# Recall a beagle????!!!!???



## Wyndham (Feb 5, 2010)

Hey all, 

colin has been with us for 2 weeks now and i have been doing clicker training with him quite sucessfully, he can sit stay and come. 
Im wanting to start doing recal outside and have bought a long lead & whistle - i need some help as to how to start with this training, i tried today but he seemed confused.

He responds to "come" in the house and sometimes outside and i dont always treat him ( food) but always fuss him. Should i keep doing the clicker training before introducing the whistle? am i confusing him( or myself or both!!!).

In the park today, we charged the whitsle ( as i would with the clicker) and then gave command "come" and blew whistle, he didnt really respond to whistle at all ( its a 2/10 1/2 - gun dog whistle) , he would come occasionally but normally ignoring whistle and listening to command "come". I dont wanna confuse him but i would like him to recall to a whistle.

How did u guys train recall and what worked well? 

I have a 14 week old, Cloth eared, Beagle.

Your help and suggestions very very welcome!


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## Colliepoodle (Oct 20, 2008)

What do you mean about "charging" the whistle??


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

Keep clicking and treating. You have to make coming back to you something very exciting, not just lead on and going home. You could try calling him, putting his lead on, then taking it off again. Keep doing this, so he never knows when his lead will be going on for good and he is going home.


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Beagles are notoriously bad at recall. Keep him on the long lead, call him back to you every so often not just when you're leaving and give him a treat everytime make a big fuss.


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## ArwenLune (Jan 3, 2010)

I think if you want to use the whistle for recall, you make it replace the command, not the clicker? So the whistle is 'this is what I want you to do' and the clicker is still 'that was right, reward is coming'. But I could be confused here.


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## Guest (Feb 27, 2010)

Nicky10 said:


> Beagles are notoriously bad at recall. Keep him on the long lead, call him back to you every so often not just when you're leaving and give him a treat everytime make a big fuss.


This. Buster had good recall but i have a soft voice so started using a whistle. I had to resort to a long line to almost Re-teach the command.


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## Jess2308 (May 12, 2009)

When i bought my basenji i was told that they have a terrible recall and she will never come to me when i call her... Nonsense! I have labradors and pugs, and she has better recall than all of them, when i call her she is at my heel in a second.

I started from day one, practicing in the house before taking her outside and doing it. She was very food orientated so i always gave her a treat when she came back as well as lots of fuss. I have quite a long hallway that i practiced along, maybe using a toy at first so she had something fun to run towards, then working up to just coming to me kneeling on the floor, then to just me stood 

I would do practice in the house before doing it outside. Theres too much going on outside - noises, smells, movements, for him to concentrate when he doesnt 100% understand what you're asking him to do. 

I have never used clicker training, but i would imagine its the same process as i use, but just add a click before giving the treat.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

Colliepoodle said:


> What do you mean about "charging" the whistle??


Charging is when you whistle, reward, whistle, reawrd. Basically you charge it by using it then the dog gets a treat, so they hear the whistle and think 'good thing!'.


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## Ducky (Nov 23, 2008)

i would practice lots in the house and outside on a long line, as long a line as u can. 
use extra special treats for recall, different from the treats u use for other training. garlic sausage was my beagles personal favourite. 

just know that just because ur beagle may appear to have good recall most of the time, dont take it for granted. i would still advise never letting him off unless you are 100% sure you are in a safe area. as all it takes is one distraction, and he will be gone. 
and i know what can happen


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## Jess2308 (May 12, 2009)

Ducky said:


> i would practice lots in the house and outside on a long line, as long a line as u can.
> use extra special treats for recall, different from the treats u use for other training. garlic sausage was my beagles personal favourite.
> 
> just know that just because ur beagle may appear to have good recall most of the time, dont take it for granted. *i would still advise never letting him off unless you are 100% sure you are in a safe area*. as all it takes is one distraction, and he will be gone.
> and i know what can happen


I agree with that 100%  But i would advise that with any dog as well as they can all be distracted


