# Long Line Training??



## WinitheGSD (Sep 21, 2008)

I need some tips on teaching a dog to come on the long line. I haven't started working on this with wini yet, but I am going to soon. I really don't know that much about it. 


If anyone can share some stories about there dogs and long line training that would be great! I just thought we all could discuss long line training! And if anyone could recommend some books on it that would be terrific, or some online articles.


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## elly1210 (Jan 4, 2009)

I would love to learn more here too. We have started Sonny on long lead training and I always have snacks in my pocket for a reward for the come which is what we are working on now.


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## WinitheGSD (Sep 21, 2008)

Anyone?


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## DianaM (Jan 5, 2006)

There's nothing really special to know about the long line itself. Encourage your dog to come to you and reward profusely when it does. When it doesn't, use the long line to reel the dog in, all the while encouraging, then praise again when the dog makes it. It has to be REAL praise/reward- tug games, fetch games, super duper high value foods, and you have to be your dog's personal cheering squad.







Make your dog feel like it has won the lottery by responding to the recall! When you have a solid recall, RANDOMLY reward but ALWAYS praise. When you randomly reward, your dog will have all the motivation to respond because it'll never know when a reward will come, and if you vary the reward, it'll never know what reward will come! 

NEVER call your dog to punish! If it did something wrong, go get it, don't call it to you and then punish. The dog will link responding to the recall as the reason it was punished.

DON'T always call the dog to end a playtime or game. If you're at the dog park, randomly call your dog to enforce the recall with treats or a tug game, then let it goes back to playing. Do this a few times, and vary the number of times, before you call your dog to leave. The recall should not become the signal that fun time is over!


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## IliamnasQuest (Aug 24, 2005)

The long line is simply a means to keep the dog from running off. I don't actually use the long line for anything else unless a huge distraction (typically a moose in my area .. *L*) shows up and I have to reel the dog in. 

I will play a lot of recall games with my dogs so that it becomes automatic for them to turn and race to me when they hear the command. I will use treats and/or toys or sticks or snowballs - whatever works for that particular dog - and I'll also run away and hide behind my car, a tree, whatever so that my dog has to search me out. 

A fun game is either the two treat or two toy game. I start with treats (since I train chows, typically non-toy dogs). I toss one treat a few feet away and say "go get it!" and then as soon as the dog picks the treat up, I call them and then back away quickly. When the dog catches up, I drop a second treat right between my feet. The reason I drop the treat that closely is that I want my dogs to learn to come ALLLLL the way to me .. *L* .. I hate it when they're playing that "catch me if you can" game right out of arm's reach.

As the dog learns the game, I can start throwing the first treat farther away and the second treat can be thrown THROUGH my legs to land behind me. I do send my dogs through my legs because for competition obedience, the dog must come straight to you and sit. But for pet obedience, there's no reason you can't turn your body sideways and throw the treat behind you so that your dog can race to it. Then I very quickly throw a third treat the opposite way (where the first treat went) and then a fourth treat back past me. This gets the dog running back and forth with me in the middle. After a few times, I face the dog as it races to me and I hold a treat in my fingers at my stomach and say "SIT!" when the dog is about six feet out. By the time the dog processes the sit, they're at my stomach and tucking into a sit, looking up at the treat (which I then give them).

Then we go back to the back-and-forth game. This can be done with toys, too, but you either have to have a whole bunch of toys or run to get each dropped toy (more exercise for the human!).

The reason I like them to race back and forth is that it keeps me as the center point of their attention, and it encourages a very fast recall.

Once my dogs are really racing to me, I start adding in distractions. I may play this at a parking lot, fairly far away from the activity near the store at first and staying out of the way of vehicles (may have to shorten the long line and do short fast recalls). I go to places where there are livestock animals grazing in a pasture and practice. I practice outside playgrounds where kids are playing noisily. There are lots of places that can add in distractions.

There may come a point where your dog needs a bit of correction when distractions get too high, but not all dogs need this. Trick, my older shepherd, never had much other than the occasional "NO!" in the recall training. Even with moose, she quickly learned to respond to me instead of going after the moose. It will really depend on your particular dog.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska


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## WinitheGSD (Sep 21, 2008)

I also heard someone on here say that if my dog has already learned the command, "come" but has been ignoring it for a long time and regarding it as optional then I should change the word.


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## IliamnasQuest (Aug 24, 2005)

Yep, that would be a good idea. It's easier to just use a new word than to try to "de-program" the dog .. *L* ... some people use "here" or "front". I actually have two different commands because I train for competition obedience. I use "come" as a formal, "race to me and sit in front" command and then "here" as a general, "get over by me" command. 

Using the new word will help keep your dog from reverting to the old behavior, too. When under stress, dogs will often revert back to the behavior they first learned with a particular command. So to avoid that, changing the word is usually best.

Melanie


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

In my puppy class they tell you never to use the come command unless you are training and/or can enforce your dog to come if they disobey.

When we go to the dog park, or on leash free walks. I call her name and then say "let's go".


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## IliamnasQuest (Aug 24, 2005)

That's true, you should never use your formal command unless you have control of the situation. But a lot of times by the time a person knows this, it's too late - the command is already "tainted". Changing commands allows you to go back and start over because the dog really doesn't know the difference.

"Let's go" is one of my favorites, too. Works REALLY well when you have a pack of dogs (I usually have four wandering around my feet).

Melanie and the gang


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