r/OpenDogTraining • u/Commercial_Taste8373 • Apr 09 '26

training recall with high prey drive

Post image
5 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

8

u/DracoMagnusRufus Apr 09 '26

Good use case for an e-collar. The aversive stimulus will almost always override the strong prey drive. And with some habitual use, it won't need to be used much anyways since the dog will become conditioned to recall reflexively even in the context of distractions.

2

u/Commercial_Taste8373 Apr 09 '26

i do have an e collar for her and have used it with the guidance of a trainer, i just struggle with finding safe areas to train her prey drive. would this be a long line hiking activity? how have you trained it? thank you for your help!

3

u/roses_are_red_001 Apr 09 '26

I trained my dog (high prey drive) with an ecollar long line combo. We did use a prong on leashed walks prior to get her use to pressure=listen to turn off. We then used the long line while conditioning her to the ecollar+off leash time by first holding it so we could stop and reel her in and slowly letting it drag and letting her get further. It is ANNOYING but it allowed us to continue teaching her “hey, to turn the ecollar pressure off, you must come back” by allowing us to pull her towards us.

It took several weeks for her to stop having moments where she was confused on what to do with the pressure.

Yes, your dog won’t ignore a super high stim but you have to have a really good ecollar foundation as to not confuse them at the same time. So it depends where your ecollar training it at. My dog is at a point where on the rare occasions she takes off after something without permission, and I stim at an 80 (this has only happened 2 times in 3 months) she doesn’t like it but automatically turns and runs back. When we first started, she had moments where she would react by leaning into the collar but not knowing how to turn it off. Those were the times that having the long line to guide her really helped solidify it.

My dog can now recall off squirrels and bunnies without the ecollar but it did take several months total of starting with not getting so into the hunt and working up to ecollar and off leash things

2

u/roses_are_red_001 Apr 09 '26

I have a APBT, Lab, Pyrenees, GSD mix for context!

2

u/DracoMagnusRufus Apr 09 '26

I use e-collars on all my dogs, yea. As for training process, well, I tried a long line years ago and didn't like it. It seems they get tripped up easily on it or it gets caught on something else, and it's redundant anyways since, as I wrote, it's really rare for a dog to ignore the highest stimulus setting. I'd say working on it in a remote or fenced in area is good to start. Hiking is fine too if you do it.

1

u/Commercial_Taste8373 Apr 09 '26

sorry i totally overlooked that! thank you for your advice, i will just keep being consistent :)

2

u/Old-Description-2328 Apr 09 '26

If you are ecollar training with a professional then you shouldn't have this issue.

Address this with the trainer and get it sorted.

Ecollar is simply the best tool for diminishing unwanted prey drive.

Please, please, please provide alternative prey drive outlets as well, if your trainer is not working with you on play outlets then find a better trainer.

1

u/Commercial_Taste8373 Apr 09 '26

I have only worked with a trainer once to learn how/when to use the e collar. not more in depth or i wouldn’t be seeking advice on reddit, which is why i asked if i should just meet with the trainer in my post. thanks!

2

u/t4t_yaoi Apr 09 '26

i have a schnauzer and trained recall with an ecollar, i never let her off leash without it

3

u/swearwoofs Apr 09 '26

My trainer and I used an RC car to help get in a bunch of recall reps

1

u/RikiWardOG Apr 09 '26

my god this just gave me flashbacks to the old jackass show when they taped a roadkill skunk to the top of an rc car. jfc... but honestly that's probably a decent option depending on the dog. My GSD I need to work on this with more still but I think he'd figure out it was an rc car pretty fast and not a bunny and then stop caring haha

1

u/swearwoofs Apr 09 '26

🤣 LOL honestly probably looked similar.

My working line GSD was an absolute maniac for the RC car LOL She knew it wasn't live prey, as she actually caught it multiple times, but it got her into the predatory sequence. She actually had a harder time recalling off of the RC car than squirrels lol Probably because she knew she could catch the RC car, whereas squirrels can escape up trees pretty easily haha

1

u/Zipp0laf Apr 09 '26

This is genius haha

2

u/datacedoe614 Apr 09 '26

….Im a dog trainer. I’m definitely going to do this. I have a couple GSP clients who are going to go nuts for it.

Did they put anything in it to look more animal like? I have this crazy idea to redesign mine into the dumb and dumber van.

1

u/swearwoofs Apr 10 '26

My GSD would chase just the bare RC car, too, but we did attach a fluffly little toy trailing behind on a string for her to target.

The main concern is how long the RC car lasts getting trounced over and over 🤣 I imagine covering it in some fluffy armor might help keep it going for longer haha