Coming When Called (Recall)
Teaching your dog to come when called (recall) is one of the most important things you will ever teach your dog. This command can be life saving. If your dog is running towards the street and a car is coming you want your dog to whip around and come to you the second you call him. Below are a few simple steps to help your dog gain a rock solid recall.
Get the dog's attention before giving the "Come" cue. Call his name, clap your hands, whistle, make funny noises, etc. If you don’t have his attention it is unlikely that he will listen to the cue. Dogs have very one track minds. If your dog's brain is not on you anything you say will most likely just go in one ear and out the other. If your dog is looking at you when you give the "Come" cue and still chooses not to come this is a clear sign that the dog is ignoring you. Giving the recall cue when the dog is ignoring you is useless and only teaches your dog that it is ok to ignore this cue. If your dog ignores you, just go get him.
Only ever give the recall cue once. This is never a cue that you ever want your dog to learn that it’s ok to ignore. Repeating the cue over and over only teaches your dog that he doesn’t have to listen the first time you give it. Your dog will eventually just start to tune it out. This just teaches your dog that the recall cue isn’t important and that he can come whenever he feels like it. We want your dog to think that the recall cue is not optional. Either he comes the first time you call and something good might happen, or you just go get him and make him come and he gets nothing. Either way, he is still coming. The only time you should ever repeat the cue is if you think that maybe the dog didn’t hear you.
Never chase a dog if it doesn’t come to you! Almost all dogs love nothing more than to engage in a good game of “chase”. If you call your dog to come to you, he ignores it, and you chase after him, all you are teaching him is that ignoring you means he gets to play a super fun game of “chase” and that running from you is super fun! You NEVER want your dog to learn that it is fun to run away from people! This is also a common way for dogs to get hit by cars. In your mind, you want to get to your dog as quickly as possible because a car is coming. In your dogs mind, you've just started a game of chase. More often than not, you will just end up chasing your dog right into the very thing you are trying to protect him from.
If you have to go get your dog, try to be as boring as possible. Walk slowly, hold you head down, etc. You want your dog to learn that coming to you on his own is always fun and rewarding, but if you have to come get him then nothing fun happens at all. Another option is turning around and running in the opposite direction yourself! If your dog is set on playing a game of “chase,” let him chase you. This can also be a great way to turn coming to you into a fun game!
Something good should happen 8/10 times for coming to you. This can be petting, a treat, a toy, a walk, or whatever else your dog really likes. Remember, anything your dog really likes, wants, or needs can be a reward. Using things in the environment that you know your dog likes can be a huge reward as well. Call your dog over and show him the really cool feather you found on the ground. Or a snake skin, gofer hole, pole that lots of other dogs have likely peed on, etc. You want your dog to think that coming to you is always the best thing ever! f your dog learns that coming to you is a bad thing (i.e. he gets put in his kennel, he has to stop playing, etc.) he will never want to come to you.
Never punish your dog when they come to you. This only teaches your dog that coming to you is a bad thing. Even if your dog was just doing something really bad like digging in the yard or something, if the dog stops doing the bad thing to listen and come to you that deserves rewarding. Remember that dogs learn by association! So if (1)your dog is doing something bad, (2)you call him to come to you, (3)he stops doing the bad thing, (4)comes to you, (5) and then you punish him, the thing the dog will most likely associate the punishment with will be the coming to you part.
Practice on a regular basis. A great thing to practice is a “recall check in.” This basically helps to teach your dog that coming to you does not mean the end of play. A recall check in is when you call your dog to you while he is playing, sniffing, exploring, etc, give him lots of praise and petting, then let him go right back to what he was doing as a reward for coming to you. A lot of people will often take their dog to the park, let their dog run around and have a blast, then only call their dog when it’s time to go. This just turns the recall cue into a bad thing! If you practice several recall check ins throughout playtime, your dog will still be more than happy to come to you once it is time for play to end.
Get the dog's attention before giving the "Come" cue. Call his name, clap your hands, whistle, make funny noises, etc. If you don’t have his attention it is unlikely that he will listen to the cue. Dogs have very one track minds. If your dog's brain is not on you anything you say will most likely just go in one ear and out the other. If your dog is looking at you when you give the "Come" cue and still chooses not to come this is a clear sign that the dog is ignoring you. Giving the recall cue when the dog is ignoring you is useless and only teaches your dog that it is ok to ignore this cue. If your dog ignores you, just go get him.
Only ever give the recall cue once. This is never a cue that you ever want your dog to learn that it’s ok to ignore. Repeating the cue over and over only teaches your dog that he doesn’t have to listen the first time you give it. Your dog will eventually just start to tune it out. This just teaches your dog that the recall cue isn’t important and that he can come whenever he feels like it. We want your dog to think that the recall cue is not optional. Either he comes the first time you call and something good might happen, or you just go get him and make him come and he gets nothing. Either way, he is still coming. The only time you should ever repeat the cue is if you think that maybe the dog didn’t hear you.
Never chase a dog if it doesn’t come to you! Almost all dogs love nothing more than to engage in a good game of “chase”. If you call your dog to come to you, he ignores it, and you chase after him, all you are teaching him is that ignoring you means he gets to play a super fun game of “chase” and that running from you is super fun! You NEVER want your dog to learn that it is fun to run away from people! This is also a common way for dogs to get hit by cars. In your mind, you want to get to your dog as quickly as possible because a car is coming. In your dogs mind, you've just started a game of chase. More often than not, you will just end up chasing your dog right into the very thing you are trying to protect him from.
If you have to go get your dog, try to be as boring as possible. Walk slowly, hold you head down, etc. You want your dog to learn that coming to you on his own is always fun and rewarding, but if you have to come get him then nothing fun happens at all. Another option is turning around and running in the opposite direction yourself! If your dog is set on playing a game of “chase,” let him chase you. This can also be a great way to turn coming to you into a fun game!
Something good should happen 8/10 times for coming to you. This can be petting, a treat, a toy, a walk, or whatever else your dog really likes. Remember, anything your dog really likes, wants, or needs can be a reward. Using things in the environment that you know your dog likes can be a huge reward as well. Call your dog over and show him the really cool feather you found on the ground. Or a snake skin, gofer hole, pole that lots of other dogs have likely peed on, etc. You want your dog to think that coming to you is always the best thing ever! f your dog learns that coming to you is a bad thing (i.e. he gets put in his kennel, he has to stop playing, etc.) he will never want to come to you.
Never punish your dog when they come to you. This only teaches your dog that coming to you is a bad thing. Even if your dog was just doing something really bad like digging in the yard or something, if the dog stops doing the bad thing to listen and come to you that deserves rewarding. Remember that dogs learn by association! So if (1)your dog is doing something bad, (2)you call him to come to you, (3)he stops doing the bad thing, (4)comes to you, (5) and then you punish him, the thing the dog will most likely associate the punishment with will be the coming to you part.
Practice on a regular basis. A great thing to practice is a “recall check in.” This basically helps to teach your dog that coming to you does not mean the end of play. A recall check in is when you call your dog to you while he is playing, sniffing, exploring, etc, give him lots of praise and petting, then let him go right back to what he was doing as a reward for coming to you. A lot of people will often take their dog to the park, let their dog run around and have a blast, then only call their dog when it’s time to go. This just turns the recall cue into a bad thing! If you practice several recall check ins throughout playtime, your dog will still be more than happy to come to you once it is time for play to end.