training advice wanted

[pappabear 128]

hi all i have an 18month old whippet x italian greyhound he is a cracking little dog but has not been trained properly is it too late to train him , he walks on the lead and is really friendly to people but if let off the lead he wont come when called he comes back when he wants i would love to work him but dont trust him any advice gratefully appreciated

[ryangolding 4]

i trained my dogs for recall by using sausages, give one before you let ur dog of the lead, praise, let dog off, knowing you have food, call dog, everytime ur dog cums back to you, give treat and praise, it soon comes, a greedy dog is a hell of a lot easier to train, thats what i found.

[darbo 4,776]

buy a check cord you can get them from gundog suppliers etc. basicaly a long length of lead up to 30 ft not a retractable one. you can clip it to the collar or use it with a harness if you have one. just take the dog on your walks. let it go to the end of the line. give your command whistle or [name]. start to jog backwards taking up the slack of the cord. you may have to give some gentle jerk releases on the cord to get the dog to come in your direction. when the dog comes in give plenty of praise and a food reward.only do it about 2/3 times each time.the dog will soon realisecoming back means praise and reward. also you are in control of the dog by using the check cord.dont be too eager to try it off the lead let the habit form.vary your walks and try recalls in different areas.when first trying the dog off for the first time try it in a enclosed area. dont overdo the training and be patient. with time it will work. good luck.

[pappabear 128]

thanks for the advice guys will give it ago

[Sarah1985 0]

You can still train an older dog. The key is to make you more important than everything else (smells, other dogs, etc). Cheese works well but obviously dont give it too much!! Try a squeeky toy that you can also use as a reward when he comes back. Lots of praise to reinforce what he is doing is what you want. NEVER hit him or get frustrated by him - I did this once with a dog a few years ago as he was making me late by messing about in the bushes and his recall went straight downhill and it took me months to get him to trust me again (lesson learnt the hard way!)

 

With my current dog unfortunately food didn't work! One method that did work was me walking away from her saying 'bye then' as she suddenly thought I was going to leave her and would come back. She's now 2 and I think she's realised I dont leave her as she pokes her head out of holes, see's I'm still within sight then goes back to ground - she's a little madam!

[Attack Fell Terrier 864]

I think it helps a lot more if you build a real good relationship with the dog first. If you gain the dogs trust 100% then I think it helps that bit more when training them up.

 

Saying that, it's still a youngster, so just keep trying. I reward good behaviour with a treat and plenty of fuss, and bad behaviour they get a quick slap with the belt and a telling off.