Dog Obedience Training - Recall Problem

"But I do not have a recall problem at home". This is a common statement made by participants in my dog obedience training classes.

Recently, I was approached by a lady with this tale of woe: - "My dog is really very, very good when I train her at home. And when I come down to the club, she is really good whilst on lead. However, when I take the lead off, she is a totally changed animal. She runs wildly around the field and when I call her she totally ignores me.

Does that sounds familiar to anyone? Reckon you know someone with a similar problem? I am certain we all do. Finding a solution to this problem is really much easier than you think.

The dog's owner had done an excellent job in training the dog in the basics such as sit, down, stay and had included some fun games such as shake, high five, and rollover and beg. The dog was trained mostly at home, with only sporadic visits to the dog club, and was missing socialising skills.

Let's look at the first thing this handler had failed to do, which was to reinforce the training in a number of different environments and with distractions. As soon as there was change in the dogs training environment, The dog lost self control and became over hyped.

Secondly, the dog had not been taught a really strong recall, with distractions.

Thirdly, if the dog had been taught it's name really thoroughly, the handler would have been able to have immediate focus, and with a strong recall, the dog would have recalled to her immediately whenever she called it.

The fourth training issue is a very common problem. The handler kept trying to call the dog in when she had no hope of the dog responding. This totally negates the effect of the command and the dog learns to totally ignore the command. If you can see the dog is distracted do not try and do a recall.

So how did we solve this problem?

We went right back to basics for step one. We had to teach the dog its name. I recommend that this exercise is commenced from the day you bring the puppy home, and you need to use the exercise consistently and permanently.

Starting with the dog in a small room such as the bathroom, laundry or a bedroom. You need a clicker and a bowl of tasty treats. Let the dog wander freely and call its name. If the dog so much as flicks an eye in your direction, click and treat using really nice tasty treats.

Keep working this exercise in the room until the dog immediately turns its head and looks at you when you call him. You can now take the exercise into the back yard and work away until the dog comes to you immediately you call his name.

We can now move the exercise to a fenced field and work the exercise until the dog comes to you when you call. You now need to build this exercise into a strong tool that gets your dog looking at you whenever he hears his name.

Take the dog to a dog obedience training class and walk the dog around the outer edge of the class or classes. Try not to disturb the classes but, when the dog looks like it may be getting hyped, call its name and turn away from the class.

You will have a strong tool to start the recall with when you can walk around, with the lead hanging loose. Every few paces, call the dogs name. Click and reward him looking at you.

Moving on we can start building a really strong recall but first you need to have a strong stay. Sit the dog and you feed the dog treats as you move around the dog in all directions. The dog must stay seated. Start the exercise again if the dog moves so much as a foot.

With the stay building in strength, you can start moving further away and hold giving the treats until you step back into the dog. If you can step away at least a meter and the dog stays put, you can start extending time and distance but you do not extend both at the same time.

When the dog is happy to stay for, say, 5 seconds, you then step further away from the dog but do not go too far. If the dog breaks his sit, you have either gone too far are stayed away for too long and you need to back up a couple of steps.

With the dog doing a good strong stay, bounce your time and distance around. This will ensure the dog does not know when you are coming back, or how far you are going away. Walk away to 10 meters for 5 secs. Next go 1 meter for 20 seconds, then 5 meters and step straight back. Keep repeating this for several sessions.

Be patient and always remember that if the dog breaks, you have gone too far or too long.

We now have a dog that knows his name, has been socialised around other dogs and has learnt a strong stay.

With these dog obedience training exercises mastered we can move onto training the recall.

Start with the dog in a sit position, tell him to stay and walk away but only go the length of the dogs lead. Turn and face the dog and call his name, excitedly and slap your thighs. Using the lead, get the dog to come and sit in front of you. As soon as the dog comes to you and sits in front of you, click and treat.

As soon as the dog is willingly and freely coming to you and sitting in front of you, you may extend the distance, but leave the lead attached to the dog so that, if the dog runs past you, you have something to grab or stand on the lead.

If the dog does run past you, then you need to go back a step and reinforce the dog coming to you and sitting. Build up the distance you go away slowly and always be prepared to go back one or two steps, and always reward him for coming to you.

As soon as all stages in this dog obedience training problem solving exercise have been built up to be as strong as possible, you can practice your recalls in a fenced dog park.

You must remember that if the dog is too highly hyped and distracted, wait until he settles down before you call him. If he ignores you calling him do not repeat his name.

And here is another tip. When the dog comes to you, do not immediately clip on the lead and leave the park. You can clip the lead on, but then take it off again and let the dog run. Do this several times until you are ready to leave the park and go home.

Doing this will ensure the dog does not decide he does not want to come in because all you intend doing is clipping on the lead and dragging him away from where he was having fun.

Right through the life of your dog there are a number of dog obedience training exercises that need some or all of the above exercises so it will pay you to work really hard at all of them, but above all, have fun.

Nev Allen has been training dogs for 30 years and wants to help you to make your puppy a good canine citizen. If you want to understand all that is involved with dog obedience training, clicker training and dog ownership then you can read articles and watch videos about these fascinating topics at http://dogobediencetrainingblogs.com.

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