Teaching Recall

[yellowumbrella]

Ok, give it to me ladies.

D squeezed out the front door this week and I had to chase him for about half a mile through our neighborhood. He wasn't going that fast and I was able to follow him, but anytime I would get close he would speed up. Thankfully there were some people taking their morning walk and he did the one thing I can always count on him to do - look for attention from strangers.

We don't ever let the dogs off-leash on purpose, but obviously we shouldn't have neglected recall training. How should we start?

[redheadbaker]

I started with Reese indoors. I would randomly call her to me, and reward her with an extra-special treat (Stella & Chewy's freeze dried duck treats, which were reserved ONLY for recall training) when she obeyed. Once she had reliable recall indoors, we stepped it up and moved outdoors (on a 20-foot leash).

[dirtyred]

We also used the special "come" treat that she got only when she followed the command, and we still reward her every time, even two years later.

[bullygirl979]

If doesn't use the command at all, start very small. Get an extra special treat, give him a whiff, then backpedal for a few steps saying "D. Come". When he gets to you, give him the treat. Do this over and over so he starts to associate the word "come" with going to you. As time goes on, make him go a longer distance. Then step it up like RHB suggested. Start in the house and call him and tell him "come" and give him a treat. Just make sure that he KNOWS the word come and will come when called. If he doesn't, start back at square one. Then like RHB suggested, move it outdoors. Start with the back yard and then the front. Slowly introduce more distractions. Go to PetSmart and practice there. The key is moving up and practicing with a lot of stimulation so when he does escape, it isn't like he will be so over stimulated that all his training goes out the window.

One thing I will caution. Do NOT call him and tell him "come" and then have a negative consequence after (i.e. going in his crate, being punished, or having to come inside from playing). If you do this, he will not always want to come to you. You have to make the command 100% positive if you really want this to work.

[straymo]

I can tell you how our trainer had use train it and 99.9999% it works. The key is to continue to practice it often.

You can start inside, but then move outside to a fenced area.
- First DH & you are separated a good distance. Person A holds the dog back (don't make him sit or be calm or anything - getting worked up is fine since when you want him to him, he's not likely coming from a calm sit).
- Person B has several high value treats in your hand. Whatever will get dog excited. Then stand with your legs apart and make sure the dog knows what you have. You can even let him smell the treat before separating.
- Person B calls "Come!" (or whatever you want to use) and Person A lets go. Right as the dog runs at you, toss the treat between your legs about 1' back (make sure dog sees this and goes between your legs to get it.) Person B then turns around and tosses treat back through legs again. Dog will go back the way it came, but in between your legs. You then grab the collar and treat.

That may sound confusing, but the key is that if the dog is trained to run past you (between your legs) in a real emergency, the you would actually be able to grab the dog.

Many people get their dog to come to them, but if you reach for them, they back up. Once you are able to grab the collar. LOTS OF TREATS AND PRAISE. They have to connect being caught is the best part.

You have to do this over and over and over and over. I can tell you I can call Lily and she WILL come running and damn near knock me over because she's used to going between my legs. It works though.