I’m coming to you again about my Australian Shepherd who is now just over 7 months old.
Unfortunately, for the past few days, I've noticed he’s really struggling with his recall. I’m wondering if he’s just starting that "terrible teens" phase.
At home or during training classes, he responds instantly. Not long ago, it was the same story outdoors too, with just a few exceptions (cats, other dogs, people).
Up until now, I’ve been very careful to praise him every time he comes back, give him a treat, and make sure I don’t put him back on the lead every single time so he doesn’t associate the recall with the walk ending.
But now, I’m the one who ends up chasing him around using the GPS tracker when it's time to head home. And the only time he actually responds to the recall, he gets put back on the lead because I have to get back. (I won’t lie, it’s so frustrating not being able to play with my dog because he’d rather just bolt into the woods...)
Do you have any advice? Is this just a typical adolescent phase? Should I keep him on a lead until this period passes?
Have a great day,
Yo
Translated from French
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I have to admit, sometimes I trick my dog with a well-timed "Find it!", lol.
If, for example, she’s started digging up a molehill and she’s really focused on the task, I’d struggle to get her to come back with just a standard recall. So, I put on a really excited act and use a high-pitched voice as if I’ve just stumbled upon the best scent in the world, and I pretend to dig at the ground with my foot saying "Find it! Find it here!", and lo and behold, I see her come bolting back at a gallop.
PS: it’s also quite funny to see the looks on passers-by’s faces when you’re (at first glance) alone in the woods, scratching at the ground with your foot and making little squeaky noises ^^
@Energie solaire suggested punishing them immediately if they fail to recall: a verbal reprimand and putting them back on the lead. But I think that by the time you get home, the dog won't have any idea what they did wrong.
The full sequence, if I skip the warning (I'm just giving a heads-up here), involves putting them back on the lead followed by a bit of discipline in an authoritative tone (which includes a verbal reprimand). But the most important part is to let them off the lead again to immediately re-test exactly what just failed.
If it works, it means the punishment was effective (because the animal understood it). If it doesn’t work, it was ineffective.
And just for the record, I want to remind everyone that there’s a world of difference between having to go and fetch the dog yourself, and the dog eventually coming back after an unreasonable amount of time. In the latter case, I always reward them.
Thanks for the "long post", it’s really helpful!
I can definitely see myself in what you’ve written – I get quite stressed when my dog doesn't come straight back, but I do try my best not to make the usual mistakes. I always give him plenty of praise when he does return, even if I'm feeling a bit frustrated, and I don't always put him straight back on the lead...
I have to admit, for now, we're mostly using a long line, but it’s the holidays soon, so I'll have more time to wait for his lordship to come back in his own time.
By relaxing a bit and letting go of the reins like that, I also realised that the way I was calling him played a massive part. Obviously, if he couldn't hear me, there was no point getting cross with him (so thanks to the wind for blowing in the right direction :p). If I called him with a higher-pitched, more cheerful, almost "nonchalant" voice, he heard me more easily and from further away. It made him want to come back more because it sounded like a "play" voice (and a bit of "I couldn't care less, you either come now or I'm leaving without you" 😲 you really have to be an actor when you've got a dog XD). That was compared to when I was clearly desperate and fed up; you could hear it in my voice, which was deeper and didn't carry as far (it's a wavelength thing too :p).
The hardest bit was at the start, when it took him an absolute age (it felt like forever to me) to realise I wasn't there anymore and that he should probably look for me -_-. But then, with plenty of repetition and especially by stopping making such a big deal out of it, his recall came back.
And now, even if it's not always perfect (there's always going to be a female that smells too good or a butterfly that looks too pretty), he always comes back when I call, even if he knows I'm going to put him back on the lead because the road is nearby. He knows it’s not a bad thing, and that he'll get his freedom back soon enough.
So, I don't know if this massive wall of text will help, but here’s the takeaway: it's not the end of the world, you’ve just got to hang in there without holding it against him. Once his hormones settle down, his recall will too! 😁
I had a few tricks to get my "rebel" to come back: walking in the opposite direction, or hiding (it was so frustrating at first, it took him at least 5 minutes, sometimes more, to realise I wasn't there anymore and look for me; dead leaves were just *so* much more interesting -_-). I'd also crouch down pretending I’d found something really cool (he usually charges straight back to see my "treasure", even after being fooled plenty of times :D)... And calling him as well, obviously! ^^
And the Golden Rule: even if you’re absolutely fuming, always welcome them back with joy (or at the very least, stay neutral), so that coming back to us is never a negative experience. After all, why would he want to come back if he’s just going to get a telling off? He’ll just take his sweet time, he’s no fool! 😉
(I remember an old man who used to give his 6 or 7-month-old puppy a kick up the backside every time he thought it was taking too long to come back, and then he wondered why the dog wouldn’t come back any faster 😡)
The aim of these exercises was:
1/ To get him to pay a bit more attention to me, at least to keep eye contact and gradually reduce the distance between us (it’s a universal reflex to chase after things that run away rather than things that are stuck to your heels 😉).
