Recall/Come Commands Tips and Suggestions

DON’T CALL TO MAKE NEGATIVE OUTCOMES MORE CONVENIENT FOR YOU!

If you need to do something your dog doesn’t like (bath, getting in a crate, leaving the dog park, toenail trims, etc) go to them, put a leash on or wait for them to opt in. Don’t use a precious come command to ask them to volunteer for something you know they don’t like.

DON’T USE A COME CUE TO MANAGE BEHAVIOR BEFORE IT IS APPROPRIATELY TRAINED!!!

It takes time to teach a solid understanding of the “come” cue. If you rely on it before a dog truly understands it, you can bring inconsistency and hesitancy into the response to your cue.

It is normal for young puppies to run to you when you call them! It is also normal for those same puppies as they age and become more confident to ignore you and choose exploring their environment over responding to you calling them. This is not them being disobedient. This is them not actually understanding what the word “come” means, and hearing you say words but feeling comfortable to keep doing what they are doing. Personally I do not consider my recall cues trained for at least 6 months to a year of training. My dog has to move through all his developmental periods and experience recall training through those phases to fully understand. So even though Leo had a GREAT recall at 5 months old, I was fully well aware during adolescence it would be challenged all over again.

Use long lines, fenced areas, safe areas to manage the environment during training so you don’t have to rely on a come command before it’s trained!

DO USE HIGH VALUE REINFORCEMENT AND BUILD AS MANY REINFORCERS AS YOU CAN

A dog that enjoys playing with you that finds many things you have to offer reinforcing is much easier to train a reliable fast happy recall to. If they don’t play with toys, use things that hold food you can play with to build some engagement. You reinforcement with food only lasts as long as it takes to swallow the food, with things they have to engage with you increase the duration of the reinforcement!

And when it comes to dogs, a big reason a recall is needed is to call them away from something they want to chase or engage with, so being able to provide that yourself can more easily counter and redirect away from those distractions.

EMERGENCY RECALLS & WHISTLES

It’s a good idea to create a recall cue your dog can hear at distance or during windy or harder to hear conditions. Whistles are a great recall tool! Treat it like conditioning a clicker! Be sure to practice your recall cues with many different tones and volumes of your voice! It will change under stress.