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How do I get my Spanador to come back?

I have an adolescent spanador with an abundance of energy. However, off the lead he does not come back when I recall him. How can I train him to come back when all he wants to do is run?

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A:

Unfortunately, your choice of exercise regime has produced a very fit dog, over which you have no control once he is enjoying his daily freedom.

He should never have been allowed to develop the urge to run free. Instead, all his exercise should have been gained under control as part of the training process, either hunting or retrieving when rewards could only have been gained from you.

A complete change of scenery and management to aid re-training will now be required to rectify the situation in which you now find yourself.

Should you continue to give commands you cannot enforce – then you are actually teaching the dog to be disobedient.

Go back to basics in an environment where he cannot escape, refresh his heel-work, and his sit and stay.

Finally, the most important thing of all is to remember for every success he achieves, you demonstrate to him that you are really pleased when he has got it right.