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## SEVEN_PETS (Aug 11, 2009)

firstly, reward with a treat each time. they need to know that coming back means reward. after several weeks, you can start replacing treats for other things, like affection or toys or games etc, but to start with, it needs to be solid.

definitely keep him on a long lead for the moment. don't let him off until you have good recall. i have a spaniel and i know how annoying it is when they ignore you and follow a smell. it took me 8 months to pluck up the courage to let him off, then when he lost his recall at a year old, it took me a further 4 months to retrain it and now at 2 years old, he's finally got the recall I've always dreamed of, but it still needs work all the time and I put so much hard work and effort into it too. you have hard work ahead of you, especially if your beagle decides to go through a teenage phase.


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## Wyndham (Feb 5, 2010)

thanks all, i think i have been expecting to know what the whistle mean ( i.e come) rather then making that assocaition with him first. We have a 100ft lead which is a night mare to use. We do a lot of come, click treat in house and he does it great and most of the time when he is out ( just got back from a walk and he was fine with it).I dont think i'll ever let him off, im just too scared, met a lady the other day who came up to us to fuss colin and told me about her beagle, she had her for a few months and did all the training, let her off the lead and never saw her again - put the fear of god in me to be honest! 
i dont really know how to make him understand whitsle means come?


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

If he knows the word come maybe call that and then blow the whistle so he learns it's the same command


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## Wyndham (Feb 5, 2010)

nicky10 - doh! lol of course, cant see for looking.
We did try that a bit today but he didnt seem to make the connection - like always though i best tomorrow he will be alot better at it, sleep works wonders!


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

It does take a while for some dogs to get what you want them to do don't worry about it just keep trying


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## theevos5 (Dec 24, 2009)

Try letting him in the garden for a few minutes and when he is distracted blow the whistle(we do it 3 times) and say come,when he comes reward etc.

We play hide and seek all over the house with Alfie,long blow of whistle for sit,go off and hide and blow 3 times,and after weeks of practice now he appears waiting for his treat.It is something that you can do on a small patio etc too,sit him down tell him to wait and move 3-4 steps away,peep 3 times and when he comes reward,then you can extend the distance!

I am too scared to let Alfie off lead,but OH does all the time,he has been to woods today and he plays hides the treat with him.He also hides behind trees etc and peeps the whistle,to test his recall.
Alfie has a great time is absolutely knackered and always(touch wood)comes back.It all depends how confident you are that he will come back.

Good luck and welcome to Beagle world!
Jacqui


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## fun4fido (Jul 22, 2008)

Wyndham said:


> Hey all,
> 
> colin has been with us for 2 weeks now and i have been doing clicker training with him quite sucessfully, he can sit stay and come.
> Im wanting to start doing recal outside and have bought a long lead & whistle - i need some help as to how to start with this training, i tried today but he seemed confused.
> ...


Hi, here is a link to a previous thread on this forum:

Best way to teach recall

Hope you find it useful, let me know how you're getting on. Recall is something that you need to keep building on, and in the early stages set your Beagle up for success. So start of using the whistle at home indoors, then when he's reliable indoors (at least 80%), then re-train in the garden, again wait until he's 80% reliable in garden, then re-train on walks, but start off in areas with low distraction.

Something that you might like to think about for the future is getting involved in nosework (scent), games, Beagles naturally take to this with their keen scenting abilities. All dogs need (fun) jobs that resemble what they were bred for, it gives them appropriate, safe ways to channel their natural instincts. And makes for a very happy hound


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## Ducky (Nov 23, 2008)

Wyndham said:


> I dont think i'll ever let him off, im just too scared, met a lady the other day who came up to us to fuss colin and told me about her beagle, she had her for a few months and did all the training, let her off the lead and never saw her again - put the fear of god in me to be honest!


know how that feels  im getting another beagle in a few weeks time, and i know that I will find it incredibly hard to let him off lead, and most likely wont. 
but i am prepared to exercise him in other ways. he will have a huge long line so will still have lots of running freedom. once he is old enough, i am hoping to get him into a bit of agilty. i might also invest in a running harness that i can attach to myself, keeping both him and me fit haha. 
although my last boy didnt get off lead (apart from a few occasions) he was the fittest looking beagle. so i know its possible to exercise and keep a beagle fit without off lead time.


