More recall training

[RonOwens]

HI,

Similar to the previous post, my Golden Doodle (30 months old) will recall very well in our local dog park (and in our garden) when we are on our own, after 10 mins or so of frantic exploring. She will come back each time. However, if she finds a tennis ball, she will not come back until she gets tired and this can take 30 mins or I can distract her with a stick. But she values the ball more than anything when outdoors, so a stick doesn't always work. Indoors, she isn't possessive with the ball. The problem is compounded if there are other people in the park. I can walk away and she is quite happy to stay there. I've tried all sorts of treats as a reward, but the ball is always more highly valued.

 

Any advice ?

 

Regards

 

Ron Owens

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome back!

First of all, congrats in getting your goldendoodle to recall so well at the local dog park. This is not an easy task with all the distractions going on there! A dog coming back each time is a pleasure and something to not take for granted. 

I went back to see your previous posts and it looks like several months ago, another dog stole her ball at the dog park and it seems like this event had a major impact on her. When one event has such an everlasting effect it's known as "single event learning." This form of learning is very strong because it often involves some form of survival mechanism which keeps it strong and resistant to extinction. In her case, her ball must feel like the biggest treasure (even better than food!) and her fear of losing it puts a dent in her normal response to recalls. 

  It sounds like your dog has a bit of an obsession over balls, and along with that, some resource guarding issues. It is nice though to hear that this behavior hasn't generalized to indoors since you mention that indoors she isn't possessive at all.

Most likely, when your dog hears you calling her at the dog park when she has a ball in her mouth she is too concerned about protecting her treasure to feel safe to approach.  For sake of comparison, it must feel like us humans feeling wary of our surroundings when we are at a busy train station where pickpockets like to frolic and steal wallets or other precious belongings. Most likely in this precise circumstance we would want to avoid strangers as much as possible and keep distance.

 

 It could also be that, on top of that, she wants to enjoy some play time with her newly acquired toy and plays "keep away." Keep away is a game where dogs gain access to a toy (or some other resource), and move away hoping to be chased by other dogs or people. Even in this game at times there may be components of resource guarding. 

Here are some ideas that come to mind:

-First of all, I would avoid calling her and use other ways to get her to come to you. This because every time we call our dogs and our dogs don't come to us, we are depreciating our recall, making it less powerful. On top of this, if we call our dogs and then something unpleasant follows (we give a dog a bath, trim their nails or do anything that dogs dread) we risk "poisoning our cue." In this case, the unpleasant consequence may be your dog fearing losing access to her ball. Protect your recall using it only when you are pretty sure your dog will come to you and when you can reinforce it. 

 

-Since the ball is the highest value object in your dog's hierarchy of resources,  keeping another ball in your pocket and enticing her to chase you to have  it may be an option. There are dog tug toys with a ball at the end which can be quite attractive. Squeaky balls may be attractive too and so are balls that you can fill with a treat (Kong stuff a Ball). You can wiggle the ball around, make silly sounds, anything to invite her to get it. Keep this always handy and only give this toy for this precise circumstance (hopefully doesn't happen too often that a random ball is laying around).

 

However, the biggest flaw of this is the fact that one must be very careful if other dogs/people are nearby as your dog may get upset if other dogs approach you (or other dogs may get upset at your dog) and fights can and do occur in presence of toys at parks. So I wouldn't recommend this unless you really need to get your dog and there are no people/dogs around you. Which brings to the next option which is likely the safest (well the really safest would be avoiding dog parks altogether). 

 

-If possible, avoid dog parks where toys are allowed. Because toys may trigger conflict, some dog parks have stricter rules and one of them is absolutely no toys or food in plain view at dog parks. This would prevent her behavior from occurring in the first place and therefore prevent rehearsal of the problematic behavior. I feel this would be the best and safest option (after avoiding dog parks obviously) considering the risks associated with dogs who are prone to resource guarding (consider as well that when she goes grab a ball laying on the ground, another dog may be guarding it too).

