Of all the skills your dog needs to function safely in the human world, having a solid recall is the most important. Life happens and having a good recall could quite possibly save your dog’s life one day. It can also save you from having to journey out into the yard at midnight in your pjs to retrieve a madly barking pup whose cornered a raccoon by the trash bins.
Recall is one of the most challenging skills to teach our dogs, because often we are calling them away from something very fun and interesting. To counteract their instinct to keep doing the fun thing and ignore you, recall must be carefully conditioned using positive reinforcement.
For a recall to be truly engrained in your dog, it needs to be practiced consistently and in a variety of settings. Fortunately, practicing recall can become a part of your daily routine and doesn’t need to add unnecessary stress to your plate.
The first step is to pick a cue word or sound. Studies have shown that animals respond most readily to higher pitched quick staccato sounds. Think of a bell, ding ding ding! In my house, our recall cue is a high pitched “pup pup pup”. Feel free to use whatever word or sound works best for you, just be consistent and avoid using your normal “come” cue.
We avoid using the “come” cue because we want to establish the recall response as a separate, reflex like reaction. For most dogs, “come” means “come over when you’re done sniffing that please” and doesn’t have the same sense of urgency as the recall cue. If taught and practiced correctly, a recall becomes almost an involuntary response; an invisible safety line that pulls your pup back to you.
As I mentioned, we are often recalling our dogs away from activities that they find incredibly fun, like rolling in poop or something dead. This is a big ask of our dogs, so we need to deliver on our end and ensure that responding positively to a recall cue always equals something amazing.
For most dogs, mealtimes and your arrival are the most exciting and fun parts of the day. Capitalize on these preconditioned exciting moments and start using them as opportunities to practice recall daily.
Note: To practice the recall command, your dog needs to know the “stay” cue. To learn how to teach your dog the “stay” cue, check out this tutorial. At 2:22 he mentions using the “yes, good girl” to let the dog know she’s done the right thing-this is a verbal marker.
1. Minute #1: Breakfast Bell
After morning potty, separate your dog’s breakfast into five separate portions. Ask your pup for a sit and stay. Wait a few seconds, (dogs are fast and impatient so keep it at 2 seconds or less when first starting out) then call him to you using your chosen recall cue. As soon as he starts moving towards you, mark the behavior with your verbal marker so he knows he’s on the right track. Not sure what a verbal marker is? Brush up on your training skills and review this handy step by step training breakdown.
You can watch an example of a verbal marker in the "stay" tutorial by clicking here. At 2:22 he mentions using the “yes, good girl” to let the dog know she’s done the right thing. This is a verbal marker.
When he reaches you, set down his first portion of breakfast and praise him with sincere enthusiasm. When he looks up wondering where the rest of his breakfast is, ask him for another sit and stay. Back up a few steps and use the recall cue, then reward with more breakfast and praise. Continue until breakfast has been fully served.
As your dog gets better at this game, increase the time and distance. Eventually you can have him stay in the kitchen and recall him from your bedroom. This exercise shouldn’t take more than a minute or so, depending on how fast your dog eats his food. Be patient and consistent as you slowly increase the challenge.
2. Minute #2: Recall Reunion
Arriving home to greet my dogs is probably my favorite part of the day, and based on their. crazed barking and jumping, it’s their favorite part of the day as well. Use this positive energy to reward your pup’s recall skills. When you arrive home, play it cool and walk in, head held high, while ignoring your excited pup.
Keep some tasty treats by the front door and slip a snack into your pocket. Ask him for a sit and stay, then back up a few steps. If your stay cue is newly installed, keep it to one to two seconds. Using your recall cue, call him to you. When he moves toward you, use your verbal marker so he knows he’s got it. Now give that good boy some pets and a cookie!
3. Minute #3: Dinner Bell
When it’s time for dinner, separate your dog’s meal into five portions. Using the same routine as breakfast, ask your pup for a sit and wait. Take a few steps away from him, then use your recall cue to call him to you. As he moves towards you, mark the behavior with your verbal marker, then praise and reward him with his first bowl of dinner. Repeat until dinner has been fully served.
Without adding any additional stress to your day, you’ve now practiced recall with your dog eleven times. In a week, you will have practiced recall 77 times and by the end of the month, your dog will have practiced recall 330 times. By the end of the year, your dog will have rehearsed his recall at least 3,960 times. That’s 3,960 little strands of memories that are woven together to create a solid rope of recall that will pull him back to you should the need arise. These small daily habits have a huge impact on your dog’s learning and may very well save their life one day.
To further solidify your dog’s recall skills, your next step is to practice recall in environments of higher distraction, such as the yard or the park. These environments make it much more challenging to get your dog’s attention, so we need to use different training methods to ensure recall success.
However, practicing recall in a low distraction environment such as your home is the first crucial step to building a solid recall response. With all dog training efforts, its best to start small and build your way up to more challenging scenarios.
To learn how to practice recall skills in high distraction environments, check out this article.
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