Golden Retriever Dog Forums banner

3 Hour Game of Catch Me If You Can - HELP!!!!

2K views 21 replies 22 participants last post by  Lou Castle 
#1 · (Edited)
My golden is named Cash and will be three years old in May. We have one BIG problem when playing outside. While playing ball over the last few weeks, he has decided that after playing for a while, he's not going to bring the ball back. When he does this, he completely ignores me, "NO!" becomes meaningless, and he runs the opposite direction. The biggest issue in he does not come when called.

I have tried to retrain the "Come" command. Starting on a leash with treats. But as soon as he is off leash, he retrieves for 10 minutes, the its "im outa here!!" He does this sometimes for 3 to 4 hours before he gives up and comes back. I have no choice but the stay near him as we have a green belt behind our house where we play fetch.

I have never used a shock collar, but am to the point of getting one just to get my point across, because he is NOT listening to me. We just had a two hour episode. What are your suggestions?

These are after tonights romp, a little scraggly looking!!!

 
See less See more
2
#2 ·
If he runs away, do not let him loose. Keep him on a long line, so he can't run away. He has learned that 'come' is irrelevant, just a noise, when he is off leash. Pick a new word for recall, ie: here, and train it from 'scratch', train it at home to start with, then train it in a fenced area on a long line, until he 'aces' it. Then remove the long line, and work in that fenced area, until he 'aces' it. Make coming to you the best thing on the planet, every time you call him to you, have a party, feed lots of high value treats, tell him what an amazing dog he is. Give him a good reason to WANT to come to you.
 
#13 ·
Great advice here...I would also add that when they do come be sure and release them after throwing the party for coming. They learn that they can enjoy the party for coming and still go back out and play...it doesn't mean it's the end of the day. Punishing a dog for not coming when they finally do come is very counter productive.

Pete
 
  • Like
Reactions: tippykayak
#4 ·
Long line. :)

And my sympathies and encouragement - it does get better.

My Danny had two bad elbows and he could still fly like the wind and play keep away with the best of them. If he became border trained and trustworthy on our property (no fences), then your dog will get there. It may take a couple years though.
 
#8 ·
We had this problem once it took me 45 mins to leash up Gracie, then I tried this new method, and it never happened again.

Whenever u are outside with ur dog, u should be directly interacting with him/her. U can't just throw the ball or just stand around waiting for her to get tired. U have to be involved in the play. U have to be his #1 playmate. Run around with her, take the ball and give it black, take the ball and instead give him a treat, u keep the ball and let him try to get it from u, etc. and every time u say the word "come" u better have something amazing happen if he does come, otherwise come means "I'm going to leash u up" or "I'm going to take ur ball from you". Why would he come????
 
#9 ·
We had this problem once it took me 45 mins to leash up Gracie, then I tried this new method, and it never happened again.

Whenever u are outside with ur dog, u should be directly interacting with him/her. U can't just throw the ball or just stand around waiting for her to get tired. U have to be involved in the play. U have to be his #1 playmate. Run around with her, take the ball and give it black, take the ball and instead give him a treat, u keep the ball and let him try to get it from u, etc. and every time u say the word "come" u better have something amazing happen if he does come, otherwise come means "I'm going to leash u up" or "I'm going to take ur ball from you". Why would he come????
this is a really good point! I would still use the long leash (as so many people mentioned).

Pixie listens pretty well, except when there are people or dogs coming our way. The other day a entire family "crossed our path" and oh boy... she just made a run for it! Full speed in the direction of the family (clearly to lick them in the face and be petted, but they did not know so I think they got a bit scared when they saw her coming). I immediately hold the leash and start telling her to stop and come back. she reached the end of the leash (by this point I heard the relief sights from the family :p) and then she listen and came back! If she would just go she would be recompensed by running and not listening and you never want that to happen!
 
#10 ·
I also recommend a long line. He shouldn't be off leash in a public area without a strong recall.

If you have someone else in the house, you can start to train recall as a game. You and the other person should be in different rooms or opposite ends of the house with lots of treats. One should call Cash to come or whatever term you use and when he comes, praise him and treat him, then the other person should call him, praise him and treat him. Do this back and forth so that Cash knows that coming when called is a positive experience and he gets rewarded. We did this as often as we could when our Toby was young and we used a long line when playing outside when we couldn't be in a totally fenced in and secure area.
 
#16 ·
If you have someone else in the house, you can start to train recall as a game. You and the other person should be in different rooms or opposite ends of the house with lots of treats. One should call Cash to come or whatever term you use and when he comes, praise him and treat him, then the other person should call him, praise him and treat him. Do this back and forth so that Cash knows that coming when called is a positive experience and he gets rewarded. We did this as often as we could when our Toby was young and we used a long line when playing outside when we couldn't be in a totally fenced in and secure area.
My husband and I do this!! Bear loves it! And it's really strengthed his recall. The little genius is too smart for our own good b/c after the 5-6th time he'll just start walking to the next person even before the command is given. So I'd have to get extra treats b/c I'd be calling him more often than my husband.

SMH. Outsmarted by the dog. :doh:
 
#11 ·
Excellent advice on this thread! I'm definitely going to make use of it when training Renny. Now that I've had him 3 weeks, he's REALLY testing my limits, including playing keep-away when we play fetch, and not coming when called at the dogpark. Obviously too many distractions! In fact, instead of going to the dogpark, I'm going to do heavy-duty recall training with him. That should tire him out!
 
#12 ·
Apart from the excellent advice about using a long line, I have a couple of suggestions which I hope you'll find useful.

