I know I've posted something like this before.........

[science_doc]

I took Hailey to the dog park last weekend and I was totally excited since she had done so well with recall in her classes. However, as soon as I let her off leash she was gone like a SHOT!!!! She refused to return on my voice command so I resorted to blowing a whistle (also taught in class) and she reappeared extremely briefly to be sure I was alive then darted away without stopping, never mind sitting at our feet like in class! Now this "park" is 17 acres of uncut completely wild grass, so most of the time when I was shouting for her she was completely invisible. BUT, I am really disappointed and I don't really understand what this means. Once we caught her I snapped a 30 foot lead back on did 5 quick recalls, which she was perfect on, then released her again, same story gone for 45 minutes with ZERO return.

I have to admit I'm a bit frustrated? But my real question in all of this is should I be frustrated? I have reason to believe that she spent the last 3 years of her life living with people that had a fenced yard and seemed to have done zero training. I have no idea what her first year was like. So they big question is am I fighting a battle that can't be won? Are there some dogs who just won't come when called end of story? Or is she just stubborn? Or am I going to have to try another technique? Another thing that crossed my mind is that she spends so much time on leash that when I do let her off she gets so excited and wild she forgets all about coming when called, maybe that means I'll have to wait until I have a better situation, like a fenced in yard, to really work her recall. I know that I'll never be able to have her off leash without a fence, but I would feel better if I had a little control........Sorry about the length of this post, but I just don't have the experience to know what to do next, please help :drinking:

[mouseatthebusstop]

I have the same problem myself - on the end of a 26 ft lead recall perfect unhook the lead and gone- I do not let mine off unless they are fenced in

[cheekymunkee]

I'm with Mouse. Offleash, my dogs suddenly become deaf when they are outside. Mine are never offleash anyway outside of their yards so I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you. One thing that DOES work for me sometimes is to yell "Any one want a cookie?" That [b]usually[/b] brings them running from what ever they have found in the yard that deserves their undivided attention.


Debby

[Guest Anonymous]

[quote name='cheekymunkee']I'm with Mouse. Offleash, my dogs suddenly become deaf when they are outside. Mine are never offleash anyway outside of their yards so I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you. One thing that DOES work for me sometimes is to yell [i]"Any one want a cookie?" That [b]usually[/b] brings them running from what ever they have found in the yard that deserves their undivided attention. [/i]


Debby[/quote]

SAME! :lol: :lol:

Coal's two big challangers were COME and HEEL. And as I've posted earlier, his heel is doing GREAT! :D

With Come, I put him on a really long lead and have been working in our yard. So far he's just on distractions still on lead. He comes when in the yard off lead too though.

We don't have any dog parks here, especially parks that are fenced, so once I think he's ready to do recalls outside of our home, I'm going to use the town's Tennis court :lol: :lol: There's NO ONE around to say anything about the dog being let in, so if no one's using it, I use to let Hazel in there to run around offlead a bit. Plus up at the school down my road there is the same thing, but with no nets! :D It was GOING to be a tenis court, but then they changed their minds, so now it's just a fenced off part of cement, and works great to let the dog run around and work in a distraction area but still know he can't run away into the woods or worse, out in front of a car :-? Is there anything like that availibe in your town you could work with? If so that would probably help a lot!

[courtnek]

I think it depends on the dog, and what it was bred to do. Mine will both return from the yard when called, although Free will "saunter" back while Laurel will run. treats make no difference to Free. she always comes, but at her own sweet pace. unless SHE wants to come in. she knows her commands, she chooses to ignore them if something else has her interest at the time. she is a Lab/pointer mix. Laurel is a foxhound. I have been told that neither can be trusted completely off lead, because an interesting scent will send them running, and they instantly become deaf.

in her true working capacity, Free would be running loose after shot game.
Laurel would be chasing fox. they are scent dogs, and a compelling scent will have them off and running. in neither place would a leash be necessary. Free would return with her bird, without being called, Laurel would find the fox and bay til the hunter arrived. Once having arrived, the hounds would dig it out, or if cornered, allow the hunter to get it.

