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Hi all, new around here and looking for some input on how to train my little gal. Shadow is 14 weeks old, and overall a great pup! She is extremely well behaved in many aspects: doesn't chase children or nip them, no more potty accidents, and never complains about her kennel (stays in it all night). I live in an apartment, but do my part to make sure Shadow gets the attention and exercise she needs. She goes to doggy daycare at someones house on weekdays, and I take her out for good walks or playing fetch. Shadow has done very well with the basic training that I've done inside (sit, ground, up, stay, come). Outside is another story... Shadow gets so excited when we go for a walk that she will choke herself the entire way to the park where she 'knows' she's going to play fetch. A trainer I know is highly suggesting using the pincher/prong collar. He uses it for most of his training and is quite successful. Shadow has used it 2 times, her last time she did extremely well and was loose leash the entire walk. Not sure I want to use this, but its currently an option with how stubborn she is. The PetSafe Gentle Leader (head halter) did not work at all with her; she would just pull out of it no matter how painful it was for her to slip it off her nose. She did okay yesterday with a strap harness hooked in front, but today she pulled quite a bit on it. She can be very good when coming back from the park playing fetch and loose leashed the entire way, but I can't seem to contain this eagerness to go play fetch when we start our walk. She has come to love chasing her ball, but isn't too keen on bringing it back. She isn't possessive of it at all though. Children can even throw for her without any problems. The problem is she is unwilling to bring it back, or come to me when called. I can go over there and she'll leave the ball (she'll make sure there's distance between us), she'll sit and wait for it to be thrown again as told. If she does 'bring it back' it won't be close enough to where I can pet her. If I do try to pet her and tell her good job or reward her she jumps back out of my reach. Side note, since day one when I got her she did this whole jump backwards thing from me when I approached her (now it's only off leash playing fetch). Because of this I got a long leash to try and help. This morning I tried throwing it for her, letting her get it, take her time to chew on it, then I'd call her back. She didn't come back a single time. I had to drag her back through the grass with her harness. I would even give her treats when she got to me, but at a certain point she wouldn't even take them anymore (so stubborn!). We had to leave the park early (only got ~15-20 mins in) and she was complaining as we left that she didn't get to 'work' enough! Any suggestions on how to be able to correct this leash behavior, and help her with her recall would be greatly appreciated!!

Evanger's Hunk of Beef products have been recalled due to contamination with Pentobarbitol, a drug that's used to euthanize pets.. Beef being voluntarily recalled were distributed to retail locations and sold online in the following States: Washington, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and were manufactured the week of June 6 – June 13, 2016. (http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm539900.htm) 5 dogs have gotten sick and one of them has died. (http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2017/02/sedative-in-dog-food-evangers-issues-recall-after-dog-dies/#.WJXZM39d6TI)

Hi all, I'm seeking advice and training tips on recall for my rescue dog, 3-5 y.o. female, Winnie, and I've had her for 7 months. Feeling guilt and desperation because she has no recall outdoors. Have used several trainers without success to get a better grip on this. This is my 3d rescue dog and second border collie (that one was raised from puppyhood). All learned recall really quickly and were reliable off leash. I have no experience of a dog that just won't return. I live in a suburb with a fair amount of street traffic. We've practiced recall constantly both inside, inside with distraction, outdoors with distraction. She is quite good when practicing outdoors on a long line, or even offleash within a half block of my house even with distractions. Winnie is extremely affectionate and wants to be with me INDOORS, follows me around the house, etc. Outdoors she always wants to meet passers by, will go up on leash and sit and wait to be petted. The rest of the time is a nightmare. I have to be hypervigilant whenever I go in or outdoors for chores and don't completely close the storm door from forgetfulness or just having my brain on overload from trying to train this dog for the last 7 months. Recently, she seemed to be able to "stay" when I asked her to as I was unloading multiple groceries or whatever. However, unpredictably, she will seemingly exploit the smallest gap, push the door open and then run away as much as 2 miles. Once she's escaped, I run out and see her and call, she has no response at all -- doesn't turn towards me, much less return even after several hours of her escape adventure. I'll drive around and recruit neighbors trying to find her but she doesn't stay on our usual walking routes. After 7 months, she doesn't seem to recognize that my house is her source of companionship, food and shelter. Outdoors and off leash, she has no instinctive desire to be with me or come back under any circumstances beyond those 25' feet from my front door (dogparks, fenced acreage of a friend where we practice sometimes.) Only by the kindness of neighbors and strangers has she survived without being hit by a car or just being lost forever. I am at a loss, really. I know this will happen again, I live alone and spend several more hours every day taking care of my other dog, who is slowly fading due to brain tumor. Sometimes my brain is too fried to be hypervigilant 24/7. There is no one else to act as a fail safe if I am forgetful. Maybe it would be better for her to be given up to rescue again and live somewhere rural with fenced acreage. I feel like it may be just a matter of time before she is killed in traffic. I just don't know what to do. Thanks for any and all suggestion, especially on trainers you might know of in my area (DC region/Md suburbs).