Take 2 balls out with you instead of just the one. That way, you can teach him to bring back the ball he has so you can throw the ball you have, kind of swapping. Just make sure you at least have your foot on the ball he's given back before throwing yours or you may find (as I have in the past lol) that the dog will quickly snatch up the ball and end up with both!

Obviously the problem with coming back has become a very rewarding game for your boy. I would firstly never engage in a chase game, after all, they can run much faster and we wouldn't have a chance! Two things I would try are sitting on the floor, no eye contact with the dog & look down as though you're interested in something. Otherwise, crouch down, back to the dog and scratch the ground. 9 out of 10 times their curiosity will win over & they'll come to investigate this thing you're more interested in! If mine ignore me, a "see ya" and an about turn by me will result in 3 goldens by my side. I will walk away and hide behind a tree if necessary so they have to find me lol!

My dogs would often head off towards the sea when I took them to the beach, annoyingly usually at the end of our walk! Bearing in mind when the tide is out there are vast mud flats, not ideal! I would immediately turn my back walk in the opposite direction then crouch & scratch the floor. This almost always worked and usually before they hit the mud, & 3 retrievers could be seen hurtling the few hundred metres back to me. I never called or made a sound, just something which worked wonders for me.

The only other thing I can suggest is that you take him on some more structured "walks". I try to take mine to many different environments, some wide open spaces where they can run, jump and chase each other :), and some other places, more enclosed where there are lots of trees and smells. They don't hurtle about quite so much, but is a very enriching walk for them, and tires them out just as much. Just to throw a ball time after time isn't very stimulating for them tbh, they need the stimulation of a "hunt" which is effectively what a walk is all about.

Mine love balls I'm not against them at all, but I don't use them on every walk & only then for a few throws at a time, then they go in the pocket whereby the dogs will immediately switch into sniffing & interacting with each other mode.

Good luck with your boy, they can be a challenge!!
 
#15 ·
From what I've learned in my classes, they need to DESERVE to be off leash, they have to have a good recall to even warrant them being allowed off leash.

I have a long lead, I say come ONCE. She doesn't come, she gets a reminder tug, and no treat. She comes on first call, she gets her treat.

I'm WAY too lenient and sloppy with my training by not sticking to the ONE come......(in fact, I've been disciplined in class for saying "come" more than once...(say like 3 or 4 times....lol)

A dog is only as smart as their owner I say.............:)
Some days, I'm not too smart.
 
#17 ·
My golden is named Cash and will be three years old in May. We have one BIG problem when playing outside. While playing ball over the last few weeks, he has decided that after playing for a while, he's not going to bring the ball back. When he does this, he completely ignores me, "NO!" becomes meaningless, and he runs the opposite direction. The biggest issue in he does not come when called.

I have tried to retrain the "Come" command. Starting on a leash with treats. But as soon as he is off leash, he retrieves for 10 minutes, the its "im outa here!!" He does this sometimes for 3 to 4 hours before he gives up and comes back. I have no choice but the stay near him as we have a green belt behind our house where we play fetch.

I have never used a shock collar, but am to the point of getting one just to get my point across, because he is NOT listening to me. We just had a two hour episode. What are your suggestions?

These are after tonights romp, a little scraggly looking!!!



He doesn't have a solid enough recall to be off leash. sounds like you have been retraining and he is 3 years old? Honestly for his own safety you might want to try the ecollar. But if you do please find a professional trainer who specializes in ecollar training. Both my boys have been ecollared trained.
 
#18 ·
Get a long lead and go back to baby steps, using a word other than "come." He has become quite cheeky about ignoring your "come."
This is not difficult to retrain using positive methods; but ensure you set him up for success and make it MEANINGFUL when he does well.
Slow baby steps and setting up for success = happy partnering doggy.
Don't let him off leash until the recall is retrained with a new word. He cannot be trusted loose at the moment. Keep him only in fenced enclosed areas when he needs to burn off steam.
Also, don't run after him, it's now a game. Walk away from him and let him see you walk away. It's counterintuitive, but he will come to you.


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App
 
#19 · (Edited)
I used an ecollor & still have it but don't use it anymore.I don't have a problem with them but agree you need to learn all about them before using one & the results are not as quick as you might think & not as rewarding.Jack & Sweetie walk off leash every day but it took time & alot of leash walking to get there.No real advise their are others on here more qualified except the ecollor isn't a good fix.At least not for me
 
#21 ·
Totally agree with the sit command. Libbie got out of the yard once when I was out front. She was running around like a nut and was ignoring then "come" command. I told her to "sit" and she did it immediately. I was able to go over and grab her collar while she was sitting. Good thing or I would have been chasing her for hours I'm sure!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doug
#22 ·
My golden is named Cash and will be three years old in May. We have one BIG problem when playing outside. While playing ball over the last few weeks, he has decided that after playing for a while, he's not going to bring the ball back. When he does this, he completely ignores me, "NO!" becomes meaningless, and he runs the opposite direction. The biggest issue in he does not come when called.

I have never used a shock collar, but am to the point of getting one just to get my point across, because he is NOT listening to me. We just had a two hour episode. What are your suggestions?
Try the suggestions made by others in this discussion. If they don't give you the results you want in a timely manner (for me that would be three – four weeks, but you are the final judge) then take a look at this article on teaching the recall with the Ecollar.

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/golden-retriever-training/94724-teaching-recall-ecollar.html

I'd strongly suggest that you NOT get an Ecollar and then just hit the button when the dog does not recall. Doing it like that can cause all sorts of issues since the dog won't know what the discomfort means.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top