the other night they teamed up to catch a possum. Laurel dug it out from under the shed (as she would if hunting fox..."rousting" it) Free doesnt dig, and while she knew it was there, couldnt get it to come out. she somehow got Laurel to roust it, scaring it out by digging, and she stood by (the "hunter") until it dashed, and she caught it. Now the strange part. She didnt attempt to eat it, or maul it (she has soft mouth) she came straight to the door and Laurel bayed. Called me basically. I came out, and there she stood with the poor little thing in her mouth. Very dead, but unharmed
otherwise. looking very proud of herself, with Laurel standing there backing her up. both tails wagging furiously. I couldnt yell at either of them, they were doing what they bred to do, but I HATE when she does that.... Foxhounds dont kill their prey, they wait for the hunter to do that. Somehow Free has been recognized as the "hunter". they are the "finders"..someone else does the final job. Now Labs dont normally kill their prey either. its already dead when they retrieve it, but Free has this HUGE predatory drift. She has caught/killed many small creatures in the yard, and brings them to me every time. she's a mix, but not sure exactly with what. However, the retriever always comes out. She picks it up and brings it, relatively unscathed except for the teeth marks where it was killed, usually in the neck, and brings it back. and HANDS it to me (GROSS!!!). so yes, some dogs are simply not stable off lead, depending on breed.

[pitbullEmily]

[quote name='science_doc']I took Hailey to the dog park last weekend and I was totally excited since she had done so well with recall in her classes. However, as soon as I let her off leash she was gone like a SHOT!!!! She refused to return on my voice command so I resorted to blowing a whistle (also taught in class)...:[/quote]

I think you may have moved too fast.
Doing good recalls in a class situation is much different from the dogpark!
Remember, dogs don't generalize.
Work on longlead recalls in places with fewer distractions. You want to set up your dog to succeed, not fail.

Doing recalls in a dogpark where she's having so much fun is very advanced!

Don't be frustrated.. just go back to square one and take smaller steps.

[Malamum]

Another thing to remember it that while dogs are on a long leash that they will do a perfect recall most of the time because they realise that they really can't go anywhere else. Once "set free" they are like kids in a toy store, so much to see and do. So when you call them back I'm sure they must be thinking "but Mum, you've bought me to this fantastic place why the hell won't you just let me enjoy it" :lol:

It's all a matter of priorities - you need to make comming back to you so much better and so much more exciting than what they are currently doing - otherwise why would they want to.

I have found with Indy if I turn and start to run in the opposite direction whilst calling him to me then he is so much more likely to follow than if I stand still and face him.

[mouseatthebusstop]

I do that running in the opposit direction

[science_doc]

:D :D :D :D
Thanks for the advice and the encouragement! It's nice to know that I'm not alone in the struggle to work recall. I have tried recall inside a tennis court and she does pretty well, I guess it's like being on the lead, not too many distractions so she might as well come get the treat. I am discovering interesting things about myself while working with my dog. Like thinking that once I taught her the "meaning" come she would just choose to do that whenever I called, LOL. Besides her breeds (Husky/hound or lab or shepard) she is a "talker". In dog class the instructor and the class used to laugh at us, cause most times we would give Hailey commands she barks (sounds and awful lot like complaining :lol: ) while she does what she was told. I figured that she would be a challange to train. The only reason I am so fixed on recall is her 3 escapes in the first year we owned her. I am always in a state of worry when she is at other people's houses or people are at our house. You can explain 100 times that she can't be trusted and in my experience people just don't get it (or don't believe me or are not used to thinking about it) until they watch her little tail go out the door and down the street. Last time this happend at a friend's house I had to do the running away thing and when she got close enough I wheeled on her and tackled her. I figured an injured leg due to me was better then dead by car, she had already crossed a busy road twice :( So I'll just have to keep on working her and try some better treats in a better area :D Guess I can't quit trying just yet!

[Guest Anonymous]

edited by mouse

primrose

[Horsefeathers!]

Pretty interesting stuff. I've been following this thread with interest because I have a little hard headed Schnauzer. Out of the 10 dogs in this house, he is the ONLY one who does not have a reliable recall. Kind of similar background... was picked up as a stray and we have no clue about his history. In a fenced yard, he is 100% reliable and will come every time. Same as on a leash, no matter how long. He is the most perfectly mannered gentleman on leash or in a fenced yard we could ask for. However... *groan* let someone leave the gate open and he's gone like a shot and no amount of running the other way, begging, pleading, calling, offering food, slamming my head on the pavement will get him to come back until he's good and ready. We've been working on this issue with this dog for 3-4 years now, but there is absolutely no way he can be trusted offleash or out of a fence. He's an amazing dog otherwise and easily trained, EXCEPT for darting off when the opportunity arises.

