Category: recalls

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It’s Not the Dog

The other day I was walking with Sashi. We were on a trail close to the lake that offers great photo spots, easy access for swimming, and nice smells to keep the dogs interested for hours. Sashi was off leash. This path is safe and in a secluded area away from cars and Sashi is a huge fan of his people and doesn’t like to wander far from us.

We had stumbled on a nice spot for a photo. I stepped back from Sashi to start shooting him. I saw him alert through my viewfinder and then I heard someone coming toward us yelling for their loose dog.

I asked Sashi to come closer and I grabbed his collar and my mace that I keep handy when we go out for a walk. We stood there and watched the owner continue to yell for her dog to come while the dog was coming closer and closer to us.

The dog stopped about 20 feet from us—I guess we were boring to her standing like statues.

The dog’s owner approached the dog and leashed her. The entire time the dog was coming closer to us the owner was yelling, “don’t worry, she’s friendly.” When the owner got control of the dog, she looked up at me and asked, “Are you scared?”

This exchange reminded me how clueless many people are to their dog’s cues, behavior, and how a well-managed dog behaves.

Sashi is a well-socialized dog. But he is not allowed to greet every dog and person with the enthusiasm that he greets Clint and me. I have firm expectation of what Sashi should do and he complies—Of course Sashi disobeys sometimes and he is punished appropriately for his crime. The freedoms Sashi so much enjoys are not rights but privileges for his behavior that can be taken away at any moment.

The dog approaching us was probably not a “bad dog.” Actually I do not see the dog as a problem at all. The problem was the owner’s complete lack of concern for her dog and its behavior. The loose dog’s owner had no idea of Sashi’s temperament, no clue if he is vaccinated; she basically had no clue about anything in the situation. She put her dog at such a huge risk. I was amazed by her response to my calm collected hound.

This idea that many people feel their ill-behaved dog is simply friendly is too common and places additional burdens on pet owners who believe in having a balanced dog with manners.

The problems displayed by many dogs’ lies with the pet owner. It is our job as pet owners to be responsible for our pets. Included in the umbrella of responsible pet ownership includes managing your dog and teaching them basic commands.

By no means am I saying that all dogs should be classically trained in obedience. But I do believe it is our responsible to keep our dogs safe—either by training or making sure the dog is safely and properly contained. By following these principals this minimizes the risk of accidents.

Pet owners simply must get over the idea that all dogs are friendly, want to socialize, and are allowed to socialize as they please.

As pet owners were must demand a higher level of respect for our dogs. Respect for each other’s dogs can be achieved by properly containing our pets, training our pets, and not accepting bad behavior and stamping it with the label, “friendly.”

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How to get a solid recall

By now you have probably noticed there are a lot of pictures of my dogs running and playing without leashes. I want to make it clear that generally speaking my Greyhounds are leashed.  However, when we are in the country we allow our Greyhounds to be off leash.  Our dogs are familiar with our property and understand their “boundaries”.

My Greyhounds did not come with off-leash manners and it took a lot of work to train off-leash manners.  So how did I go about teaching my Greyhounds to come? Recall training is not a once and done type of command.  Recall training has to occur frequently and you have to be ready to give you Greyhound a huge payload when they come to you vs. following that amazing coyote scent or chasing an armadillo. 

At first we did a lot of work in the backyard.  I would send a Greyhound out and allow them to start their sniffing.  I would watch on the deck and when I noticed they were very interested in something I would call them and give them a high value treat—think canned dog food, mac&cheese, or raw tripe in a small container.  After they had successfully completed this on a small scale I increased the distraction and the distance. 

After mastering the backyard we would begin working on recalls at our local private dog park. This was a good location because it was safe but also full of new exciting smells and distractions.   Again I would wait until they became interested in something and then call them giving them a huge payload. 

We continued with this exercise until I felt they were ready to head to our country fields. 

The boys were relatively easy to teach a recall to.  Both Sashi and Jethro are huge momma’s boys.  They are not going far from me.  I can’t put on make-up without Sashi watching!  The cord was not cut with the boys.  Training a recall took a few huge payloads in a few different locations and they were hooked. 

Darla was not that simple.  Darla is a complicated Greyhound.  She is very independent and when I first got her she could take me or leave me.  However, she did want to hang close to Jethro and she loves food.  The issues with her recall came when she wanted to do more independent activities and realized that she could wonder off from Jethro.  This caused some stress—we thought all of our Greyhounds had great recalls but Darla did not.

Darla was deemed a flight risk and leashed.  Clint and I wanted Darla to enjoy the independence of sniffing and hunting around our fields.  We began reworking her recall and giving her another chance at off leash activities. 

We took her to the fields and the first time she did well and stayed with me, I thought that she had it!  The second time was not so pleasant.  As soon as we unleashed her she was off. Fortunately she was with Sashi and he has an excellent recall.  We called him and she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.  And came running back to us for her reward.  I want to note how important it was that we were happy and rewarded her when she came back.  She did not do exactly what we wanted her to do but we want her to associated coming to us with happiness and rewards, not us being frustrated.

After this experience we knew we had more work to do. We tried her off leash again this past week in our fields.  She did much better.  I have learned that once she is off leash she is going to run like crazy. The difference this time was that when we called her she did a turn-face and came back to us, ready for her jackpot reward. 

We will continue to do more and more off leash training with Darla and we will allow her more and more off leash time.  Hoping to balance her training with her positive experiences. 

No matter if you are considering allowing you Greyhound off leash or not, training your Greyhound to a recall is one of the most important things you can do.  We have to remember that accidents do happen and the better prepared you are the better chance you have a good outcome. Good solid recalls take time.  It is important to start slow and practice often.  Sometimes regression is part of the learning process and should not be considered a failure but an opportunity for learning.  Training you Greyhound should be a fun positive process for you and your Greyhound. 

For more off-leash training tips check out Jennifer Bachelor’s Blog Never Say Never Greyhounds.  This is the premier blog for training Greyhounds!