After last week’s play date, we’ve been earnestly working on recall. I’ve upped Zeke’s treats to a new dehydrated lamb, which he can’t do enough for. Not only will he give me eye contact when we cross the road, or walk past people, we can also comfortably walk along the opposite side of the road to another dog and Zeke still has eyes on me. Which is great. I don’t want to spoil his enthusiasm for life or socialising with other dogs, but as he gets stronger, I had visions of me bumping along the ground at the end of the lead. Especially while he is full of raging hormones.
Zeke has also improved recall with increasing distractions, mostly me calling him when he finds a very interesting smell, when a group of people get off the bus, or a scooter passes by. He is on his long lead so I’m keeping control, but these are the distractions we need to introduce and increase his exposure too. Recall is such an important safety tool.
So, there we go, the power of a highly valued (to Zeke) treat and some repetition. Still lots of practicing in different environments to do, and then the true test will be in the paw paddock with Cooper.
Until next time
Jen
