Irish Setter recall training tips

An 11-month-old Irish Setter with shaky recall around other dogs — that's one of the most common flashpoints with this breed. Irish Setters are built to run and socialise, so at this age, another dog on the horizon is basically a recall-destroying missile. Reliable recall is the single most important skill your dog can have, and for a dog like this, the winning combination is almost always a high-value treat they go absolutely mad for, plus a long line so you can practise safely without letting the situation spiral. Before I point you in a specific direction — how bad is the recall on a scale of one to ten when another dog appears, and are you looking for training aids, treats, or both?

Kibble against the excitement of another Irish Setter bounding towards her — you were never going to win that battle. The treat needs to be so good it actually competes with the distraction, and for a dog this excitable, that usually means something with a really strong smell and a soft texture she can eat fast without you losing momentum. What does she go crazy for at home — is she more driven by meat, cheese, something else? And is she on any dietary restrictions I should know about?

Perfect — that makes this straightforward. My recommendation is Forthglade 100% Natural Liver Treats. They're soft, intensely smelly, and Irish Setters tend to find them genuinely irresistible. More importantly, they're small enough that you can reward repeatedly in a single training session without overfeeding, and you can easily break them into even smaller pieces if you want to stretch them further. Pair these with a 10-metre long line — the Trixie Tracking Lead in 10m is solid and gives you real control while she learns that coming back to you near other dogs is the most rewarding thing she can do. Use the long line so she physically cannot self-reward by charging off, and every time she glances back at you near a distraction, mark it and hit her with the liver treat immediately. You're essentially teaching her that you're more interesting than the other dog — which takes repetition, but this combination gets you there faster than anything else I'd suggest.

Not overcomplicating it at all — a whistle is actually ideal for a breed like this because the sound carries further and cuts through excitement better than your voice can. The Acme 211.5 is the standard choice used by gundog trainers and it's very reasonably priced. The key is to load it properly before you use it in a distracting environment: spend a week or two just blowing the whistle and immediately delivering the liver treat at home and in the garden, so she's salivating before she's even processed the sound. Once that association is rock solid, bring it out on the long line near other dogs. Don't rush that step — if you use the whistle before it means anything to her, you'll just dilute it.

Exactly that. Forthglade Liver Treats and the Trixie 10m long line you can start using straight away. Build the whistle recall at home for a couple of weeks before you introduce it near distractions. Most owners with a motivated Irish Setter see a real shift within three to four weeks of consistent work on the long line — the breed responds well once they understand that coming back produces something genuinely worth their time. You've got a great dog for this; they're not stubborn, just easily lit up.