 

I hope this helps,

Best,

Adrienne

[RonOwens]

Adrienne,

Thanks for the advice. When I say "dog park", it's really only a local park that is used a lot by dog owners, because there are gates at either end that can be closed and are not visible to the dogs, lessening the opportunity for them to run away. And because it is used by the public, they can leave things in the ground which dogs will find and regard as 

On this morning's walk (We live on the west coast of Ireland), I brought a tennis ball with me to get her attention. But the park was empty and she is the best behaved dog when it's just the two of us. So when it was time to go home, I showed here the ball and she came over to me, I put her on the lead and let her have the ball. She took it and promptly dropped it and walked on - absolutely no interest in it. You're right... the problem is compounded by other people and/or dogs.

The park is the only one you can safely let her off the lead and get some decent exercise, which she needs. And she always finds balls left behind by other dogs/people, so I think she feels she has hunted them herself. The increases the problem. She has 10 balls which she has found in this park and she keeps in her toy basket, and will take one out now and then to show you, but rarely plays with them

I'll try the method you recommend... 

 

Here is a pic of the lady in question with here favourite sheep..

[Adrienne]

Awww, what a cutie pie! Thanks for posting her picture!

Thanks for the clarification. It makes sense to find balls in a local park frequented by people as I stumble on tennis balls quite often when walking through the local parks. It can sure be frustrating to deal with this as we have little control on what people leave around.

I can see this behavior being triggered by the presence of other people/dogs. You can have a dog with no interest in eating a food until another dog comes along and the dog will go straight to grab it (before the other dog does!) while before he could care less. Or you may have dogs with dozens of toys and the dog will always want only the toy the other dogs has. Dogs can be this way. 

Another idea that comes to mind (albeit a bit unpractical!) would be to keep her on a long leash and scan the area for tennis balls before letting her run off leash (of course always making sure there are no dogs around that can trigger a fight). If she has 'a nose' for looking for tennis balls, she'll likely find them as you go on the treasure hunt and you can then take her to a place with no dogs/people around and see if she'll drop the ball if you can swap it with something else valuable. Since away from other people/dogs, you may be successful as you have described on this morning's walk. You can then maybe put the tennis ball in your pocket to reward her recall when you need to leave the park if there are no dogs/people around. close enough to trigger problems. Then, once you are sure there are no tennis balls, you can have her off leash. Of course, there may be chances somebody will leave a ball around while you are there, but at least you have lowered the chances a tad bit. 

 

 

 

 

[RonOwens]

Just an update... the lessons are slowly taking effect.. it took a good few weeks of constant repetition but all of a sudden, she is staring to obey me. She will now recall every time, initially when the park was empty but in the last 2-3 weeks, when other dogs/people are there as well. As for the tennis balls, good progress as well. She found one this morning, as she came back with it in her mouth. She would never do this before. I even managed to get her to drop is a few times in order to get a treat. A neighbor's dog then arrived and became possessive again, but that's for another day. 

Here's a short video Penny being a very good girl !!!

https://youtu.be/dv1XYyb_olQ

Thanks for all you advice... 

Ron

[Adrienne]

Hello, 

Thanks for taking the time for posting an update. It's very nice to hear that your Penny is improving so much in her recall training and that she is also coming back with the ball in her mouth and being able to drop it. That's great progress!

Regrettably, I was unable to watch the video as it looks like it's set to private. I think it must be listed as unlisted (as long as you provide the link) or public in order for You Tube to show it public. In any case, I appreciate the great news! 

Happy training and keep up the great work!

Best,

Adrienne

 

 

[RonOwens]

Oops.. forgot to make it public!

https://youtu.be/dv1XYyb_olQ

 

[Adrienne]

Lovely! That's the enthusiastic recalls I love to see.

Thanks for sharing!

[JMFS]

Ireland?!  I may be asking you questions in the future (if you don't mind, of course).  😄  What a happy girl she is, that's fantastic recall from such a great distance!

[RonOwens]

Yes, Ireland.  No problem answering any questions!