Whippet Pup Recall Training

[elliotmcc 67]

Have a whippet pup at around 14 weeks old, loosed him off the lead from the first time I had him out walking fields and he will stay by my side and follow me, he will retrieve a tennis ball a brave bit out and come straight back. I know he is at the stage where I'm his only protection and that's why he is staying close. What I have been doing is if he is sniffing about and can't see me il sneak off and hide in cover or just a long way down an open field and call him then praise him up. Am I going about this the right way for recall training? If not can anybody give me some tips

[king 11,984]

Why are you hiding down the field for ?.

The dog is exploring his surroundings confident that you ain't to far from him.but you are going down the field and hiding.

Leave him be a pup and stay relaxed and chilled out around him.

I like to recall my dogs with a click of my fingers or if out a bit further a click with my tounge.and hand signals i don't like using my voice to call the dog.

If I'm ferreting the last thing I want to do is speak when calling the dog to move to the other side of the nets hedge etc.

Main thing is trust trust.once the dog wants to be with you life is easy.

And the dog will aim to please you.no matter what you ask of him.

[Casso 1,261]

Kings right when he mentions the different ways of communicating with dog in the field but getting the pup to keep an eye on ya is handy too as he'll keep a little closer

I don't introduce a pup to much at that age , I keep him focused on me and from me hunting is just an add on , you dont need to teach dog to hunt but what you do need to built is trust as already mentioned by King , if I take him out , I'll feed him out , all his food not titbits , hand feed getting plenty of contact, try managing the pup so he can't get himself in situations where you have to bollik him

keep him focused on you , feed for heeling , sitting , down, don't worry about the commands just reward the action

The point been if you can keep a pup focused on you , the recall won't ever be an issue bud

A lot of lads set themselves up for a fall by judging the relationship on how the recall is without making themselves interesting to the pup from the start , f**k the bowl out and have the pup focus on you to get fed,

[king 11,984]

I only ever feed out when I'm having a cuppa casso.then they have a 1/2 biscuit or dripping sandwich.but I can see the benefit of doing it.

Even when I want to call the dogs in from the garden I only ever tap my wedding ring on the door frame the same noise as a click really.

[Sirblessed 2,511]

There are a few educational videos on puppy retrieve that can give you an idea on how to perfect the retrieve. Try watching them all, sometimes what works with most dogs won't work on a particular dog because of a trait etc., you can never have too much knowledge, I over 50 been running dogs my whole life, and still learning here is an e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t46VIUb_Au8

[terryd 8,727]

Not a clue really but one thing I would say is try to never lose your temper. They don't forget a thing that happens when there pups at least any thing bad or scary be it a strange dog jumping all over them or what ever

[Somewhereyournot 1,117]

I only ever did the hiding thing when it wouldn't listen after I called it by whistle. Soon learnt and got brilliant recall. I wouldn't of done it if my pup is abit wary and new to going far from you like yours. As the rest have said, all about the bond.

[brenner 773]

Have a whippet pup at around 14 weeks old, loosed him off the lead from the first time I had him out walking fields and he will stay by my side and follow me, he will retrieve a tennis ball a brave bit out and come straight back. I know he is at the stage where I'm his only protection and that's why he is staying close. What I have been doing is if he is sniffing about and can't see me il sneak off and hide in cover or just a long way down an open field and call him then praise him up. Am I going about this the right way for recall training? If not can anybody give me some tips

the ground I mostly hunt on ( by design) what you are talking about happens on the regular, weather I mean it or not. And to be honest it's worked in my favour in regards to recall from what I can tell. Eg.. I'm walking in thick scrub and woods, dog easily looses sight of me or vise versa if I'm not paying attention. I could be focused on a chase with the older dogs. Anyway... I try see this as a positive situation with a running dog pup. Pup has maybe got a little adventuress and gone his own way and lost sight of me and dogs, as I imagine happens in the wild..pup feels a little anxiety, insecurity but before panic sets in pup hears a click or whistle. Pup seeks me out, sees me and I imagine that positive reinforcement is burnt into that pups brain when he sees me and rushes towards me with excitement and relief. Plenty of praise... It's worked for me.

[brenner 773]

I'm not saying my way is Gospel. I'm just saying it has yet to serve me wrong

[Blueboybilly 164]

I have a whippet who is 15 months now old and I managed to get his recall spot on sighing a relatively short period of time.

I have his whistle trained (basically because I can't stand the sound of people shouting their dogs).

I had him from 7 weeks old and started recall training every day in very short (2min) sessions where I would just blow three pips of the whistle and feed the him a small slice of chicken when he came to me. As you can imagine, it didn't take the dog long to associate the sound of the whistle with a food treat so he responded exceptionally well to this method of training at such a young age.

I started in the house, then the garden and then eventually out in the field. He looks especially impressive on the recall because of his racey style of running on the recall as he returns at to me by springing at top speed. Might just be a whippet thing - I don't know.

I stated to whittle down the treats to nothing but a praise "good boy" and a bit of a fuss over the course of time but I do occasionally have to sharpen him back up by taking some treats out with me.

This method worked for me and I suppose is like brain washing because I did it from such a young age. But like I say - it worked.

A good article to read that can give you some good pointers is 'the benefits of tug training' written by Skycat.

[Somewhereyournot 1,117]

I bought a silent dog whistle, because you can adjust tone to dog response plus consistency is key with any training, HOWEVER, I don't use treats.

[elliotmcc 67]

Trainings coming along well, pups doing great, cheers everybody!

[Blueboybilly 164]

What advice did you take mate?