Unneutered Labrador On The Run

[raine]

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I have a male chocolate Labrador , he is almost 17 months not neutered he has stopped responding to his recall even for treats . he will pick up some sent and just bolt. today he found an exit from the park I didn't even know about which leads out to a very busy road. this has quit scared me other than keeping him on his lead forever dose any one have some training tips that will help.

 

[Oreo]

The key for any recall training is to make being with you the most exciting thing a dog can do.

You also need to find a dogs 'trigger'. My dog loves balls, she will sit and watch me with a tennis ball waiting to have a bit of a play.

However when Oreo gets a smell of something she really likes she will stay there and ignore all shouts.

What I tend to do in those situations is to jump up and down making funny noises. I must look like a local nutter but Oreo is so excited by the fact I'm having fun she forgets what she's doing.

I shall also be taking her to training classes soon once her paws have healed.

Not sure it helps at all but thought Id share in case.

 

[banana]

First of all I would neuter him.

I would then get a long horse lead rein and when walking teach and practice the recall, using teeny treats when he does as he is tol. I wouldn't let him off the lead until he does as he is told...

However as he is unneutered, he may be looking for Lady Labs!! :lol:

Welcome to Dog Forum - I Am Anna

 

[murphyrules]

He is in the terrible twos phase, Id neuter him and keep working on the recall.

Cadac I also run around looking like the village idiot bouncing around and making stupid noises unfortunately my boys still dont come back unless they feel like it so I just look dumb with no dogs around me LOL :rant:

 

[eingana]

Yep, he's suddenly finding himself at the mercy of his hormones and feeling all sorts of things that didn't happen a few months ago. He's a hormonal teenager who is boundary testing and who can suddenly smell bitches in season from up to a mile away. If you were in his position I'm sure you would stop hearing the boring human who wanted to stop you having fun too.

The major answer to this is schooling, socialising, exercise, challenging him and then some more schooling. You'll need to do this whether or not you opt to get him neutered. I would neuter him as I do with all of my animals, but it's not 'the answer' that a lot of people think it is, unless you also back that up with learning for him.

You need to be the most exciting thing around your dog when you're out and for a while that may entail getting some way more entertaining treats than normal. Labs normally don't need high value treats because they're food monsters and even basic treats get their attention, but for situations like this a higher value treat may be needed, along with training.

You could try chopped up bits of cooked chicken, hot dog sausages, dried black pudding (which is the only treat that my GSD Molly is prepared to be good for), cheese, liver cake or boiled egg and this, combined with hours of practice of 'if I come back when I'm called that means sausage' starting at home and then working up to going outside in the garden and then out in quiet spaces before going to parks or places where other distractions may be present.

Every time you have one of these phases that breaks his training (and this probably won't be the last) the biggest answer is to take several steps backwards in his training and go back to basics. During this time you'll need him on a lead, a long line or a steel cored washing line with something chunky tied to the end (so you can stand on it if he decides to take off) until you're sure that you've got a handle on the problem, if only for safety's sake to prevent him from ending up as a statistic.

Get him tired every day, challenge him mentally (he's just getting to the age when he could start agility classes, for instance) and get training with extra fabulous treats and a new lead routine and I'm sure he'll be back to the happy and responsive boy that he was a few months ago soon

Good luck

 

[Jasp]

Everything that Eingana said, except to add that because he has previously learnt the required behaviour (in this case recall) and subsequently lost it, when you re-train the behaviour you should try and use a new signal or cue. For example use 'To me' instead of come. That way you are effectively teaching an all new behaviour and not relying on a cue that he has already learnt to ignore.

There is also nothing to stop you putting multiple cues to the same behaviour, my dog returns on his name, the whistle or 'here now' depending on how far away he is, but he has also taught himself that me taking his lead from around my neck means play time over.

 

[hanneroon]

aah poor lad, not that you need anymore advice from the excellent stuff up there, but l would also recommend neutering. My lad was a bit too skinny for the op when i first got him, and despite him being afraid of being outdoors, half blind, and very keen on staying near his human; some days he would literally get a faraway look in his eye and he would be off. In a straight line. Regardless of danger. At work he repeatedly scaled a 5 foot wall with a 7 or 8 foot drop on the other side, for which i had to climb after him, catch him and climb back with him on my shoulders. He would tightrope walk the walls of the terraced gardens we then lived in. He jumped fences, once climbed onto a garage roof and generally made a massive pest of himself. Remember this was a dog who didn't even like going outdoors. Luckily it was obvious the days he was going to do this and i could take preemptive measures, but he's a wily old dog, neutering stopped this behaviour, pretty much immediately.

He can still be a pretty unpredictable fellow and in order to be able to let him off, out in the big wide world, i firstly minimise distractions, know the area well to second guess possible dangers, and then i make every time a game of follow me, if he focuses on something else i hide, i get him to chase me and when he overtakes me i run the other way. I also crouch and pretend to have found something interesting, then when he gets nosey, tease him and pretend i have something that he can't have. Not as a constant thing or we'd never get anywhere, but enough to convince him that i am a bit of an idiot that is likely to get lost or run off, but that also has the special skill of finding bits of dried chicken everywhere. He keeps an eye on me at all times. I also use his natural hunting instincts and we work together to find stuff.

Obviously this isn't quite your situation, and isn't the ideal way to have a lovely relaxing walk, but the advice above to make yourself the most exciting thing your dog has to focus on is good stuff. Tailoring it to a young labrador is going to be an excercise and a half! I kind of think recall training can get a bit boring for a dog, come here, sit, yawn. So acting like an idiot or suddenly producing a favourite toy, or a bit of real food, suddenly makes things interesting for them again. I also think that you if you let a dog off, who is bursting to go, with nothing other than his nose to entertain him, then he will just follow his nose, and find some fun. Its in a labradors nature to go off rootling!

There is a 15 month old bitch at work, a springer-jack russel cross, who's a crazy girl, i have a special whistle for her, she knows i will be crouched or sat down and she can leap on me, as is her want. Sometimes i drop, as she is coming towards me, which she thinks is amazing. This has so far worked at all distances, and all distractions. Yelling her name doesn't always.

I read an article on 'being the moose' once, and found it quite a lovely concept. I just re-googled and re read it, and found it bit hippy ish, but its basically a counter argument to the old alpha-dog thing, reckoning you'd do better to act as big prey animal rather than leader of a pack, and have your dog follow your lead, rather than bend to your will. Might be worth a read. Good luck,