Lets Talk Recall!

Everyone wants their puppy or their dog to come when called! It is for their safety and let's face it, we feel great when they come running to us! We almost expect our dogs to automatically know that they should come when we call them, I mean we play with them, we feed, take care and provide for them. Why shouldn't they come? However, when we call them and they look at us or just sit there and then turn away, it brings about feelings of disappointment, frustration and can even be a little hurtful! Suddenly, we decide that the dog or pup needs to be punished. We either walk up to them and scold them, spank them or worse yet get close enough to get their attention and then call them and they do come only to get reprimanded for not coming the first time they were called and you had to walk part of the way to get them. Well yelling, scolding and spankings are a sure way to get your dog or pup to never come to you. Why should they? There is nothing positive about coming up to you or you coming up to them attached to the word "come." As a matter of fact, especially with a young pup that you are helping to mold their opinion of the world, you have just taught that you are unpredictable, a source of pain and something to be nervous and anxious around. This will later domino to people in general. You are now opening a can of worms for many other behavior issues. Now let's talk about how to do it right!! When you call your dog, put some value on the word that you are using. If it is "come" then just stand there NEXT to your dog and say "come" and then deliver a nice tasty treat! Repeat this several times. Next back away just a bit, get excited call your dog and when they come again deliver that tasty treat or if they like toys pull out the ball or any other toy they like and play. If you use a ball and they fetch it, when they are coming back to you say "come" and throw the ball/toy again! Play hide and seek games! Hide very easily at first, call your dog and when they find you deliver a reward! These are all fun ways to make a recall fun and positive. Use lots of praise when they get to you. I always use a high value treat when I call my dog to come to me and they ALWAYS get some sort of reward for coming to me! Even if I am in the backyard and call them. when they come I say, "good dogs, lets go get a cookie!" Sometimes I call them to the backdoor and release them again to go and play instead of coming in as their reinforcer! Establishing a history of high reinforcers is the road to a good recall. When you call your dog, they should believe a party is about to happen! Let's talk about distractions! When you call your dog you need to be sure that they are not around a distraction that you suspect or know you are competing for their attention. You must build your recall from no/low to high distractions. If you know that your dog will not come to you when he is outside around squirrels then you need to GO AND GET THEM! Sorry having a large yard is no excuse! The more you call and give them the opportunity to not come when called the more you will unravel your recall! Before you decide to call your dog, check out what he is doing or what is around him. Be patient and work through your distraction areas! Recalls are not trained overnight, they are a reflection of your relationship with your dog so you need some history behind a good one! Dogs have a mind of their own and are not robots, I believe even the best recall may only be about 98% perfect!! My best advice is to get with a positive based trainer that can teach you many games and ways to help build that great recall!!