# 9 month old ignoring recall



## Andy G (Aug 2, 2016)

Hi all. Lurked here for 9 months, some excellent advice.

I have a 9 month old male Chilli who has decided to forget to come back when I call him!

Until now he has been super on the recall. A proper Velcro dog who'd sprint back to me if I called him or started to run away from him. He'd come right to me , I'd touch his collar and give him a treat and praise him. Something changed overnight. Other dogs are much more interesting now and he will run 200 metres to go and play with one - whatever I do he completely ignores me. Have tried running away, hiding, clapping hands etc. He only plays with the other dog, no aggression, but it's getting out of hand as we've almost lost him twice recently. I'm currently on holiday at a beach location. He loves the sea but on a busy beach he prefers other dogs and seagulls! Again he completely ignores me.

I'm going to reinforce the recall in the garden, house etc but wondered if others have experienced this? Is it time to introduce the whistle? Any other techniques as I'm getting worried as the distances he's prepared to bolt to are getting longer.

On a secondary note the nasty snarl / shark bite has returned on occasions when I wish to take something off him or move him. A nasty gash to the finger last week - the worst to date. Oh, and pulling on the lead!

Is this adolescence, typical trying it on behaviour of a 9 month old?

To date he has been brilliant in terms of crate, sleeping, car travel, with my two children, eating etc.

Many thanks

andy


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## Anida (Jun 10, 2016)

This is probably normal "teenage" behavior where your pup is deciding to push and test you. My only advice to offer is be consistent and maybe practice his recall on a long line/leash while he's going through this phase.


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## hecallsmebama (Mar 31, 2016)

Amos is almost 8 months old and he has begun to eat blankets out of nowhere. He also will just go grab something--a sock, a barbie, whatever--that he knows is off limits and just walk around with it nonchalantly in his mouth. He doesn't eat or destroy those items. He doesn't dart off with them. It's like he wants to get caught with them. I feel like it's either early "teenage" behavior or a cry for attention. 

We recently had a bunch of family in town staying with us, so he had his pick of playmates all day for a week and a half. He's also gotten less trust worthy on the recall thing when we are outside. It seems to line up with what you are talking about. 

I also wonder if his exercise needs aren't increasing as he's growing and that might be a part of the destruction/attention-seeking/poor recall. My girls start school end of this week, so getting him out and about more will be easier then. Hoping that might help.


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## Pupmum99 (Jan 4, 2022)

Having the exact same problem with response to commands/cues my 9 month old male. They get braver in their environment and also start to “wander” more especially if there are potential mates or interesting smells around. It’s really tough and easy to beat yourself up about your own training at times - glad I’m not the only one going through this naughty puppy phase!


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