I want to be real and tell you exactly the reality of things as there is no point me telling you he is amazing and I’m doing great as that won’t help you!
I have been feeling more confident lately that he has finally got used to the routine, he sticks around more and doesn’t go off doing his own things. He is more focused and more calm in general and he seems to be looking for more a bit more than before, so I go to let him out of the kennel he goes for a nap after breakfast and our routine is:
– open the door, he comes out, turns around, I clip long line, than I let Tay out and they run to the entrance of the paddocks ready to go in.
The routine for some reason failed. He run out of the barn, no longline on and panicked and started shouting his name which he doesn’t listen to.
Than my training head came back, I stopped chasing and calling and I run off back the way I came and he followed me. I shut the gate of the yard behind and clipped the long line on.
I than had to remind myself he is only 4 months and I shouldn’t really try to call him when I have a good chance it won’t work, instead I should follow my own advice and TRAIN HIS RECALL!
What is the difference between training and actually testing or just using a behaviour when you need it to work?
Training means you set up your environment and your training session to make sure your dog is successful so you can reward the behaviour you want to your dog to learn and to have value for.
When you go out and test your recall, you add distraction and challenges in your environment and actually ask your dog to perform the behaviour and making that decision to listen to you and do what you have asked.
The difference in the two is huge and it’s making sure you have done enough of the first one so that one day the second one will work that makes it possible for your dog to be off lead and for you to know they will come back when asked!
I would love to help you and show you what I’m doing with Kite right now!
I have two offers for you!
Freedom Starts Now, my self learning online recall training course! You have all the exercises and the information you need plus a facebook group where you can ask all questions you want! You take your time, ask and video when you want.
Want to know more? CLICK HERE!
The second option, that could be useful to you especially if recall is not your only problem you need to work on is to join my Collie Club, my online Academy!
On the Collie Club we are going to work through the recall module together and you will get the chance to see how I train my puppy as I will do the same homework you will be doing and I will share my thoughts, experiences and tricks of the trade from the special point of view of training my own puppy RIGHT NOW!
Want to learn more about the Collie Club? CLICK HERE
Let’s train together!
Martina
