Has anyone one any hints or tips on getting your doodle to come back to you once they have spotted another dog to play with? I can usually get Arthur to return very easily when no other dogs about, either by calling him or a quick blast on the whistle. However as soon as he spots another dog he goes completely deaf and dashes off. obviously i dont mind him having a little play with other dogs but when its time to move on I end up having to drag his away!!! I've tried treats but even those don't get his attention!!

I think it often comes down to how interesting is walking with you, compared to playing with other dogs . It's hard to compete with other dogs, but if you have a tug toy or similar in your pocket that you can wave about and get him all excited about, that helps (I have "Wabbit" which is a rabbit skin toy). Also playing games on the walk every now and then so that it is fun being with you. I'm not saying you do this, but you do see a lot of people walking along on their mobiles ignoring the dog, and those dogs are obviously going to be looking for something to do that is fun!

I have a cue word (mine is Yay!) that indicates that a treat is on it's way, so if I am calling Beam from another dog, and he looks in my direction I yell "Yay!" and he knows that if he head in my direction he will get a treat.

It's a tough one - and it gets easier as they get older.

First I have no advice! But I do sympathise. I have exactly the same problem. She has chased after her little friend out of the park and up the road and even tried to get into the boot of someone's car with their dog I spend alot of time apologising! I have tried all treats ( I even made liver ones-no go) and jumped around to make myself look more fun The only thing that has worked on rare ocasions, is to walk in the opposite direction. This partially works (sometimes ) but even though she chases after me she won't come close enough to let me put her on lead- keeping her options open Even when we're playing ball, her favourite, she will spit the ball out (ball, what ball?) and run after the other dog . I hope someone has some good advice. x

Hi
We to have a problem but our problem is not other dogs but "flappys", sorry birds, the minute Alfie spots a large bird on the ground then he is off and no amount of shouting will stop him until the bird is above ground and off, fortunately we only let him off in fields where he is safe, apart from that not to many recall problems especially if I shout sausage roll, oh what fun, all in a doodles day.
Best wishes everybody
Jackie
X

Will watch this post with interest! Helen & Kizzy, Phoebe and I can ditto your comments to the word!
Phoebe just loves other dogs and on seeing one if she's off her lead shes gone and switches on her "deaf ears"! We've tried all treats including favourite liver bits, balls, turning round and walking away but nope she's only interested in her current doggy pal!
Jo & Phoebe

Really pleased it's not just me -sorry Jo it's lovely that they're so friendly but really embarrassing ( even had another owner try to catch her by offering her her own dogs treats- Kizzy grabbed them and ran ) Hoping someone has a genius idea on this one x

i thought Riley was just being a little so and so, his recall any other time is pretty good but see another dog and boom,he's like superdog,can't see him for dust. he has also followed other dogs out of the park but what concerns me the most is the times when he spots another dog with his superduper doggy eyes (they are like a spot in the distance) and off he hares after them,i have no idea if a)the other dog is friendly or not b)if the other dog owner really appreciates a nutty doodle approaching them at 100 miles an hour with no brakes!! add to the fact that Riley really doesnt differentiate between other dogs and people, they are all fair game and he will jump(grr how i hate that ) at whoever he reaches first. i spoke to his trainer and they wern't very helpful tbh, just said work on his recall explained his recall is absolutely fine until he decides other dogs/people are more interesting than me. i have also tried liver cake/squeeky toy/whistle/running the other way,all the usual, but nothing has worked(so far). so i too will be following this thread with interest.

sue aimee & riley

The "my doodle (boomerang) won't come back" brigade is growing I know what you mean tho' my most scary moment was when Kizzy spotted two beagles (on lead) outside the park and she rushed off out of the park and across a road thank goodness no cars were coming - it is a worry

Hi
Sandys recall has been pretty good, but being young, the hardest thing for her to deal with is distractions. Things like other dogs, birds, plastic bags flying across the field make it harder to get her back.

I have an emergency whistle that I use when all else fails. She knows that whistle means cheese, her favorite treat, used only when she recalls to the whistle. This gets her back 99% of the time. But it took time and training to get there. I use the long line a lot when training Sandy. That way you still have control, but they feel less restricted and act more naturally then on a lead. It's much easier to teach control commands, if you actually have control

Sometimes you don't need them to come back, just to wait until you are sure the other dog is safe or until you catch up.

