[nagdu] coming on command - was no follow up

[Tracy Carcione]

My first dog Glade thought running away and not coming were a great game.  A 
couple times, she accidently got loose, and I had a heck of a time catching 
her again.  She would always come when she saw her harness, though, so I'd 
try to get close enough to her to show it to her, and the game would be 
over.

I quote the Irish Rovers, sort of:
Those labradors were hiding, playing silly games.

>From the Unicorn song, explaining why there aren't any more around.
Tracy



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Daniel" <daniel.sweeney1 at comcast.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 3:07 PM
Subject: [nagdu] coming on command - was no follow up


> 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
>
>
>
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