I'm glad I'm not the only "failure." :oops:

[Guest Anonymous]

On another dog board, I got sneered at pretty badly when I admitted that, as an obedience class instructor, there were some dogs I couldn't teach to have a reliable recall in an eight week basic obedience class. My theory is that a reliable recall is actually about as advanced as obedience gets. Once you have that, you have a trained dog, and all the rest of the stuff is just window dressing. Several people told me that I was a bad dog trainer. One person volunteered to tell me her method for getting a reliable recall on any dog in eight weeks, but since she wanted me to send her cash for sharing it, I declined.

I think that the majority of the folks sneering at me were doing one of two things. Either they were training dogs who had no desire to be anyplace other than near them in the first place (for a lot of dogs, being allowed to come to you is a reward in itself--those dogs tend to have stay problems, not recall problems), or they were confusing the fact that the dog knew what the word "come" means with his doing a reliable recall. (i.e. they had dogs that they had reliably trained to come in their fenced backyards, so they thought that they had a reliable recall). As you know, the two things are very, very different.

I actually disagree with the posters here who say that the secret is to put your dog back on a long line and just keep working with him. That is useful for teaching a dog what the word come means, but your dog already knows that. And he already knows that you can effectively enforce that command on the long line. Although they may exist, I have never trained a dog who is so stupid that he doesn't know exactly when he is on a long line and when he isn't. You can use the lightest and most invisable fishing line filament and the dog will still respond when he is attached, and may be gone like a shot when he isn't. HE KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE.

You are very, very lucky to have a huge, safe, fenced area to work on this problem. Here is how I would approach it. First, for the foreseeable future (until I give you permission otherwise, heehee), ONLY do recalls when your dog is extremely tired and extremely hungry. Don't feed the dog breakfast. Then, before you even take the dog to the dog park, do two or three (or more, if the dog is really in shape) miles of road work (with a bike or the Monks of New Skete book tells how to do it safely with a car) or an hour or two of swimming with the dog. You know how people always say that a dog who runs off will come home "when he gets tired and hungry"? You want to START your training with a tired, hungry dog.

Bring the best treats in the world with you. Show the dog you have them, but don't give any to him. Let him loose in the dog park and let him run until he is bored with it. (This will be a time consuming process at first). Then call him to you and feed him a treat (do NOT ask him to sit in front--just give him a treat immediately when he gets in your vacinity) and immediately encourage him to run away and play again. Do this a million times. Never call him to you and put him on leash or do anything negative. Every time he comes to you he should get one of the great treats and immediately be allowed back to run and have fun.

You can gradually start using more intermittent positive reinforcement and varying the positive reinforcement (i.e. he might get a cheerio sometimes, instead of the world's greatest treats), but I believe most off lead recalls ought to be reinforced. After all, you are asking him to give up something really special to him to come to you. You better make it worth his while.

Will this work? The best I can say is maybe. You have a dog with an unknown history who may have learned that running after stuff and hunting is the most fun she can have. NO treat you can offer may compare with the glorious fun she has chasing a rabbit. Plus, when she eventually comes back to you, you still have to praise her and give her a treat.

I have a dog with exactly that history and exactly that problem. She had a perfectly reliable recall except when she started chasing stuff. I got a CDX on her, as a matter of fact, but when she was running a deer, she would completely blow me off. My choice was to either keep her on lead at all times, (and to know that because I am fallible, that involves risking her life, anyway) or to figure out a way to get a reliable recall on her. I chose to use a shock collar on her and it worked absolutely wonderfully. A lot of people disagree with that choice, and that is fine with me. I absolutely know that my dog considers it a great deal, because she is allowed to run off leash and I know I am not risking her life when she is doing it, because she will come when she is called. (No need to zap her in at least the past year--she hasn't even been wearing the collar most of the time, as a matter of fact).

So there is an alternative, even with the toughest dogs. I think having a reliable recall is a life and death thing for a dog, and I have no problems with using a shock collar if all other methods fail. Other people disagree, but none of them will be able to tell you an absolutely foolproof way to get your dog to come when he is called, and they won't be the ones to apologize to the dog when he is dead by the side of the road.

primrose

Note: This was posted before and was edited out. Anybody have any idea why?

primrose

[courtnek]

[quote]Will this work? The best I can say is maybe. You have a dog with an unknown history who may have learned that running after stuff and hunting is the most fun she can have. NO treat you can offer may compare with the glorious fun she has chasing a rabbit. Plus, when she eventually comes back to you, you still have to praise her and give her a treat.
[/quote]

I have to agree with some of this. but again, with some dogs, the joy of the chase is much more fullfilling then the treat. ANY treat. hot dogs, steak leftovers, hamburgers from Mickey D's....it doesnt matter. SHE will chase, until she catches her prey or it gets away. She WILL come back, but my worry is because I live on a busy street. If I lived on a farm, or an area with acreage, I would let her run and hunt to her hearts content.