I have started introducing the 'wait' command to Sandy. I started with the normal sit wait. Then made it harder by getting her to wait while I threw a ball, before releasing her with the word fetch. Once she was doing that well I started using the command while she was ahead of me, using pressure on the long line so she associated the word with stopping, as well as staying put. I am now training her to wait in the middle of fetching the ball, I have succeeded in slowing her down, but have not stopped her yet without the long line, but we'll get there eventually

As for getting him to leave with you when he is playing, call him, then walk away confidently, and keep walking. If he thinks you are hanging around for him, or you keep hesitating/turning round, he is not going to follow you. When there is some distance between you, use the whistle. I find the whistle works better the further away they are. He will eventually follow you as soon as you leave, but it will take time and consistency. If you are using a long line, don't be tempted to pull him to you, call him, then walk away so he learns to follow.

I hope my waffling makes sense and some of it proves useful.

Another option is prevention - this is my preferred approach with Beamish. If I spot a dog, I call him to me and approach with him on his lead. My dogs are remarkably unobservant and I usually spot dogs way before they do. Once we have meeted and greeted in a more or less controlled manner, then he can play if appropriate, and I am on the spot to get him back - the harness with a handle comes in handy if all else fails!

Hi there,
Jasper is nearly 8months old and is pretty good on recall, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that this will deteriorate very soon.
Anyway, I've noticed he's better if I don't shout after him a lot, and because we walk him in woods a lot he can't necessarily see us all the time. And there are so many dogs that there is nearly always one round the next corner anyway. However, I do have a serious trick up my sleeve! The fake hello! To be used in a dire emergency only cos they cotton on quick. Turn away and behave as if you're meeting your absolute closest friend that you haven't seen for ages. Be really loud and excited, the nosey so and so will be charging at you in a shot. It is really funny, and feels a bit mean too. I've used it a couple of times so far with 100 pc results.
Jo and Jasper

We had problems for a while so we started training Jessie using a dog whistle for recall.

It took a while for us to have confidence in this method.

If she runs off with another dog I have got used to letting her play for a while and when she starts to look a bit tired I blow the whistle (i have no chance if she is not ready to come back)

She quite often runs back for a big bit if sausage. If she doesn't come straight back I know now that she has heard me and she knows where to come back to.

Saying that, she rarely goes out of my sight and if she realises she can't see me I blow the whistle and she runs back.

They don't like to be left out of anything do they!!

Alfie has started to do this also!!

He used to be pretty good at coming when I called him or squeaked his ball, but now he is getting older (7 months) and gaining in confidence, if he sees another dog nearby he's off on a mission!!

Yesterday he ran over to a springer spaniel and decided he would join him and his family on their walk instead!! So there's me calling and squeaking even rattling for good measure and he completely ignored me!! The funny thing was I attracted a lovely black labrador who came over and sat beautifully at my feet! I was tempted to slip my lead on him and go home and tell the kids we'd been to the groomers on the way home!!

Maybe it's just one of those things that they have to grown out of. I remember my retriever having selective deafness when he was younger, then as he matured he was great and hardly even needed to be on his lead at all.

Will be watching and looking for tips!!!!

This has been my one and only bug bear with Fozzy, I had stopped letting him off lead when I took him out alone as the minute he spotted another dog, he went deaf, I went loud and we both ended up tearing across the field with me shouting like a fishwife and him, tail wagging launching himself at someone or their dog, and then being scared of the other dog and racing round like a loon, with me saying sorry over and over and he is only a puppy! (and they look at you and think yeah 38kg of dog is a pup!!)

BUT about 3 weeks ago we discovered his love for sausages, not something we had given him before, so we have a food bag with sausages in and when we are on the field, we call him when no dogs are about and give him a piece and show him that coming back does not mean being put back on lead and fun stopping and I now only shout Come once and stop screaming his name, so when he sees another dog I shout come, give him his sausage and hold him until I have asked the person if it's ok to let him go! So then he gets to play with other dogs and he got a sausage, this ow working 95% of the time and has made me much more confident about letting him off lead, when I am alone!

He never gets sausage at any other time either, it's just for recall

J x