# Need training tips for come when called...please



## KBouma (Apr 17, 2013)

Good Morning everyone,
We have a lovely little guy that gets better each day with his biting and jumping but we want to get him to be able to run, and I mean RUN! We have a large backyard and he has his track he takes, we also take him on long daily walks. BUT when we have other dogs over and he gets to RUN he is such a pleasure to be around that night (all snuggles). People keep telling us to let him run off lease but I'm afraid he wont come back. SO here I am, asking all of you folks. How do we go about starting this process? We have a dog park near by that we're going to start going to but I want to be able to take him in the forest preserve, back trails, etc. without fearing that I'll never find him again. If we get him to sit he'll wait till we release him but if he is just being crazy he's sort of out of our hands. I'm thinking about going and getting one of those long 20 foot leashes to test him out and see how he does, but I didn't know if there was another method that worked for everyone.

Thanks for your help!


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

There is a fairly new thread entitled "exercise" started by Floyd:

http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,9861.msg74350/topicseen.html#new

A nice recall training exercise is described by flxstr. Check that out. Also, you are right, a long check cord would be a good investment for you. 

There is a lot of information about recall on the forums. Type "recall" into the search box on the right-hand side of your screen, just above the ads. 

I understand your fear. I got my boy Willie out of the dog pound after someone else had lost him.


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

How old is he?

I too hesitated taking Watson off leash when he was a puppy, since growing up I had a male lab who would take off any chance he got. After his second round of shots, around 11 weeks, I took Watson to a nearby park and decided to just let him loose. I walked around and several times I would spin around looking for him, only to look down and find him stuck to my shoe!! He would venture about 10 feet away from me and then come flying back on his own.

He already knew some basics at that age: come, sit, stay. We started practicing recall right away, and he would come flying to us when we called him (still does most times). Use a high value yummy treat for recall.
You can call him to come, have him sit, hold onto his collar and treat him. Release him to go play again so he doesn't associate coming to you with being leashed and taken home. Repeat. I also leash and unleash Watson several times during off-leash time so that it doesn't always mean the end of running time to him. 

Engage him when he's off leash, either with a ball, a game, or some form of "work" (looking for birds etc). 
I also used to hide behind trees, or walk away from him when he wasn't paying attention to me. It taught him that he has to keep an eye on me, otherwise he gets left behind. Also, never chase him, too much fun for them and you'll likely only exhaust yourself!

Luckily, Vizslas love to be with their people, so you have that going for you!


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