Looking back over the notes that I have made during the past year relating to telephone calls, letters and behavioural consultations, it may surprise you to hear that the most common cause of complaint was the dog’s failure to respond to the owner’s recall. I noted over and over again “owner says puppy came readily, but then began to fail to return when called”. This resulted in the owner becoming angry and frustrated – not the ideal combination for obtaining the desired return. Dogs very quickly learn to read our body language, and when it says, “I’m getting really mad”, most dogs are wise enough to keep clear. And so the vicious circle is born.
Only this week I received a letter from a lady whose young bitch has never responded to a recall. The bitch is well behaved indoors, but outside becomes a fiend, pelting across the field if she sees another dog and becoming totally deaf to the sound of her owner’s voice. The lady ends her letter by saying that what she wants above all else is a dog that can be let off the lead, and who will ignore dogs and other livestock. Read through that quickly and it does not sound much to ask for, but that is three behavioural problems all rolled into one. This dog needs first to be trained to respond to a recall, then to ignore other dogs when told, and lastly carefully introduced to livestock so that they too are familiar and therefore less threatening.
Too common
What was interesting was that this bitch, in common with many of the others I had made notes on, had been a biddable puppy who had responded well to basic training of sit, down, wait and come. At around five months old there was a change, and those biddable puppies suddenly had minds of their own. Annoying as this is for owners, this is all too common, and seems to recur in some dogs at around ten months of age. Even young dogs who have previously been responsive may suddenly, at around ten months, begin to ignore a recall. It also seems to be mainly male dogs that display that ten month old strategic deafness. Ah, you may say, hormones, and hormones it almost certainly is. (I feel sorry for hormones; they get blamed for everything from teenage pregnancy to disobedient dogs!) But we might also explain that the five month old lapse is very soon after the point where the socialisation window closes; the puppy is maturing and becoming more confident. The sudden rebellion at ten months is just that. Adolescence has arrived and any dog owner who is also a parent will remember that period when nothing you do is right, and the child is determined to follow his own path, heedless of your warnings.
But that’s cold comfort to the owner who is standing in the rain on the edge of a windswept field while the dog cavorts merrily, either enjoying his own company or playing with others of his kind. What often happens is that when the dog finally does return, the owner is so angry that there is a confrontation. The dog may be slapped, the lead is put on without a word and the dog is hauled away. Human this may be, but what the dog is learning is that going back to his owner is not safe. And so the recall becomes increasingly difficult.
This lady went on to say that she has spoken to several trainers and all have told her to keep the dog on a lead. The advice is good, it is what I would say myself, but curing the problem goes far beyond simply keeping the dog on the lead. That prevents the dog running away, but it does not teach him to come back. Many owners will say, when advised to keep the dog on a lead, that it seems cruel, the dog enjoys his freedom. Of course he does, but that very freedom may end when the dog races towards a road and fails to heed a recall. If the dog is put on a long lead or a Flexi-lead, this will allow some freedom of movement but puts control back into the hands of the owner. Using a Flexi-lead is not as easy as it looks; there is a knack to bringing the dog back without it becoming a struggle to retract the line. The arm needs to be swung forward quickly so that the lead retracts neatly. It is more easily demonstrated than described. Once the dog is coming in towards the owner, he is called enthusiastically, and the owner extends her arms in a welcoming gesture. When the dog arrives he is rewarded with a tasty piece of food and praised verbally. If the dog is one that cares more for toys than food, then produce a favourite toy and play with the dog.
Repeated
This is repeated again and again throughout the walk so that the dog never knows when the moment is going to come that his owner will turn for home. It may take some weeks to establish a reliable recall, but once the dog learns that coming back to the owner is always interesting, food rewards can become intermittent or be phased out entirely. The game and the praise should still be employed as reward and to keep the dog interested in returning. It is too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the walk is all, and that the dog should return full of gratitude for the exercise he has had. Dogs just do not think that way.
The second of this particular lady’s problems is the fact that the dog has learned that playing with other dogs is fun, while returning when called is boring. This may have happened because the dog was let off the lead before a recall was properly established, or that when he did return his lead was clipped on and he was led away immediately. Even a dog who usually returns when called will quickly learn that breaking off the game he is enjoying to go back to his owner will mean it ends. Forming the habit of calling the dog back from time to time to play and praise him, makes returning pleasurable to him, rather than something he has learnt spells the end of his run or his game with another dog.
Right
Walking a dog through livestock is a different proposition entirely. The large majority of town dogs will rarely meet farm animals. Although as behaviourists we recommend that puppies are introduced to farm animals as part of their socialisation programme, it may be some months or even years, before they again encounter them. Given that horses, cattle or sheep may be spooked by the sight of a strange dog and may run or make sounds that are unfamiliar to the dog, this is a potentially explosive situation. A dog that lives in an area where he frequently encounters farm animals can be so thoroughly exposed to their presence that they cease to interest him, but even he should be firmly under control while passing livestock. There will be farm dogs who go among the animals without causing disturbance to them because they are familiar, and there may be several dogs about in stables with neither the dogs nor the horses being disturbed. But an unknown dog will have an entirely different effect. Let it never be forgotten that the farmer has the right to protect his stock from being worried or attacked.
In the first few weeks when a puppy joins his permanent home, it is easy to teach him a recall. Even the most confident of puppies is slightly insecure in those first strange days away from his mother and litter mates. He is ready and willing to follow his new owner. Much praise, a tiny food treat, a gentle stroke and the consistent use of whatever recall word is to be used begins the process. This will ensure that as the puppy grows to adulthood he goes through those periods when he tests his powers with the minimum of resistance to his owner. Moreover, if a dog is acquired well beyond the puppy stage, it is still possible to instil a good recall using these methods. More important, perhaps, is that the owner will be aware that there will be times when all is not plain sailing and will be prepared to go back to basics from time to time.
Wheatens enjoy (well, most of them do)…. a good splash about.
Dee Woodcock
