Recall for an friendly dog

[chud]

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I have an 18 month old Golden Retriever, who when seeing another dog or person, when out walking off lead will hurtle towards them to say hello. Generally he will return after saying his felicitations. He's quite good on recall when whistled if there are no distractions and his basic training is good. How do I stop him, without putting him on his lead tanking off. It can be a little off putting when you see a dog charging towards you.

 

[TTT]

Please do not ever think that putting your dog on a lead is the wrong thing to do.......it is the responsible thing to do! Imagine if your dog

knocked someone over, caused a road accident or ran up to a dog on a lead that did not like its space being invaded and they ripped the face off yours.....whose fault would it be?.......only yours.....for not being in control.

In the meantime why not join a dog training club to work on obedience and socialisation....which to me does not mean a 6 week course but ongoing lifelong training. There is a thread on here about the Kennel Club Good Citizens Scheme.....it is very worthwhile.

 

[chud]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. I do take him to dog training classes and have done for about a year. His basic sit ,down ,stay are good when he is not distracted. The problem is there doesn't seem to be any improvement when out walking when I whistle or give a verbal command to try and stop him from dashing to meet and greet. Any advice on how to improve this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TTT]

At 18 months he is still a 'juvenille/adolescent' with all the issues this brings. However, is it still your responsibility to ensure he is

under control and not causing a nusisance. You say you have been attending training classes.....why not 'up your game' and aim to train for competitive obedience....it takes dog training to a whole new level. In the meantime, practice keeping him on a long lead and recall him for a treat/game when other dogs/distractions are around......not forgetting a well timed reward or praise when he gets it right. Have a look on the Kennel Club website for ideas on dog activities...............even the gun dog type training......he may well excel at something like this?

 

[hanneroon]

someone will be along soon hopefully with a big detailed post with what tips to try. I would try taking him to a place with a few distractions like a park, on a long-line, and practise lots of recall again there. Tiny baby steps, perhaps a look at me command when he spots something, then reward when he takes his eyes off it, and build up, from there, to getting him to come to you instead. Try and make yourself more fun and interesting than greeting a stranger, and get him to focus on you often. Do try not to set him up for failure by letting him off when you know a distraction could occur, or he'll only learn to come back, after he's said hello, or worse, get himself in real trouble.

My dog has a real problem with off lead dogs rushing up to him, and strangely has absolute apoplepsy when he spots a yellow labrador, or golden retriever! It upsets him for hours if he encounters a dog acting like this on a walk, i know you're dog is only being friendly, but it is best to leash him if you spot any other dog on a walk, and then teach him to approach nicely, when you know that the other person is happy with that. He will learn, and he'll settle down soon enough i should think. Have you tried upping his treat value, for superdooper good behaviour?

ooh we both posted at the same time, and ttt put it better!

 

[chud]

Thanks all the advice is greatly appreciated

 

[banana]

Our dog trainer recommends using a horse lead rein, its very long so you can enforce recall until you know he will do as he is told and return without it...