[Guest Anonymous]

[quote name='courtnek'][quote]Will this work? The best I can say is maybe. You have a dog with an unknown history who may have learned that running after stuff and hunting is the most fun she can have. NO treat you can offer may compare with the glorious fun she has chasing a rabbit. Plus, when she eventually comes back to you, you still have to praise her and give her a treat.
[/quote]

I have to agree with some of this. but again, with some dogs, the joy of the chase is much more fullfilling then the treat. ANY treat. hot dogs, steak leftovers, hamburgers from Mickey D's....it doesnt matter. SHE will chase, until she catches her prey or it gets away. She WILL come back, but my worry is because I live on a busy street. If I lived on a farm, or an area with acreage, I would let her run and hunt to her hearts content.[/quote]

*******************************************
EXACTLY. This is why shock collars work. If the dog is getting more reinforcement by chasing the prey than you can offer, the only other alternative is to make chasing the prey less fun, at least when the owner is calling the dog to come back. This is what shock collars do.

Again, I have had to use a shock collar on exactly ONE dog in my entire life, and it was only after I had absolutely trained her what a recall was and after I had tried many positive alternatives. To me, what a shock collar does is get the message to the dog that bad things happen to doggies who don't come when they are called. This happens to be the truth, and I would rather my dog get this message by being zapped by a collar than by being run over by a truck.

primrose

[courtnek]

honestly? I dont think even THAT would work. she is single minded on her prey. I tried her at a friends house, (on a bet) with an invisible fence.
didnt matter what you set the collar at. she defied it, every time. even at its highest setting. I had her on a 50 foot lead, or I woulda lost her, guranteed. the fence didnt phase her. she grimaced, and yelped, but ran through anyway. her prey drive is extremely high.THIS dog needs a 6 foot fenced in yard, or a leash, or a huge fenced in dog park, to run free.
or acreage. I KNOW she would come back, she doesnt want to run away, she just wants to hunt and explore. in a city, she cant do that. too many cars.

[imported_Cassie]

Primrose gave you some great advice.
I just want to add one last item. When doing a recall
dont make the mistake of moving toward your dog-or even chasing after
your dog when he won't come. In dog language, a direct frontal approach is assertive, even aggressive, and dogs naturally move away from it.
It's much more effective to do the exact opposite-run away from your dog! start playing chase/recall games with your dog. Get excited, call your dog and run a short distance away. Let him catch up to you while you are facing away from him, then turn sideways, kneel down (don't bend over him) praise him, feed him a treat or play with a tug toy, and pet him (if he enjoys being petted, not all dogs do).
Teach your dog that "Come" means "Chase me and play" keep up the games, manage him so he doesnt get to practice inappropriate predatory behavior, and find acceptable outlets for his natural chase behaviors

Good luck to you. :wink:

[Guest Anonymous]

It's taken me more than a year to acheive a somewhat reliable recall. :oops: Cosmic comes back to me about 85% of the time now, no matter where we are. (Although he DOES take his time sniffing here and there. :roll:)

But it's been a long, hard road and we're really still working on this.

I'm not sure if you might wanna try the following tips, but they've definitely helped us:

- Hide. :wink: Yep. We first allowed him off-leash (he already knew 'Come') in a safe area that's basically a longgg stretch of grass along a canal. His dad (bf) came up with the brilliant idea of HIDING when Cosmic didn't respond. We did. He came back looking for us (definitely worried that we'd left him) - AND stuck around to keep an eye on us. :lol: If you can find a similar safe place, this might work for you.

