Recall/general obedience but not my dog

Hunterwayit

I was thinking of putting him on a long line when I take them out and rewarding him if he comes back to me, with a treat I guess. But my training knowledge is somewhat brief as my dog before Chip was just a brain box and was really easy and then Chip well he is a weirdo and I have taken him to obedience school and had to do everything completely different than everyone cause he can be flighty and not toy or food driven like I mentioned before, So please guys help me and Toby out  

I think the long line is the best idea and everybody recommends it. It didn't work for me though becasue Shailer learnt that when he had the long line on and I said come he would come but when he was off the lead he would not come when I called him. I read that to try the recall take the lead of in a fenced in area and try it so I did and he came but as soon as he was out the gate, to continue with the training, he was gone. I had to buy a shock collar for him and it worked. Now I can put the collar on him (off) and he will come. I can also not put it on him and he will still come. Don't follow all of my advise though because I am not an expert I am just saying what worked for me. Good luck.

Thanks for the input Yeah I do hate when you think things are working but when you take the safety measure off the dog is way to smart and figures that out. I don't think I will consider a shock collar mainly cause he isn't my dog.

I also think being there with another dog that recalls can be a benefit not that my dog is perfect he does have selective hearing sometimes but he doesn't take off any more and does come most of the time sometimes just a bit slower than I would like hehe.

 If it were me, I would not take someone else's dog on an off leash walk if the dog has no recall.  It's up to the owners to train their dog, unless they are paying you to do it.  It just isn't worth the risk that something will happen to the dog while it's in your custody and control.  I would put a long line on him.  JMHO

Yeah I agree spirit but the thing with this dog is I think If I help with his training they might become more proactive with him cause as we all know a untrained dog can be stressful but a nicely trained dog is a pleasure to have round. I will work on his recall before I even consider off leashing him or if I ever do.

I think it's wonderful of you to offer to help this dog. Your idea of putting a long line on him and simply rewarding him any time he approaches you is spot-on. For the non-food, non-toy motivated dog, you'll have to come up with something. Most dogs enjoy running with their people- try happily calling the dog's name while running away from the dog, and when the dog comes whizzing up to you throw a party, cheer and leap around excitedly.

You might want to check out Leslie Nelson's Really Reliable Recall DVD for more tips.

food, food and more food.

 I have two hunters so recall is very important but also sometimes difficult as their tendancy is to come if it suits them unless there is something more interesting in which case they go after the most interesting.

 What has worked well for me is food. I always give them some kind of food for coming, even if it is just calling them into the house. So far both always come when out in the field. Hektor failed to one time but he was in hot pursuit of a coyote at the time and it was expected that he would fail to quit and return, once he lost the coyote I called and he turned and came back.

 I take yummy stuff that they love out in the field, like hotdogs or liver or fresh chicken.

I appreciate that you  would want to help, though I don't know if his family will interact with him any more than they do now. That is, you could walk him and possibly train recall and that's great, and then he gets home and it's back to the back patio or kennel. It's similar to the same problem trainers have with some owners. You can talk your head off giving all the best bits but if the owners don't implement it themselves and make the dog a part of their lives, then, at best, the dog will only recall for you. Why? Because you would be the only thing in his world that is rewarding.

As for rewards, food is the easiest, though the difficult part might be figuring out what kind of food. You may have to try everything from the little baked treats that you can buy, to natural balance rolls cut up, to pieces of store-bought lunch meat, to some cooked steak, or pork, or chicken. Or try different toys, from balls to flirt poles to tug with an old towel, ala K-9 training. You could try luring him back, ala a lure course, by having some wiggly waggly sometime on a long line that you can pull back to yourself and then throw a party when he gets back.

But, eventually, his family needs to get in on the act.

Hunterwayit

I was thinking of putting him on a long line when I take them out and rewarding him if he comes back to me, with a treat I guess. 

If this was one my fosters, the treats would be affection.  When a dog is in bad situation and/or neglected and all of sudden receives kind treatment and good care, the dog is grateful and shows it with affection.  Often times this show of gratitude is missed by the human and not returned to the dog.  My foster hound was trained on recall with affection only.  He is not 100% but a good test was when he treed a squirrel and I was able to call him off with a "COME" command.  These situations are rare in occurrence but when it does happen the dog deserves a huge reward.  Thats why giving affection is so good, its always available, can easily change the degree, and there are no negatives associated with it.

If this was one my fosters, the treats would be affection.

Pffft.  Affection is nice, and necessary, but a reward is something that the DOG wants to work for, not what the human decides he should want to work for.  For most dogs, that means food.  For some, a toy.  For a precious few, affection is enough (but usually only when no one else is in the area feeding their own dogs the good stuff).

DPU, if I ever meet you some day, I'm going to organize a recall contest.    Bet you a nickel Sequoyah wins.

spiritdogs

Bet you a nickel Sequoyah wins

Put me down for $20 on Sequoyah.

ron2

I appreciate that you  would want to help, though I don't know if his family will interact with him any more than they do now. That is, you could walk him and possibly train recall and that's great, and then he gets home and it's back to the back patio or kennel. It's similar to the same problem trainers have with some owners. You can talk your head off giving all the best bits but if the owners don't implement it themselves and make the dog a part of their lives, then, at best, the dog will only recall for you. Why? Because you would be the only thing in his world that is rewarding.

 Yeah your quite right but I have had a small effect, them coming to my house with my dog has prompted them to want to do more with Toby though, they walk into my house and make remarks like "He is so quiet much more quiet than Toby" etc. But I think the best part of helping them has been the other day they had some pipes burst in their house and had to stay in a hotel. I offered to look after Toby, after two days being inside and having company he was behaving just like Chip(who isn't the best behaved dog but 100% than Toby was). They came to collect him once their house was sorted and were amazed how much he had calmed down. I noticed he has been inside a little bit since(baby steps hehe) 

Also prior to the pipes bursting the SPCA had been called, another neighbour I think. They came and investigated, I think the claims were a bit harsh the complaint was he doesn't get fed or walked etc. But He is in healthy condition just due to boredom barks. But I hope that sparks a little more interest in the dog.

I guess I just try to make little differences here and there to help Toby, he is a fantastic dog would steal him in a heart beat.

Hunterwayit

But I hope that sparks a little more interest in the dog.

Hopefully, things will look up. Maybe they were just clueless and I don't say that to be mean. Just that they didn't really know what to do. And maybe, you can show them.

Hunterwayit

I guess I just try to make little differences here and there to help Toby, he is a fantastic dog would steal him in a heart beat

Who knows, they might eventually decide you are better suited to have him, anyway,