Recall Training your dog, may not be what you think!

If my dog Noodle could thank me for anything, I

think it would be giving her the freedom to run around every day, off lead. Playing with her dog friends, chasing leaves, or saying hello to people, she has the freedom to do it all.

This is only possible, because I have put so much of my efforts, into training my dog that recall (coming back to me), is worthwhile.

Notice I didn’t say, training her to come back to me - I mean she already knows how to do that - put one paw in front of the others and repeat! 

No, what I have to do, is make that a worthwhile behaviour for her, and bingo, my dog has what we like to call ‘recall’

If I had £1 for every owner that says their dog develops selective hearing when they are having fun and just ignores their calls to come back - I’d have enough to buy a year's supply of bacon lardons (for recall training!)

But why is this?  Most owners are not dog trainers, and therefore just don’t know how to train their dogs effectively, and that’s perfectly understandable. Dog training is a science - yes that’s right, it’s not a hobby or a natural instinct, it’s a science. Just because you have always lived with dogs, it doesn’t make you a dog trainer, I’ve lived with two feet all my life, but it doesn’t make me a podiatrist.

And unless you understand how to change dog behaviour, your attempts may actually be making the recall training worse.

Here’s an example - you only call your dog back at the end of the walk to go home - hmmm, does your dog want to go home? Probably not, and in that case they are less likely to come back. Why would they willingly do a behaviour that results in the end of the fun. Even using the recall word to put your dog on the lead for a few minutes - yup, still ending their fun.

What about your dog coming back to you, away from the fun dog pile up that was occurring, and you ‘reward’ them with a ‘good boy’. What’s good about that in comparison to the great fun they were just having?

It may surprise you to learn that dogs don’t come with a preinstalled recall setting,  like a washing machine comes with a quick wash setting. Dogs don’t just go around offering behaviours for free, just like we don’t. There is a motivation behind pretty much everything that we do. Dogs are not manipulative, they learn what behaviours to put their energy in to - those that get them the good stuff, and those that avoid the bad stuff.

And of course, there's way more to to it than just a few quick tips, but when you understand more about how your dog learns and behaves, the lightbulbs will shine bright - like beacons guiding your dog back to you (rather than ignoring you)

If your dog doesn't recall to you when you ask them to, you haven't got a 'bad' dog, you've got an 'untrained' dog. And that can be changed.

Oh... and you may just find that you have less problems with other behaviours, because they just don't have the energy for them anymore.

Bliss, for both of you

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