2/ To get him into the habit of coming back to me with a positive feeling (Ah! There you are! Cool, I thought I’d lost you! I found you again! Party time! :D) rather than a negative one (Great, I’m getting shouted at and put back on the lead again; I won’t fall for that next time, she can chase after me, the old girl -_-).
3/ By calling him back regularly for no reason and then letting him go free again, he knew that being called didn’t necessarily mean being put on the lead. So, he got into the habit of coming to see if I had something cool. If I did, brilliant; if not, never mind, I’ve kept the crazy woman who serves as my human happy and I can get back to my very important little dog business ^^
Hi @Yoyolut,
I completely agree with what you're saying:
- Punishing them after the event does nothing but unnecessarily damage the bond with your dog (and even in the moment when it comes to recall, even if @EnergieSolaire is the exception that proves the rule! :p).
- The "terrible teens" for dogs are just as tricky as they are for humans. I understand you've got an Australian Shepherd too, so I can share my experience (even if they don't all go through the same level of teenage rebellion 😉).
To give you an idea of how it went for me – when he was a puppy, everyone warned me and really put the frighteners on me about the teenage phase my pup would go through. So, when the dreaded age arrived, I was constantly on the lookout for signs: seeing if he was listening less during training, if he was going to rebel, or if I’d have to start his training again from scratch like everyone said. Honestly, I was chuffed at first; my Aussie’s adolescence seemed to be going like a dream. His learning curve was great, he was as cute as ever – a perfect dog, no issues at all! ^^
...Until the day he decided that recall was all well and good, but playing with his mates and chasing scents in the grass was much better. 😒
(Luckily, that was the "only" teenage problem I had 🙄).
And that’s where you have to be careful not to fall into a vicious circle like I did. The less he came when called, the more stressed I got; but the more stressed I was, the less he wanted to come back. It became a nightmare; I never knew if things would go well or if I’d be struggling for 10 minutes trying to call him back before he finally deigned to leave his friends to see what I wanted.
The brilliant trainer we were seeing at the time eventually gave me some good advice: don't stress, it'll pass. As long as you're somewhere dangerous (like near a road), you can use a long lead for peace of mind, but trust is only built by being tested. If I never let him off, I'll never know if I can let him off. So, if I'm in a safe place (which I try to do as much as possible), I let him off and we work on it – and not just him, me too. That’s the general mindset.
Hi,
There are tonnes of examples of "teenage" phase troubles all over the internet :-D... To be fair, my breeder did warn me that there’d be an awkward stage and that it wouldn’t exactly be the best of times...
I’m no expert by any means, but it’s often said that punishing your dog long after the event is pointless, as they don't associate the punishment with the original issue.
@Energie solaire suggested correcting them immediately if they don't come when called: a verbal ticking-off and putting them back on the lead. But I think by the time you get back home, the dog won't have a clue what they actually did wrong.
Have a good day,
Yo
Hi everyone, I’m feeling a bit relieved. I’ve got a 7-month-old Golden Retriever who is going through that exact phase at the moment. Sometimes our walks go really well, but the one I’ve just been on was a total nightmare. So, I’m back to using the long lead, and he’s had a stint in his bed as a "punishment" instead of being allowed to play with his toys. It might not be the best solution, but we’re just doing the best we can.
Hi everyone,
Jumping up is purely a friendly gesture, and I personally love it when my dog gives me a big welcome, but my neighbour, the in-laws, the local nan, and the kids from downstairs aren't nearly as keen on a 45lb dog—who'll likely be 65lbs in a few months—jumping all over them with muddy paws... So, I've been forced to put a stop to it :'(
Thanks for the advice. For now, I’m sticking to a bit of semi-freedom using a 30ft long line; it’s a safe way to retrain his recall and gives us both a bit of breathing room. It’s working well so far and our walks are much nicer: he can play, run, and sniff around at his own pace, but he stays within 30ft of me...
Have a good day,
Yoann
Does anyone have any advice? Is this just a typical teenage phase? Should I keep him on the lead until this period passes?
The teenage stage is quite a critical time, as it's when your dog’s temperament really starts to take shape. It’s important not to get too stressed about the disobedience, but at the same time, you have to stay firm.
Punishment is a technique meant to reduce the chances of unwanted behaviour (like refusing to come when called) happening again. But during adolescence, given that the dog's character is gradually settling, we need to lead by example, first and foremost.
Personally, if there’s a failure on the recall, I use a correction. This involves putting them back on the lead, a verbal telling off, and a bit of training. This only happens if I’ve had to go and fetch the dog myself. If she comes back on her own, there's nothing I can do (even if she’s had me swearing for 5 or 10 minutes).
