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bkirsch

JH
Posts:36

10/16/2010 6:13 PM
You are all sooo good and have helped us so much - Thank you!! 15 month old female - Josie. In familiar areas - open field, yard, etc. - Josie stays in a reasonable range off leash and comes back to me immediately. When we go to a new area - usually wooded - she will bolt off leash and out of sight. She has always come back (100%) but I am not comfortable with the amount of time it takes (5-10 min.) and I get worried and end up calling and wondering if she will come back. How would you recommend that I proceed with training? Many thanks again - Bill

Bill Elm Grove, WI

Almost Heaven GSP User is Offline

Springfield, WV

MH
Posts:732

10/18/2010 5:34 PM
Bill, Buy yourself a good Swiss bell or North Country bell from LCS and see if you have a problem 1st. The bell will allow you to know EXACTLY where she actually is and it may be much closer than you realize. It will also allow you, by the tone and sound, to know if she is just out of sight, running a deer, or maybe just chasing a Squirrel. She may not be far from you and just because you can't see her and "don't know where she is", she may be closer than you realize and knows exactly where you are. Lots of times, many folks get uncomfortable and nervous about their dog just because they can't see them, when in all reality the dog may be very close. Try that 1st and then report back ;-)

Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail. Bruce Shaffer Almost Heaven GSP's

bkirsch

JH
Posts:36

10/19/2010 7:32 PM
I will give the bell a try. What do you think about the e-collar? Bill

Bill Elm Grove, WI

TessaGA

Georgia

MH
Posts:2387

10/20/2010 1:06 PM
My advice is first and foremost to put that dog back on a check cord and keep working on the recall - remember, you call once, the dog needs to come immediately, if not, reel it in with the check cord. You can get check cords that are 50 ft long that don't tangle in the brush. E-collar is GREAT to reinforce the recall, but only if the dog has a solid recall first. I didn't use it to teach the recall command, nor would I ever use it to get a dog back when she's out of sight (as a matter of fact, in the field it's not a good idea to recall and apply the collar if you don't know what the dog is doing...could be on point...you do not want to correct that!) Also, you must learn how to use the collar correctly though, timing is most crucial here. I don't know how familiar you are with that kind of equipment, or how comfortable, you may look into a pro near you that can help with it. Tessa's recall is very good. I wouldn't say 100% but then again I don't trust any dog's to be 100%. The e-collar was a great help in increasing the reliability. In the end, I was able to call her off a deer and a rabbit without even applying the collar. That all said, I second what Bruce wrote, a bell is a great help. We lost Tessa once during a test ... yeah not good ... and the next day she was sporting a bell. It may sound annoying at first but after a while you hear it without hearing it. You subconsciously tune into that sound and as Bruce said you kinda know where your dog is and what he's doing. Just this past weekend we were out training and 5 minutes into it Tessa lost her bell. It wasn't until then that I realized how much I had learned to rely on it. It's not that I don't keep an eye on my dog but the cover is so thick and high there, and she blends in, that a bell is a great help. I will buy another one this week.

To live without dogs would mean accepting a form of blindness. [Thomas McGuane]

TessaGA

Georgia

MH
Posts:2387

10/20/2010 1:09 PM
You might also try calling her back before she commits to leaving you. Meaning, keep an eye on her in the woods and when she reaches a point where you can still see her but you know she's about to be gone, call her in.

To live without dogs would mean accepting a form of blindness. [Thomas McGuane]

Texas Belle User is Offline

Austin, TX

MH
Posts:7929

10/20/2010 3:06 PM
Ditto what has been posted already. I would add you might want to try a bright orange collar and/or vest too. I find that I can see those even when I can't pick out the dog. My dogs have been trained first on the recall on leash and progressed to check cords and eventually off leash. Depends on the dog as to how soon and how far you progress with the recall. With my oldest girl and my boy I had 100% recalls by the time they were 8 months. With my girl, Halo, she was 2 before I could let her off leash and know that I could get her back. In all cases the last step in training was the ecollar. As Tessa said timing and knowing what you are doing is important, but it was the last piece that let my dogs know that even off the leash I could reach out and touch them. That said, when I trained I made sure I could see them when I used the ecollar so that I did not do more training harm than good. Now I sometimes still put the ecollars on them, but most of the time they go without. I always practice recalls and test them constantly and so far so good. The only time I had a scare was hiking not too far from my home. The hike was a valley with a creek that climbed to the bluff. The valley continued on after the trail turned. What I didn't know was Ringo and Halo had continued down the valley as I climbed to the bluff area. I then called them and they followed my voice which pulled them deeper into the valley as I walked above on the bluff. If I hadn't known the landscape and figured out what had happened and back tracked no telling how lost them would have gotten. Instead I back tracked to the last place I saw them and called again. They again followed my voice and pretty much knocked me over when they got to me. They had obviously been trying to respond to my recall, but terrain had gotten in the way. So, the moral of the story is even with a reliable recall, your dog can get lost and you can make it worse. So, be sure you know the terrain as well. Something else to consider is the only sure way to know where your dog is is a GPS tracking system. If you are really worried and want to know where your dog is all the time, get one and use it. They work great and they do give you peace of mind. I personally don't own one, but have considered getting one several times. Right now I just use the bright collars and the bells and that has worked pretty good for me.

Bev Quarles, the Pointer Sisters (Belle and Halo), the Outlaw GSP (Johnny Ringo) and the little Princess (Fauna) Yellow Rose GSPs "A dog has the soul of a philosopher." - Plato

bkirsch

JH
Posts:36

10/20/2010 6:12 PM
Wonderful advice. I will try exactly what you recommend. Many thanks!!!!!!! Bill

Bill Elm Grove, WI

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