Lesson Five - The "RECALL"

[dolmod]

Fifth chapter in the DOL Training Guide: Teaching your dog the "RECALL" command.

No debating which technique is better or worse, just simple step by step guides from members for members.

Videos welcome.

[Titan_87]

There a bunch of ways to teach a recall all of which require repitition in a ton of different places and high value rewards. This is one of the commands that I suggest rewarding for constantly rather than fading out the reward.

Couple rules to point out.

1. NEVER call your dog to you to do something that they don't like. For example don't say "Here Fido!" and then promptly place them in the tub for a bath. Instead if you MUST call them for a negative experience spend a couple minutes playing with them prior to moving on to the thing they dislike.

2. NEVER call your dog when you don't think they will come. If you are teaching the recall you cannot push it too fast otherwise the command will break down.

3. NEVER repeat the command if your dog isn't responding. This will only teach your dog to ignore you. Call once, if they don't look, clap your hands, make kissy noises, grunt... do whatever you have to get their attention and then run the other way. You have to be more interesting than whatever else they are doing.

4. ALWAYS reward for a good recall!! ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS!!! This command can never have too much reinforcement.

5. Practice the recall EVERYWHERE you can... Grab a 50' longline and clip it to your dog for safety and head to the park, out to a vacant parking lot, to the beach, to your friend's backyard, etc.

6. If your dog is having a hard time coming in from the backyard when called, practice your recall out there. Call your dog to you as you do when you bring them inside. Give them a treat and send them back out to play. Repeat this 10-20 times.. You want the dog to think that it is far more likely that they will just get a treat when called than their fun time coming to an end.

Here is a good way to teach a recall using the Touch command. I like this method because it requires that the dog goes all the way to the handler rather than almost all the way or dashing past them.

1. Start with a treat in your closed fist and hold your fist off to your side.

2. Open your fist and give the treat to the dog the second they touch their nose to your hand.

3. After a couple repititions, don't place the treat in your hand anymore. You want to fade the treat pretty fast as dogs tend to get dependent on it. Hold your open hand to your side, click/treat for any nose touches.

3. Repeat this adding in a "Come" command when they are touching your hand reliably.

4. Increase the distance the dog must go to touch your hand.

5. REPEAT! Always make the recall fun and worth it to the dog!

I will add a video later!

[Meatos]

I personally think it's important to reward your dog for coming to you, even if you didn't call them - especially in a high distraction area. This shapes the behaviour and lays the foundation for good recall because good things ALWAYS happen when the dog goes back to mom or dad.

Another thing to remember is to pick one word and stick with it! I hear so many people at the dog park saying COME! HERE! OVER HERE! HEY! NOW! OVER HERE! HERE! COME! COME! COME! and the dog just looks at them like wtf?? and runs off.

We always touch the collar to "complete" recall.

[MillyVanilly]

Doggy Park Recalls

Okay...so Milly my 8 mo.old great Dane puppy is absolutely wonderful everywhere....almost. At home, the European market, in our backyard, at our training center and every other place she goes except one...THE DOG PARK.
She knows and completes all basic and almost all advanced commands... She will have her CGC next week. The only thing we can not get is a recall at the dog park. I brought my long line and her trainer there this morning. After awhile she started getting it, and by the end of the hour she was coming on her own but not with the speed I wished she would. I know this a fairly common place to have issues with this and realize that she is still a puppy, but besides the long line and bringing very enticing treats is there anything else you all can recommend? I always use the word come, and she always gets rewarded for doing it...I think one of the biggest problems is when there are other puppies to play with she really doesn't care to much about food. I use thr Natural Balance Food Roll cut up into training size pieces, but was thinking of bringing hot dogs or cheese...maybe some chicken breast. I know this thread is for recall but does anyone know how to de-sensitize a prissy dog to laying on wet grass?
That's another thing we struggle with..She HATES to walk on it, and its hard to get her to a sit.down command on it.
Thanks in advance for any help!!!

[Greenmagick]

Ok, this is obviously not my work, but I just came across this and thought it was full of very important info. Its a three part series but only the first two are up so far, I think the third comes tomorrow...

http://recallers.the5minuteformula.com/fe/9101

[oneheatherdiane]

thanks for the tips

1. NEVER call your dog to you to do something that they don't like. For example don't say "Here Fido!" and then promptly place them in the tub for a bath. Instead if you MUST call them for a negative experience spend a couple minutes playing with them prior to moving on to the thing they dislike.