- Keep changing directions. Again along tha same safe, straight grass patch. Cosmic always wants to keep ahead, so we'd keep changing directions. This way, he'd have to keep checking on us to make sure that he's still first. :roll:

- Feign GREAT interest in something on the ground. After yelling 'Come', we'd both pretend to have found something really great on the ground he HAS to see as well. He runs up real fast - AND if he's a good boy and Sits as well, (his 'Come' ends with him sitting at our feet) I produce the extra yummy treat (HUMAN sausage bit) that i 'found' on the ground and let him have it. 8)

- Run the other way. When we see him sneaking a peek at us (while pretending not to hear), we immediately break into a run AWAY from him. That gets his attention. Then as he's already running up to us, I issue the recall again. And I get to praise him for responding. :lol:

Also, I make it a point NOT to use 'Come' if I think that there's a >20-30% chance he won't respond. Because we try our best not to use any sort of punishishment, we're especially careful because each failed recall might reinforce the fact that's it's okay not to listen. (No repercussions for his misbehaviour.) We also learnt to practice 'Come' AFTER we'd tired him out somewhat. :lol: Even today, I generally allow him 10mins of 'freedom' before issuing any commands.

Bf and I have discussed the e-collar to death. :-? No doubt it provides control - even across great distances - unlike any other training tool, but although he can be a real pain at times (still tugging on leash when he gets excited, which is often. :x ) and doesn't always listen, :roll: we're still really proud of the progress we've made. :D :D I also figure that he should settle down some as he matures - gives us some hope for the future. :lol: Good luck to us all! :lol:

[Guest Anonymous]

Bubblezz's suggestions are good ones too!

[quote name='Bubblezz']
- Hide. :wink: Yep. We first allowed him off-leash (he already knew 'Come') in a safe area that's basically a longgg stretch of grass along a canal. His dad (bf) came up with the brilliant idea of HIDING when Cosmic didn't respond. We did. He came back looking for us (definitely worried that we'd left him) - AND stuck around to keep an eye on us. :lol: If you can find a similar safe place, this might work for you. [/quote]

I've used this one a few times! Or just walk away! Coal is such a big baby, he screams and cries if he thinks someone's left him out of something fun :lol: We had him at the lake before nad he wouldn't come out of the water, so we just called him, and turned and headed back to the truck. At first he looked at us as if we were bluffing, but then once he realized we werent he high tailed it out of the water and into the truck :lol: :lol:

Coal also has this INCREDIBLY weird obsession with people picking at grass :lol: And I've had to use this to my advantage a few times, even a HUGE distraction like trying to follow my neighbor and her boyfriend home got him to come just by simply ACTING like I was going to pick at the grass :lol: :lol: :roll:

[Melanie]

Bubblezz, those are excellent suggestions. Not every dog will repsond to basic obedience 'like they're supposed to'. We have to be tricky!

We slowly and gradually taught our dogs proper behavior off leash. A little more every few days. Now we can walk both of them completely off leash during our backyard river excursions (we live behind a river that, if we chose, we could walk along for miles and miles). Even when we pass other doggy houses, they stay with us.
This took a lot of time, effort, and patience. AND tricks like Bubblezz mentioned. Of course a dog will want to explore and investigate and play when free. Of course a dog won't want to 'come' to you unless it's more rewarding than what else is out there. And even then, they might want to look around still to make sure they're not missing anything else out there [i]before[/i] coming to you.
Peanut was a bit harder to train than Jake. But she reposnded spendidly when I used clever tricks to get her to come to me. If something seemed exciting away from me, I'd start jogging along [i]my[/i] way, acting so excited and goofy. Most of the time, she'd run to me instead of the other interest. And those times she did run off, I'd squat down, and exclaim, "Look what I've got!". The goofball would come running quick to see what I had.
As soon as she started coming towards me, or responding to whatever command I gave, I'd praise her. I'd continue to say the command and praise her all the way til the end.

Anway, now I'm blabbing.
Training yor dog to be reliable off leash is a lengthy process! Training your dog to be reliable off leash with distractionsis even harder. Just start out slow and progress a bit every few days or so.

[science_doc]

:o Holy cow thanks for all the fantastic advice!

I knew if I posted my problem you guys would come through. We have thought about trying the shock collar to work on Hailey's recall (based on a suggestion from a friend with an invisible fence), but with 2 caveats. 1 - It would be a method of last resort, I feel pretty bad about using negative re-enforcement, but if it's that or her life, I choose a little discomfort over dead. 2- Since we are both doggie novices we would do the shock collar training with the help of a good professional trainer. We would by no means going to take using the negative re-enforcement lightly, if I ever need to go that far.

However, I think that for now I'm going to try the suggestions everyone has given me. I guess I was a bit naive to think that I had put in enough work to have recall......live and learn. I'm sure glad we get so much pleasure out of training :D

[Guest Anonymous]

[quote]I'm sure glad we get so much pleasure out of training [/quote]

We do?! :o

Erm, yeah. I guess... :roll: :lol:

[Malamum]

Mei-Mei, I think I understand what Primrose means.

