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Furrevah Border Collies

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10.01.2022 https://www.facebook.com/TheHealingVet/videos/1458921524462293/

10.01.2022 "Just as no two blades of grass, nor drops of dew are exactly alike, so every Collie has a distinct character and temperament of it's own..and must be studied and treated accordingly" -Adam Telfer

03.01.2022 WHY WON'T YOUR DOG COME BACK WHEN YOU CALL THEM? As promised, our expert feature on recall training and problems in Border collies: RECALL TRAINING & PROBLEMS I...N BORDER COLLIES Recall is one of those actions, or responses, in dogs that so many owners take for granted. I.e. they see it as just a simple matter of 'when I call a dog it should come to me'. When my answer to that would be, why? Or, what have you done to make returning to you the most rewarding thing any dog can do, in any situation? For as soon as you imagine that a dog should return promptly to you, on command, out of some kind of deeper 'respect' for you as a person - as opposed to far better training on your part - that's where it usually all starts to go wrong. Everything becomes a more personal battle between you and your dog, instead of a reflection of what you might be doing better to make him or her more responsive to you. When recall fails, It's also always easier to blame faults in our dog's intrinsic character or behaviour (e.g. they're naturally more stubborn/wilful etc. ) than the quality of our own training. EARLY MISTAKES In my experience, the two commonest mistakes owners will make with recall training are not laying down the foundations for good future recalls in their dogs early enough - of which more in a moment - and letting a dog off a lead before their recall training is complete. You always train excellent recall responses into dogs first, then let them off the lead. Because anything else has a greater capacity for disaster, and dogs having greater opportunity to learn, instead, the extent to which they can more persistently evade your control once off the lead. Which then becomes the main lesson they take into the future. EARLY BEGINNINGS Recall training should begin with puppies from the moment you get them. And before beginning it, you must have the clearest idea in your head about what you wish to achieve. First, you want a dog who more constantly keeps their focus on you - which will always make them easier to recall to you in any situation - and second you want a dog who finds returning to you, on command, a consistently rewarding experience. If you get both these elements right, and keep working on them daily, you have the perfect foundations for a dog with excellent recalls later. My earliest recall training just involves walking around with pockets full of treats and waiting for a puppy to focus on me and follow me, of their own accord, to get one. Every time they do this I put distinct words to what they are doing - like their name and the word 'come!' in a specific voice tone - then praise and reward them for it. These words/specific voice tone then becomes their set recall cue or command later. It is very important to understand that the only thing you want to perpetually reinforce in your dog, in early recall training, is more constant focus on you, and the act of coming to you of their own accord. And the more consistently you name, praise and heavily reward such responses in your young dog, the more ingrained or automatic they should become. You will also use your same special recall sound or cue just before you give your dog their meal, or a toy or treat, or anything they find intensely pleasant, ever further motivating your dog to come quickly to you when they hear it. NEXT STEP Next go out in the garden with your dog on a long training line, and try recalling them to you in the same way several times for toys or treats; praising and heavily rewarding them for any speedier responses to you on command. If they won't come quickly try running away from them more excitedly, and getting them on the line to follow you, like it is all one big game. Stick at around 5 to 6 good recall responses then leave it until the next training session. You never want your dog to discover there is any alternative, or better, course of action than returning to you when called. Nor do you want them to feel more persecuted by too many recalls one after another. Always finish a good recall session with much praise for your dog for returning quickly to you, and a lovely treat, toy and game. Only from this point can you then try testing your recall training when you go out. If your dog still shows consistently good recalls when out, and off their training line, not only is this a credit to your training but your dog can have ever more freedom out on walks. If your dog's recalls rapidly deteriorate once off the line, he or she must go back on the line again to stop them further worsening, and to more gradually also improve them again with further training. It is also vital to teach dogs how to maintain good recalls, even in the face of ever increasing surrounding distractions, like other dogs or people, or things they might otherwise want to fixate on and chase. WHY RECALL FAILS Commonest reasons why recall responses fail in Border collies is first, because all the detailed early groundwork of recall training - as I previously outlined - has not been adequately completed, to the point where more constantly watching you and coming to you when called become more automatic, or conditioned, behaviours in your dog, even before you leave the home environment. The next reason is because you have greater trouble, in general, holding your dog's focus and concentration, as soon as you go out, which again usually stems back to earlier training and better knowing how to keep any collie's focus more constantly on you from day one. Another classic reason recall fails, as earlier mentioned, is down to owners letting dogs off leads before they have got good recalls, then yelling at them to come back while they ignore you, because they are distracted by something else. As dogs quickly associate what they are doing with what they are hearing, all this does is teach your dog to ignore you to the sound of their name being called. If a dog will not respond to a recall command the first or second time it is used, that command now no longer has any effectiveness or value, and you may need to begin your recall training again with a different sound or command. Getting cross or annoyed with dogs who take their time to come back to you also greatly deters them from coming back any quicker to you another time. Dogs also quickly get wise to owners grabbing them more suddenly by the collar, to put a lead on and go home, and get very good at dodging these attempts to catch them another time. But ultimately you have created this problem via allowing your dog to associate recalls - or returning responses to you - with more negative, rather than positive, experiences. I hope this feature has made people aware of how much of a 'science' good recall training in dogs can be, how early on you must start the basics of it with dogs and, as well as consistently rewarding good recall responses in dogs throughout their lives, how easy it is to corrupt the same responses by our own less insightful actions or behaviours. Meanwhile far more on all aspects of collie focus, recall and control training appears in the THIRD book in my BORDER COLLIES: A BREED APART trilogy: ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS AND LEARNING: https://performancedog.co.uk//border-collies-a-breed-apar/ All text Carol Price 2021