2. NEVER call your dog when you don't think they will come. If you are teaching the recall you cannot push it too fast otherwise the command will break down.

3. NEVER repeat the command if your dog isn't responding. This will only teach your dog to ignore you. Call once, if they don't look, clap your hands, make kissy noises, grunt... do whatever you have to get their attention and then run the other way. You have to be more interesting than whatever else they are doing.

i've been working on 'come' with my new pup and totally broke all 3 of these rules. she's not quite 4months old, so hopefully now that i've seen this, we can get on the right track

[BerlinTheDane]

I am with you! Berlin will come any where BUT the dog park. LOL I was seriously thinking of the long line approach. I wonder though, when I show the chicken breast how many dogs will "come" LOL

[petofZeus]

Thank you for your post. Zeus is 1 1/2 and the people we got him from treated him like crap. He's got some obsince. I'm having problems with him running in the road. We live in the country on a very busy road. He's about been hit once due to people driving 100 miles an hour. (that's another problem).

[Dale's_Dane]

thanks for the tips


i've been working on 'come' with my new pup and totally broke all 3 of these rules. she's not quite 4months old, so hopefully now that i've seen this, we can get on the right track

I too have made this mistake....my dane is coming close to 3mos and is doing very well with other commands EXCEPT this one lol! Going to spend my summer working on this cause chasing him around the yard is SO not working for me!

[m_kallus09]

Come to the Kennel!

I have a question as far as the 'come' command. My 16 month old, Gracie, does very well at paying attention when I call her name, and most of the time, seems eager for the next command. I kennel her while I am not home, but have also used the kennel as a punishment when catching her chewing.

I have another dane, Carli who is 2, so I feel I cannot get her to take me serious when telling her 'NO' because Carli is a distraction and wants to play with Gracie right after her getting in trouble.

So I guess my question is if I'm doing the right thing by using the kennel as a punishment, even though I reward her for going in there when it's needed. I don't want her to feel like she's being punished when I call her to 'come' when just putting her in the kennel while I'm not home.

[ouesi]

I have a question as far as the 'come' command. My 16 month old, Gracie, does very well at paying attention when I call her name, and most of the time, seems eager for the next command. I kennel her while I am not home, but have also used the kennel as a punishment when catching her chewing.

I have another dane, Carli who is 2, so I feel I cannot get her to take me serious when telling her 'NO' because Carli is a distraction and wants to play with Gracie right after her getting in trouble.

So I guess my question is if I'm doing the right thing by using the kennel as a punishment, even though I reward her for going in there when it's needed. I don't want her to feel like she's being punished when I call her to 'come' when just putting her in the kennel while I'm not home.

I haven't crated in a while but yeah, crate as a punishment is not the best idea. Usually a time out is removal of YOU for a young puppy or as they get older a place command.

For putting her in the kennel, I wouldn't use "come", instead I would use something like "house" or "crate" in a happy voice. "Come" really needs to mean come to ME, not let me catch you and lock you up for the day LOL

[big-sky]

One thing that has worked wonders with me and Texas is using one meal-time a day as training time. She's hungry, so she's motivated. It's easy to get into the habit of doing it every day and it takes about 5 min.

I do long-line recalls and let her eat some of her kibble with each recall. Usually she's so excited for dinner time that she needs no extra incentive - just plain ol' kibble. But sometimes I'll throw in an extra-special treat to keep her on her toes.

And once her recall improved, I worked on other stuff like "kennel" or "up, up" (getting into the car, which isn't her favorite).

[m_kallus09]

I haven't crated in a while but yeah, crate as a punishment is not the best idea.

Usually a time out is removal of YOU for a young puppy or as they get older a place command.

For putting her in the kennel, I wouldn't use "come", instead I would use something like "house" or "crate" in a happy voice. "Come" really needs to mean come to ME, not let me catch you and lock you up for the day LOL

Yea, I agree with you. That is my fault for not just wanting to deal with having to calm Carli down while Gracie is in 'time out'. She's actually does really well with going into the crate when I call her to, I'll just have to work on not forgiving her to quickly ;-)

[Eliza Beth]

thanks for the tips


i've been working on 'come' with my new pup and totally broke all 3 of these rules. she's not quite 4months old, so hopefully now that i've seen this, we can get on the right track

me too... everyday i think...

[ouesi]

me too... everyday i think...

My dogs have great recall, and we still practice it every day You practice sit every day with meals right? Why wouldn't "come" be any different? Just make sure it is always a hugely rewarded command.