Having trouble teaching your dog recall? We’ve got you! In this post, we’ll be talking you through how to teach your dog to come when called so you can enjoy off lead adventures without worrying about your dog running off!
Walking Equipment
To begin with, you’ll want to keep your dog on a long line on your walks. We recommend a 10 metre long line made of biothane (avoid retractable leads!) Keeping your dog on the lead prevents them from being able to rehearse the undesirable behaviour of running off/ not coming when called. If your dog is already in the habit of running over to other dogs, people or other distractions, you definitely want to get them back on the lead to prevent that happening. If your dog pulls on the lead, have a read of our post about loose lead walking here.
The next step is to actually teach your dog a recall cue. Keep it clear, simple and consistent. We suggest using your dog’s name followed by your cue, e.g. ‘Duke, come!’ Click here to check out our video of a game we love to play with all the dogs we work with. Your dog needs to learn that coming back to you means awesome things happen for them. So be prepared with your dog’s favourite reward. This could be a tasty treat like cheese, chicken etc or a play with their favourite tug toy. Whatever it is that lights your dog up is what you want to use as their recall reward!
Teaching your dog recall around distractions
Distractions are the great enemy of a reliable recall cue! What your dog finds distracting will be individual to them. Maybe it’s other dogs, birds or smells. Our boy Duke really loves saying hello to women- he’s a ladies man, if you will! So how do we make sure our dog doesn’t run over to distractions, and how do we make sure they come back if they do? Back to the long lead. This is crucial to making sure your dog can’t repeat and rehearse the undesirable behavior of running over to the distraction in the first instance.
As and when you come across distractions on your walk with your dog on the long line, you can practice calling them back to you and rewarding them for doing so. If your dog doesn’t come, you are too close to the distraction. Try not to get frustrated when your dogs recall ‘fails’. This happens to all of us at some point! Think of it as information rather than a failure. You’ll know for next time that in that situation, your dog isn’t ready and you can set them up for success by giving them more space from the distraction.
No failures, just information
What should you do if your dog doesn’t come when called? It’s not ideal, but these things do happen. How you respond to this will depend on your dog and the situation you’re in. but whatever’s happening, stay calm! If your dog is looking at you, you can try getting them to chase you and reward them for catching up with you.
But if your Labrador has forgotten all about you and is having the time of their life playing in the sea, or your Beagle is nose down in a scent, you are probably going to have to wait them out (if safe to do so) or go to them and get their lead on. Again, it’s not a failure, just information. There’s no need to punish your dog for not coming back when called. It certainly won’t increase their likelihood of coming next time you call! Just go back to basics and keep practising.
Next Steps
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