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## Wyndham (Feb 5, 2010)

thanks ducky, that is reassuring - id love to let him off but i just couldt bear to lose him! We went to a friends house today with an enclosed garden and Colin had a great time running in circles with a 3 year old king charles completly off lead and relaxed, proved me right though - wasnt doing recall well at all - but then he was having fun with his mate so probly me expecting too much. Going to keep up his training, starting using the whsitle in the house for recall and build it up, ill keep my fingers crossed for the fure, id love to see him running free!


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## Ducky (Nov 23, 2008)

Wyndham said:


> thanks ducky, that is reassuring - id love to let him off but i just couldt bear to lose him! We went to a friends house today with an enclosed garden and Colin had a great time running in circles with a 3 year old king charles completly off lead and relaxed, proved me right though - wasnt doing recall well at all - but then he was having fun with his mate so probly me expecting too much. Going to keep up his training, starting using the whsitle in the house for recall and build it up, ill keep my fingers crossed for the fure, id love to see him running free!


definitely keep training recall, thats a must. just never rely on it hehe.

my garden is fully enclosed and so my dogs do get a good run around anyway. baileys favourite thing to do was to go visit his mate who had a huge garden. the pair of them would run all day if we had let them. hoping this wee beagle gets on just as well hehe.

i am thinking about using a whistle with this dog too, as i am hearing quite successful stories with them. i used clicker training with bailey and he responded really quite well to it.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

If you want to condition you dog to a whistle the best way is to start by blowing the whistle every time you feed the dog anything. It must be beside you though, not having to come to you. So whistle, feed, whistle feed. Remember you are conditioning, not training. Then build up to the dog being a foot or so away, always in the house and whistle, feed. Then increase the distance and start trying it outside, again with the dog beside you. Build this up too and eventually the dog wont be able not to come back to you because there will be total conditioning. It will hear the whistle and be at you side for food without thought. It does work if you dont take any shortcuts.
Personally I never use titbits to train my dogs and have never used the whistle method but I have advised it for other owners and seen great success with it.


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## jobate (Oct 5, 2009)

Hi

I have a 6 month old Beagle who I am whistle training at the moment. It seems to be going really well and am hoping to let him off the lead in about a month if I am 99.9% certain he will come back.

This is how I have been doing it.

for 2 weeks - 2 loud blasts of the whistle as you put his food bowl on the floor. Just do this for every meal.

weeks 3/4 carry on with meals and then only in the house and only give treat when they come.

weeks 5/6 carry on with meals and house and then include the garden and always treat.

when 99.9% doing it start using with flexi lead when on walk and when you are happy try letting him off.

I am now doing it with the flixi lead and so far am having 100% recall and I am still doing it with meals and in and out of house......my whistle is attached to me!!! I know what Beagles are like so will be doing this for a bit longer before I let him off. I also have another dog, an 8 year old lab who has started the training with the whistle. He has alway come back to me but the Beagle just loves to be with the Lab so I think if they stick together he may be ok!!

Hope you get on ok


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## theevos5 (Dec 24, 2009)

Well,just to reinforce what everyone else has said,we have been whistle training and Alfie our beagle has been for 2 off lead walks in the woods this weekend,we feel that the biggest problem is making sure that you are interesting enough for the dog to come back to!My Oh takes cheese and ham,Alfies fav and he hides them in bases of trees etc and under bushes,whistles Alfie to come back and Alfie knows that he will be getting a treat,he always holds him when he comes back and makes a major fuss of good boy etc,so if he needs to get the lead on,he can without Alfie causing a fuss.What we used to do as well on the long line was at random points,blow whistle once for the sit command and he would sit he got used to doing that too,if you need to quickly get a lead on when off lead this is an easier method than playing chase me!!!It depends on your methods what works for you and the dog itself-Alfie is really strong willed and we are working so hard on this with him.Good luck


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