Scavenging lab, recall goes out the window

[Bowland blades]

I would imagine ur mate won't need to run a dog down as he won't let the dog get into that situation
If things go well u really shouldn't have too, chase dogs down, usually a sign something has gone wrong.

I don't know if it's a phase or not but it could be possible.
If ur confident u have put the ground work in with basics previously u can relax a wee bit and not panic as hopefully will grow out, just severely restricting any free play.
But wot ever u decide on the most important thing is not to allow ur dog the freedom to keep doing it and reinforcing the bad

Be well worth going out with someone or even seeing a pro trainer, or join a lical training club, even a dog obedience classes would help ( recall with distraction of other dogs).
Over the lifetime of ur dog not a big outlay.

are you aiming those comments at myself ? Wrong fella Buddy ! I am many years into this and numerous dogs . They are all a little bit different the only real trick is " do what works " dont carry on with " what isnt working" . I just made a very simple suggestion to the OP .

 

[Turnips]

If he bolts frequently and you know the situations he does it you could try this exercise:

Attach about 10 metres of rope to a harness on the dog. Let it trail on the ground behind as you walk the dog to heel, or do whatever it is you normally do when he bolts. As soon as he's off issue whatever command you use negatively with him, usually 'no', and immediately after get your boot onto the trailing rope to stop the dog. Bring him back to whatever he was supposed to be doing, re-issue the command for it (heel, for example). Rinse and repeat. Start easy and build to harder, but don't rush it.

I use this for dogs that bolt to thrown dummies. Even the thickest of Labs soon realises that bolting does not allow them to get the reward (in your case this is rolling, eating sheep muck, etc).

I say harness, you can do it with a collar, just be aware that it is like yanking a lead and could damage their neck if you do it repeatedly.

There's a book called Total Recall which has some good training exercises for recall problems.

And like all things with dogs, they don't generalise learning like humans do - if you don't train for that exact scenario you are more likely to experience failure.