For April I want to spend some time really working on our dog’s recall. We talked about this in February but let's dive in a little bit deeper. The key to a great come command is that it is reflexive! That a dog hears their call and instantly without thinking turns to you. So step one is to work on conditioning both their name and the come command to mean great things are going to happen.

Let’s work on these exercises from Ultimate Recallers this week:

We worked on this one already but I’ll post it here again for anyone who missed working on that so it’s here for review.

Once you have laid down that strong name recognition let’s do the same with our come command!

You can do these exercises on leash, in the house, in your yard, on a walk. Only do them off leash if your dog will look to you in that environment when you say their name. They don’t yet have to be willing to return to you, but they do need to be interested in your rewards and want to get them if you toss one to them when they look at you. So if they are struggling only do this when they are on leash or in a successful area.

Other ways to strengthen the cues. Put them in before calling your dog for fun things:

• When you are going to feed them dinner, call them, even if they are standing right in front of you

• When you are going to take them for a walk (if they like going for walks, if your dog get’s stressed out having a harness put on, don’t call for that)

• When you want to throw their toy

• When you want to feed them a chew

• When you are going to give them a food puzzle

Pair their name and “come” to all their favorite things.

This week I want you to focus on seeing how many ways you can make coming to you the most fun part of your dog’s day!