Basic training - recall

Recall is an extremely useful thing to teach your dog; it can be used to call your dog away from potentially dangerous situations, as well as calling him back to you at the end of a walk and preventing him from jumping into the nearby stagnant pond. However, it is not always an easy thing to teach your dog to do, as it involves making yourself more interesting than whatever it is that your dog is interested in.

A lot of owners will also inadvertently teach their dog not to come back when he’s called. You may think this sounds ludicrous, but it happens very often! The dog is allowed to wander around unattended, without the presence of his owner. As far as he’s concerned, he doesn’t need his owner to have fun outside, so coming back when called is just boring and signals the end of the walk. The more you call him and he ignores you, the more he’ll realise that he doesn’t need to come back, lengthening the time it takes for you to get him back each time. To combat this, it can help to practice recall several times during a walk to give your dog the assurance that the presence of a lead doesn’t mean that the walk is over.

Another way many owners teach their dogs not to come back when they’re called is by scolding them. By human reasoning, scolding a dog when he finally comes back, after half an hour of ignoring you, teaches him that he mustn’t ever do it again! However, by dog reasoning, he’s being scolded for finally coming back! Sooner or later, he’ll just associate coming when called with being told off, which can be extremely difficult for the owner to undo. ‘Come here’ should always be followed by plenty of praise, excitement and rewards, no matter how frustrated you are.

As mentioned earlier, the recall involves making yourself appealing to your dog; therefore the training can be made easier by choosing a time when your dog is alert and motivated. For instance, if your dog is very orally fixated (interested in food), you can test his willingness to learn at a given time by waving a treat in front of his nose. If he becomes alert and eager for it, training can then ensue. If he shows disinterest, training should be delayed for a little while longer – trying to train a disinterested dog will just result in the dog becoming grumpy and uncooperative, effectively undoing any work you may have done with him before.

Recall training with treats:

• Give your dog a couple treats and then step backwards quickly, a few feet away from him.
  
• Immediately call him to you with your recall command in a silly, excited voice, holding out the rest of the treats.  
  
• When he comes towards you, encourage him further and give him a treat when he reaches you.
  
• Repeat a few times, ensuring that you end the training session on a good note (with praise and reward) and keeping it short to avoid your dog becoming bored and losing interest.
  
• Every few sessions, increase the recall distance between you and your dog.
  
• After your dog has grasped the basic idea of recall and is doing it readily, start to alternate between treats and praise; this prevents your dog from relying on a treat reward every time he comes when he is called.
  

Note: If you choose to use other motivators, adjust the instructions as necessary. For instance, when using toys, replace step one’s taster treats with a toy. Replace step two’s treats with a more interesting toy.

When you’re ready to practice recall outside and aren’t quite confident enough that he’ll come back when you call him or will succumb to distractions, it’s extremely helpful to have a long training lead (50ft, for instance). This allows your dog the freedom to wander around, but gives you control to ensure that he doesn’t wander too far.

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This is great advice Eleanor. I must get Kuchar to read it!

Thanks! You might have to use Google translate for him to understand it, though!

 I'll have to try it!

I'm sure there must be a dog-language option there somewhere!

If it includes dog-language for "no dog, human, bird, squirrel, cat or any other excuse for haring off into the wide blue yonder is more important than coming back to the human who loves you more than any of the above will ever do" then I'll stick it under his nose 24/7.

Until then - he's on an extendable lead   

Don't worry - Dempsey's recall isn't the greatest either!

Thank you Eleanor. It's such a pity; Kuchar's recall is great so long as nothing more important to him, i.e. the list above, appears. He's missing out on such a lot - stretching his legs in a really good run, playing with his friends without having to constantly untangle him from his long lead - and all because he loses his head.

Anyway, your post is great Eleanor and deserves to be stickied (without my burbling, obviously).

Yes, great post!

Dempsey's recall is, quite frankly, rubbish! It's better than it was, however, as long as the distractions aren't too near!

He has quite a strong 'stay' command, though, which has proved invaluable in the past when there's a dog that I haven't seen approaching - I can get him to stay long enough to catch up & attach the lead!

Great thread!

Harvey's recall is IMO 99.9% spot on and he has always been bloody brilliant, but Chance has zero recall and so is on his training lead probably indefinitely but we still practice it every chance we get

Thanks all! xx

LyndaW wrote:Thank you Eleanor.  It's such a pity; Kuchar's recall is great so long as nothing more important to him, i.e. the list above, appears. He's missing out on such a lot - stretching his legs in a really good run, playing with his friends without having to constantly untangle him from his long lead - and all because he loses his head.

Anyway, your post is great Eleanor and deserves to be stickied (without my burbling, obviously).

I think some dogs just don't do so well with it, unfortunately! Is there anyway secure and enclosed near you that Kuchar could run around in without escaping?

Caryll wrote:Yes, great post!

Dempsey's recall is, quite frankly, rubbish! It's better than it was, however, as long as the distractions aren't too near!

He has quite a strong 'stay' command, though, which has proved invaluable in the past when there's a dog that I haven't seen approaching - I can get him to stay long enough to catch up & attach the lead!

I'm going to try to work on his recall, going back to basics. I think he's gotten a little too used to standing, staring at people when they call him, then deciding a minute later to come trotting over!

ella wrote:Great thread!

Harvey's recall is IMO 99.9% spot on and he has always been bloody brilliant, but Chance has zero recall and so is on his training lead probably indefinitely but we still practice it every chance we get

Yeah, it goes to show that not every dog will be as easy to train when it comes to recall! A lot of people beat themselves up about it.

"Is there anyway secure and enclosed near you that Kuchar could run around in without escaping?"

We are very fortunate here in that we are surrounded by miles and miles of common land. Which is no good for Himself because he would take himself off and I would never see him again. So no, the local council don't see a need to provide dog-parks. The only enclosed spaces are tennis courts and childrens' playgrounds, and I would be skinned alive if I was caught with a dog, especially off-lead, in either   

That's a shame! Maybe he'll settle down a bit with age!

I hope so Eleanor!