Reliable Recall

Most people think that their dog has a recall if they can call their dog's name four or five times and the dog meanders over to them or comes to their vicinity within a few minutes. This is usually done in a home or back yard where there are few if any distractions. I find this very disturbing. It is wholly inadequate for the safety of the dog or humans that might end up in the mix.

Teaching a reliable recall is of the utmost importance. This is especially true if you will be taking your dog to a dog park or other off leash environment. It will also help if a dog somehow gets loose from his leash or if his collar breaks while on a walk etc. Dogs are notorious for chasing squirrels or cats when we aren't expecting it. This will put them in danger of getting run over by cars or becoming entangled in a fight with an aggressive dog.

Below is my solution for teaching the 'reliable recall'.

The first step to teaching this type of recall is to make up a large stash of treats. When I say treats I'm not talking about the kind you find in the store. Even the juiciest packaged treat is not adequate to teach with the reliability needed for a safety recall such as we will be discussing in this post. Hot dogs, cooked chicken breast, salmon or something like steak will be needed for this exercise. Now some people will frown upon this use of food. If this is you. See my post on using food for training.

 Your dog needs to be convinced that it is a great likelihood that you will come up with a really terrific reward for coming to you so it is well worth leaving whatever it is that he is doing to come to you on the chance that there might be something really juicy in it for him. He doesn't have to see or smell the treats for this to work once you have him conditioned to the whistle call.

When I say a large stash of treats I mean a LARGE stash of them!! In teaching this recall you must be extremely generous. The treats should be cut in very small pieces, it's the taste, not the fill factor that excites your dog. Cut them in pea sized peices. Each time your dog responds to your whistle you will be indulging him with 10 or 20 treats to reinforce his response to your cue (which in this case will be a loud whistle). I give them to the dog one or two in my hand at a time so that it is repeated over and over. That is why they need to be so small. No need to be concerned about your dog gaining weight because of this, since you are using cooked chicken there will be few calories and you can adjust his meals if you think he has had too much during training time.

The other two things you will need is a carpenters apron with pockets to put the large amount of treats in and a whistle on a lanyard to put around your neck or on a wrist strap so that you will have your whistle handy at all times.

Now to the exercise:
For the first couple of weeks you will be conditioning your dog that whenever you whistle, good things are coming right now!!! At this point never do this if you think there is a chance that your dog will not be paying attention to you.

1. Make up a whistle pattern and use the same one all the time. The one I use is 2 short and 1 long whistles. It is similar to a Morse code pattern. Have your dog close to you and on a leash in a place with no distractions such as your living room or your back yard depending on your dogs attention capabilities. Whistle to your dog with whatever pattern you have chosen. Make it about three tones and very loud.
2. When he looks at you and steps toward you give him his chicken 10 pieces one at a time.
3. Allow him to get interested in something else but keep him on the leash and then whistle again. Reward him generously each time with 10, even 20 pieces. Remember to give them to him one at a time but all after only one recall. This is very important.

This is what you will do for a week several times a day. It may seem like he knows it but the repititions are needed for a really reliable recall.

1. Continuing to stay in a place where there are no distractions: For the next week or so, put your dog on a longer line of about 10 or 15 feet. At this point you will want to wait for him to look at you and then whistle and treat at the same generous rate. You must make sure that there is little or no chance that your dog will ignore your whistle. Set him up for success! You can do this off leash only if you are certain that your dog will come EVERY time in a place with no distractions.

Do this for a week, it seems like a very slow process but it will all be worth it if you stick with the plan.

1. The next step is to keep your dog on a long line just as before and whistle when he is looking away from you. You don't want him to be so distracted that he is zoned in on a cat or squirrel but just looking away from you.
2. Continue as before, rewarding generously when he comes all the way to you. Make sure you don't reward him for coming almost to you but right at your feet. This is very important all the way through the plan. If your dog is not showing interest your treats may not be yummy enough or you might need to read this again.

Do this for another week and then we will go for the next step.

1. Putting your dog back on a long leash but letting him drag it instead of holding it. You will want to make sure you are in a safe place throughout the training. Remaining in a place for this step where there is little to no distraction, wait 'till he is looking around sniffing or doing what dogs do and then whistle/reward when he comes to you. You may use different types of meats but always freshly cooked and warm so that they smell really good to your dog.  Never forget to be very generous with the treats, your dog will remember if you were generous or if you were stingy with the treats and it will affect his response.

At this point you can start including distractions one at a time. Start with small low stimulating distractions and then move to the harder ones. Make sure you take this slowly. Only add distractions when your dog is responding well with the previous distraction level. You can see how we moved very slowly as we added new aspects to our training.

This recall will need to be maintained by doing it a couple of times a week for the rest of his life but it is worth it to keep your dog safe and reliable. Keep with the pattern of slowly increasing the distratctions and take a few steps backward if you find you are having trouble, to the previous step. You will have a very reliable recall. Your friends will be amazed and your dog will be safe!!

Happy training!!

Mary Kowalczyk



Power Paws Dog Rehabilitation and Training Contact us at:powerpaws@live.com or 321-302-4142