dog wont come to call

[prettyreckless]

morning..

ok iv just aquired a new dog, hes a male jack russel 13 months od and was castrated last august ...

i got him as a freind to my current dog who is an angel..

now i have no experience at training an older dog, and this little bugger, doesnt even know his own name..

he managed to break of the lead this morning and it took me nearly 30 mins to catch him again

now i know that wont happen over night, what i want to do is teach him to come to me at home form his name etc..

any idear how... its seems that his last owner didnt do any training with him whats so ever..

help lol

[gillwales]

try clicker training, you should be able to google it, or take him to dog training classes.
I think you are brave to take on an older dog unless you had confirmed he had been well trained. My ex had a 5 month lurcher, it was a nightmare

good luck.. I think you will need it!

[judyh]

At the moment your priority is to make sure he can't get away from you. I have 2 JRTs. Always use a harness and extendable lead unless they are in my field.

[09rebel99]

My 11 month old has only just got the hang of it and we've had her since she was 13 wks. Its not she was naughty she just wanted to investigate everything!!! I just make sure Ive got lots of treats and that she knows it :-) It'll come it will just take time. Good luck :-)

[sarahp]

I feel for you - our first (and only so far) rescue was a young adult saluki, not known for being easy to train anyway.

First priority is as judyh says. Second I'd thoroughly recommend dog training classes - we'd never done any with any of our previous dogs, all owned since puppies and trained well enough without them to our standards as purely house pets. We did two rounds of puppy classes which did him and us good, and gained us invaluable advice from a brilliant dog trainer. She reckoned ours would never be trustworthy off lead, as he has such a strong prey drive, but did suggest training him to the whistle, which is more attention getting than a call. He has been given his food accompanied by a whistle for the last 5 1/2 years now!

In the meantime, find out what motivates him most - food, play with toys or whatever and try in the house to get him to come to you when his name is called and rewarding him for it without fail in the way he likes best would be a useful start. Shaking a piece of liver from a few feet away would bring most dogs (but I suggest your other one is not present for this!) and you can build on that once started off.

The other thing to recognise is that with the best will in the world, it's not always possible to retrain a dog as you would ideally want it. Ours is on an extendable lead at all times when outside - he can jump 6' fences, chases anything that moves and when doing so will not recall. Terriors are well known for disappearing off hunting and going down holes - we know someone who has just rehomed theirs with great regret because not only did she do this, but took their other dog with her.

[prettyreckless]

thanks for your replies everyone.. i was thinking of the clicker training...

he is a lovely little guy and i think this is the start of a wonderful freindship..

i did have him on an extendable lead but i must not of clasp it properly and off he went.. i had to use several leaves and keep my other dog at my side to get him back... hes quick lol..

i think play and treats will work.. you should see what he came with this pooch has been far to spoiled.. he wont even eat dog food as his previous owner fed him home cooked food

i will look into some dog training classes there are a few round me even if its the odd one to point me in the right direction..

he is already a lot better..

i just didnt want a puppy.. not when theres so many adults out there that need homes...

[lucynlizzysmum]

You could also look at some long line training - I think this is brilliant. You are just going to have to become the most interesting person in his life - I tend to find with terriers they have a very quick brain and soon flit onto the next thing if you have become boring My other experience with terriers is that they tend not to be very food orientated, much more play - footballs can be good. My old girl who used to take off at the drop of a hat and totally ignore you would always come back for a game of footie!! My patterdale could never resist a squeaky toy. So you will have to find what motivates him. I am sure he will be loads of fun.

[sometime]

I would suggest a long line rather than an extending lead. Squeaky toys are more attractive to terriers than food best bet it to do it in the house loose and really wind him up get him beside himself with excitement then let him have the toy. This can then be transferred to outside on the longline and finally loose