It's been a while since my last post up here. My BC pup is 1 year-old is doing very well is almost every regard. Smart, sweet, fun, great with people, dogs and no bad habits. Outside of the one issue, her recall, she seems like the perfect pup. I could gush about how much I love the dog, but when it comes time to call her when I need her, she manages to drive me insane. I've read all the posts about recall and read the books and general theory. No punishment or negativity on recall, no repeating yourself. I've been working on recall since she was 8-weeks old and have never made any headway. I admit to my shortcomings (over-using the word "come" or not properly reinforcing the recalls) but she seems to have the whole things figured out. When we are out walking, she will come back to me without hesitation, but when we are at the house, she will stand out in the driveway staring at me and will not budge when I say "come". Big surprise, she's figured out that play is done and doesn't want it to end. I have started her on sheep with a few local trainers and it's the same thing. She is doing brilliantly in almost every single way except for the recall (calling her off). She will completely blow me off when I saw "That'll do" and dash in at the sheep (she never dives in after then except when I say "that'll do". So, I'm looking for solutions and I'm trying to wade through the confusion of all the different training perspectives. The sheepdog handlers have a much stricter perspective than the trainers I've talked to. I'm afraid that somehow the dog doesn't actually respect me. The only advances she has made in sheep classes where when the trainer got in the ring and really got after her about any bad behavior. Do I need to be harsher with her? That goes against everything I believe in with training. Is it just a matter of going back to square one and trying again, because if so that sounds daunting since she has all the tricks figured out (treats, play, enthusiastic reinforcement). The other small concern is the ball. I admit she is a ball dog because we play everyday and it's her most reliable exercise form. I am worried that it also is breeding behavior that I don't want. Could ball obsession be playing an issue? I'm eager to hear your perspectives. Thank you!

Hi everyone! Ok, my 9 mo. old is in full teenage swing now. Very agile, smart and excitable. Her recall is positively terrible. I take full responsibility for this since I just overused the "come" command (and any notion that she needs to return to me) without reinforcing it. As it stands, she will certainly come back to me...when she feels that its in her best interests, but when it isn't she'll positively ignore me. Not good! While she is a wonderful pup otherwise, I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be able to call her off if she was really excited. So, I need to go back to square one, determine a new recall command and get her properly trained up. I work SO SO hard not to keep blabbing my mouth and repeating "come! come!" but it's like a reflex. She's 9 months old, very well behaved otherwise and is trained on the clicker. I would like to stay with the clicker if possible. Can you detail your approach to recall in this case given she's already developed a sense that she can ignore the command? How do you begin? How do you enforce the command if she ignores? Thanks so much! At this point, most of the rest of her training seems so unimportant compared to this, so it's my top priority right now.

I wanted to open up this post mainly in hopes of hearing others' stories of their first off-leash walk with their pups. At what age did you do it? What was your experience? What did you wish you did differently, or what were you happy you had done in advance? I pose the question because I have virtually no idea how she will respond to this. She's 5 mo. old now and show's a lot of inclination toward me, but then also shows dazzling moments of indifference. One particular thing she shows is amazing speed and often she wants to run right to the end of her leash with the distance in her sights. I am planning to start taking her to the park on a 30' lead and seeing how she reacts. I am working constantly on recall, but of all her tricks she loves to "play dumb" on this one. I am all ears!