It has been a month since I began to work with Deuce’s recall in a more structured manner. Most people might have been happy with their dog responding at the speed that Deuce was responding, but me… I want faster and often recalls from my dogs.
Now its the end of the month and time to “test-drive” the new recall. John has taken Deuce and Rioja out for hikes with Deuce of leash. His report of Deuce’s recall is that it is just “okay”. This might be due to the problem of [lack] of generalization. You see dogs are not good at taking one learning experience (taught by this person in this place, etc.) and engage in that behavior in a complete new context. No, the dog is not being stubborn! He just has not learned to generalize that the behavior being requested must be performed in a myriad of scenarios and contexts. In short, the dog is under-trained. No surprises here, it is me who constantly is working with the dogs when taking them on walks not John; so the chances of Deuce returning to John are proportional to the times that John requests and reinforce Deuce returning to him.
I took both dogs last week for a short romp with Deuce off leash and guess what? He remained glued to me (by choice and with no reinforcement in sight). It was as if I had a different dog all together!!
Almost at the end of our walk I spotted a rabbit - I find it funny that most of the time I see the rabbits before they do… sometimes I point them out to them and sometimes I don’t. Well, this time I saw the rabbit and seconds later both dogs spotted it.
Deuce left my proximity in hot chase after the rabbit, with Rioja in tow. Ah, a perfect example on when NOT to call your dog back. They are running full charge with a prey in sight; chances of them actually hearing you are close to nil. And even if they do hear you the chances of a turnaround towards you is very slim for most dogs. Hence the importance of being very careful when letting dogs off-leash.
As I saw them take off I relaxed - no danger in sight and I also knew that they would not catch the rabbit - did they even get close to the rabbit? I don’t know because they took off running up hill and out of my sight. I continued to walk in their direction and once I was on top of the hill I called them. Rioja was close by and she came to me. I could not see Deuce but he turned up in a matter of seconds and I took a breath as I converse with them about their fun adventure.
So how long is too long for a dog to be out of sight when off leash? Well, the answer might surprise you. I have had clients in the past tell me that their dogs are gone for 10 min., 30 min. even so long that they (client) decide to get in the car and go home!!!
When I hear these kinds of stories my heart drops. In fairness, I hear these accounts as we engage in teaching their dogs a more reliable recall. My time limit for my dogs being away from me is…. 2 minutes! I actually time them and so far Deuce - who is the one that has struggled more with this behavior has come back under the 2 minutes.
So what should a person do when their dog is gone for longer? Should they stay put hoping their dog will return? Should they go looking for him/her? Should they go home?
I guess there is not one good, one-size-fits all answer. Some people claim that dogs are very good navigators and find “their way home”. I am not so sure this is true for most dogs. Sure, some dogs tend to roam and as such they might be very familiar with a certain territory… but why is that dog roaming?????? Dogs, just like people, can get disoriented very easily and not being able to find their way back to the car if hiking on a trail of a parking lot, or even their home.
For my part, I much rather put my eggs in the “training” basket instead of hoping that if one of my dogs decides to take off far away he or she might know how to come back to safety.
So, in addition to constantly working on their recall (every outing that is) I take very calculated risks before I let them off leash. Sure, there are no guaranties but the reality still is, that the more we use proper opportunities for teaching our dogs that coming when called pays off the better chance we all stand in returning home all together after a fun time outside. No magic potions! Just ongoing
and consistent training…
Now its the end of the month and time to “test-drive” the new recall. John has taken Deuce and Rioja out for hikes with Deuce of leash. His report of Deuce’s recall is that it is just “okay”. This might be due to the problem of [lack] of generalization. You see dogs are not good at taking one learning experience (taught by this person in this place, etc.) and engage in that behavior in a complete new context. No, the dog is not being stubborn! He just has not learned to generalize that the behavior being requested must be performed in a myriad of scenarios and contexts. In short, the dog is under-trained. No surprises here, it is me who constantly is working with the dogs when taking them on walks not John; so the chances of Deuce returning to John are proportional to the times that John requests and reinforce Deuce returning to him.
I took both dogs last week for a short romp with Deuce off leash and guess what? He remained glued to me (by choice and with no reinforcement in sight). It was as if I had a different dog all together!!
Almost at the end of our walk I spotted a rabbit - I find it funny that most of the time I see the rabbits before they do… sometimes I point them out to them and sometimes I don’t. Well, this time I saw the rabbit and seconds later both dogs spotted it.
Deuce left my proximity in hot chase after the rabbit, with Rioja in tow. Ah, a perfect example on when NOT to call your dog back. They are running full charge with a prey in sight; chances of them actually hearing you are close to nil. And even if they do hear you the chances of a turnaround towards you is very slim for most dogs. Hence the importance of being very careful when letting dogs off-leash.
As I saw them take off I relaxed - no danger in sight and I also knew that they would not catch the rabbit - did they even get close to the rabbit? I don’t know because they took off running up hill and out of my sight. I continued to walk in their direction and once I was on top of the hill I called them. Rioja was close by and she came to me. I could not see Deuce but he turned up in a matter of seconds and I took a breath as I converse with them about their fun adventure.
So how long is too long for a dog to be out of sight when off leash? Well, the answer might surprise you. I have had clients in the past tell me that their dogs are gone for 10 min., 30 min. even so long that they (client) decide to get in the car and go home!!!
When I hear these kinds of stories my heart drops. In fairness, I hear these accounts as we engage in teaching their dogs a more reliable recall. My time limit for my dogs being away from me is…. 2 minutes! I actually time them and so far Deuce - who is the one that has struggled more with this behavior has come back under the 2 minutes.
So what should a person do when their dog is gone for longer? Should they stay put hoping their dog will return? Should they go looking for him/her? Should they go home?
I guess there is not one good, one-size-fits all answer. Some people claim that dogs are very good navigators and find “their way home”. I am not so sure this is true for most dogs. Sure, some dogs tend to roam and as such they might be very familiar with a certain territory… but why is that dog roaming?????? Dogs, just like people, can get disoriented very easily and not being able to find their way back to the car if hiking on a trail of a parking lot, or even their home.
For my part, I much rather put my eggs in the “training” basket instead of hoping that if one of my dogs decides to take off far away he or she might know how to come back to safety.
So, in addition to constantly working on their recall (every outing that is) I take very calculated risks before I let them off leash. Sure, there are no guaranties but the reality still is, that the more we use proper opportunities for teaching our dogs that coming when called pays off the better chance we all stand in returning home all together after a fun time outside. No magic potions! Just ongoing
and consistent training…
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