Indy knows perfectly well what the come command is however he will only do it if it suits him :roll: He will do it fine in training class or a controlled environment so I consider he knows the come command. However I wouldn't say he has a reliable recall. To me a reliable recall is a dog that will come all the time when called regardless of circumstances.

[courtnek]

[quote name='Malamum']Mei-Mei, I think I understand what Primrose means.

Indy knows perfectly well what the come command is however he will only do it if it suits him :roll: He will do it fine in training class or a controlled environment so I consider he knows the come command. However I wouldn't say he has a reliable recall. To me a reliable recall is a dog that will come all the time when called regardless of circumstances.[/quote]

Malamum is correct. Free knows what the word "come" means. Inside the house, she will come everytime I call. In the yard, she will come back, but at her own pace. (Some smell has her entranced). on a lead she will come back everytime. BUT...if she smells something she wants to check out, a potential chase or prey, she's gone. If I take her somewhere, like down to the Fox River when no one else is around (In the fall or winter, it gets pretty cold here) she will run loose and stay within 10-20 yards. But she is LOOSE and she knows it. If the water isnt frozen she will swim. I know she wont "run away", she keeps tabs on me, actually comes back to try to make me hurry up! but my house is on a busy street, with lots of people, so I have to keep her in the yard or on a lead outside. This is a big part of her breed, bred to be out with a hunter, offlead, and casting for scent and retrieving. she is also stubborn, a bad combo. no amount of recall traiing has ever changed that. Not running backwards, not treats, not shock.
She would be an excellent acreage dog. she would never run away, just run....some of them just cant be pulled away from what their instincts tell them to do. I had a trainer who doubted that. Said she could train her in
6 weeks. she tried for 4. gave up. said "keep that dog on a lead or in a yard in the city....."

:roll: :roll:

gotta love my girl...wish I had a farm...

[Sarahstaff]

No dog has a 100% reliable recall. There is always some potential situation in which a dog might not come when it's called.

I would consider a recall "reliable" if the dog will come under all but the most extreme circumstances. It's a good idea to know what circumstances will overload your dog.

I was lucky enough in Elmo, though he was an adult when I got him, he already had a very reliable recall. The one situation in which I do [i]not[/i] trust him is near a large body of water. I one time tried to let him off leash to swim in the river, and he tried to swim across the river, despite my frantic calling. Now, there may be extenuating circumstances. I'm not sure he could hear me properly. When some fisherman took me out in a boat to get my dog :oops: , and I called Elmo from several feet away, he turned around and swam to the boat.

Since that time, I've unknowingly dropped his leash when at an obedience trial next to the river, and when someone said "hey, there goes your dog,", and I looked up and saw him bolting for the river, I was able to get him back by calling him. So, he [i]might[/i] be reliable near water now, but "might" isn't worth risking my dog's life. He stays on lead when swimming. This is my definition of an "extreme circumstance" for Elmo, and it's easily manageable.

Tully, since I got her as a puppy, I was able to train a recall from the getgo, and her recall is very reliable. She is a predatory little monster, and if she has a hold of prey, she won't release it to come. Also, the one time she got in a fight, she wouldn't break out of it when I called her (Elmo will). Again, it's just a matter of knowing where she is, and calling her back before she catches what she's chasing. It's not too hard, as she's usually nowhere near it. (Staffies are inefficient hunters as they don't really know how to stalk) She [i]will[/i] recall if she's chasing.

I think the most important factor in training a reliable recall is to [i]always[/i] back it up. So, don't have a dog off-lead in a large area until the dog is reliable in other situations. Introduce distractions in a smaller area, where you can back the command up. (an example would be to have a friend try to lure your dog to them with treats after you have called the dog.) And finally, [i]always[/i] make coming to you rewarding! When Tully was a pup, I never called her if I didn't have a dog treat in my pocket. As she matured, she had to make do with praise sometimes, but my dogs are [i]always[/i] praised for coming, and they still often get a little something. I don't always stop the fun if they come, often I just call them to check in, offer a treat, and release them to play again. And if I'm planning something unpleasant, like a bath, I go and get the dog rather than calling them. (my dogs very nobly disdain to go out in the backyard and hide when they know I'm after them for a bath... they just skulk about the living room, looking miserable, but easy to catch)