command is given. As for the fore, I have trained him that "come" always means that, and he has a separate command (a whistle) that means "get over by me to check in".

As I'm writing this, I am thinking that he may have too many commands that mean similar things.

Well, I'm sure there's enough fuel on the fire now...

And Lee. Sorry-didn't mean to ignore half the input there. It definitely gets his juices flowing, and is part of the buildup, immediately after which he goes to his spot, conducts a brief transaction with the ground, and then the training starts.

I know there's a million roads to Rome, but I just can't help sticking this in - "pattern training" isn't training, in my book. The dog isn't really trained if you can't ask for ANY behavior at ANY time and get it. If he's so locked into the pattern that changing his recall from a down to a sit causes him to make an error, he's a long way from being trained.

I'm not sure I fully understand that last, but if "pattern training" means everything is done the same way every day at the same field, then that's not his program.

We train at different places, and the sequence always changes, depending on how well he's doing what I tell him to do. If, for example, the recall is great, we work on heel for awhile. Then maybe back to recall under distraction during his "dog" time-when he gets to walk around and check stuff out on his own. I throw in down in motion on a somewhat arbitrary basis, but not too often because he'll start to slow down on his approach.

The basic rule so far is to stick to the basics and get them as reliable as I can in the absence of active participation in a club or with a trainer. That starts in the spring.

Hello Ian,

I agree w/ Lee. I think what he means is don't do it the same every time. Doesn't matter the order. Example: Put him in a sit, walk away, turn around, no recall, go back to him, give him toy. Then put in sit, walk away, while walking away, hold out toy and "packen". There is no always: sit,walk,turn,recall. Just keep your dog guessing, it makes it more fun for both of you.

ian , with respect to the heel : change direction often and without notice . be ready with your left knee { for left turns ) and the collar ( for right turns ) and you'll soon have the dog paying attention to what your'e going to do rather than you paying attention to the dog . don't telegraph the turns in any way , be consistent , and throw turns in when he least expects them .