[nagdu] coming on command - was no follow up

[Daniel]

Hi Eve and everyone,

 

I was having the same problems with having Cass coming to me when I called,
and to some extent still do. Although I never allow her to be off leash in
the common area behind my townhome, I will go out on a 25 foot leash and
practice recall with food treats. This is what my field rep advised me when
she visited me on my second month home after complaining about this problem.
I explained to her that I was having problems with recall both in and out of
the house. After returning home and keeping Cass on leash for about 5 weeks,
I let her off and when I called her she would not come to me. We would do
obedience training, sit, down, stay, and come at short distances and she
would do just fine, but when we were at ease she would not come to me when I
called. Talk about frustrating - to be upstairs and call and have no dog
come, or to be ten feet away and call her to come to me and she would just
ignore me. Things really came to a head when I went to a friend's house and
she was playing in the yard with his dogs. He called his dogs to come in and
Cass refused to come inside. He went to the back door and she would run from
my friend. I went to the door and she would ignore my command to come
inside. I finally was able to get her to come inside by filling her food
bowl, and then snagging her with the leash. That was the last time she was
off leash until the field rep came. We started working with high value food
rewards. This has seemed to work for the most part, but there are still some
occasional instances where she will stay just out of my reach when I call
her, and not come to me as if I am playing a game. Needless to say this
really ticks me off since I have never had a dog that has done this. I have
had quite a few dogs. She has a HUGE stubborn streak. I would never let her
be off leash outside unless the area was securely enclosed, and then only
with hesitation. I am just glad she is food motivated. The fact that we have
only been together for a bit over 4 months lets me think that in time she
will become a little more attached and this problem will solve itself.

I apologize for the long winded emails, but when I get going, I really get
going.

Daniel and Cass