Recall – possibly the most important thing you can train your dog. Recall is a life-saving skill.
I have had clients thank me for emphasising recall so much in puppy class, after having experienced a scary moment where their dog got loose and was at risk of running into the road. Since they had practised lots of repetitions of super high value recalls, when they used the word, their dog immediately turned around and came barreling back.
You might have been there with your own dog, but maybe the end result wasn’t as positive. It’s an emergency, you call your dog and… they don’t come.
This could lead to hours of wandering haplessly through the woods shouting “Fenton” over and over again, or making a desperate attempt to chase down a dog who is high on the euphoria of freedom – who you have no hope of outrunning.
This is why management and training is so important to keep our dogs safe. So how do you develop a rocket-fast recall that doesn’t fail when you need it most? Why are some dogs harder to train recall? Lots of things can play a part in how easy it is to teach an individual dog to recall. Environment, breed, genetics, learning history, the type and value of reinforcement used – there are many possible factors.
Management Matters
Ultimately, one of the best tools to keep your dog safe is management. Keeping your dog on lead unless in a safe, secure location and utilising equipment such as long lines for when you want to give your dog more freedom is the way to go unless you have a reliable recall.
But remember, even well-trained dogs can have bad days, so make decisions carefully based on the environment and setting your dog up for success.
Make Sure To Pay Well
One way in which your recall can fail is if the reward available is not high value enough.
Recall is what is known as an ‘expensive’ behaviour. We are asking for a lot from our dogs – to come away from exciting smells, other dogs and the wide range of distractions that we come across on walks.
Because recall is expensive, we have to pay well for it. A quarter of a dry gravy bone won’t cut it. (Or it might, if you have a Labrador).
Don’t Poison The Cue
Another mistake people make with the recall is poisoning it. Calling your dog back and then telling them off or calling them for bad stuff that they don’t like is a sure way to make it less likely your dog will listen to the recall in the future.
It is best to keep the recall positive and pay your dog for it every time as it is such an important behaviour. Remember that what is rewarded gets repeated, and it can be very rewarding for our dogs to ignore the recall and keep running around doing what they want, so careful management and an incremental training plan is key.
Set Your Dog Up For Success
If your dog doesn’t listen to the recall cue, you might be calling them back too much. In instances where the recall has been overused, it tends to lose its power. When the dog has learned to ignore the cue, and has such a strong learning history of doing this, the best way to proceed is by training a brand new cue that does not have this prior association.
Avoid calling your dog when you don’t think they are going to come back to the recall cue, as you want to minimise repetitions where your dog does not come and get rewarded for the recall so that it does not weaken your cue.
Use A Release Word
Another option to improve the recall is installing a release cue as part of your dog’s reward. They still get paid with ultra-tasty treats, but they also get given the opportunity to carry on with what they were doing before they were called – sniffing, chasing, playing and so on.
This works on the same premise as Grandma’s rule (eat your vegetables before you get your dessert) – you make access to the enjoyable activity contingent on completing the less enjoyable activity. This is known as the Premack principle in the world of behaviour.
Lots of dogs find the best reward is simply the opportunity to continue running and enjoying the freedom of the environment, and instead of trying to work against these dogs by trying to prevent them from ever doing these activities, we can control their access to them and use this as a reinforcer for behaviours like checking in and coming back.
This is a gamechanger for dogs who prefer sniffs and chasing squirrels to the majority of food rewards. One of my dogs is a Siberian Husky mix, so she has a strong prey drive and independent streak, and implementing Premack and a release cue has done wonders for her recall. Now she will check in frequently, eagerly waiting for her food reward followed by the opportunity to be sent back out to the environment.
Introduce An Emergency Cue
Another problem you may encounter is if you only have one recall cue. Sometimes you can get away with this, but the problem usually lies when this cue is used every time you need your dog to come or to get your dog’s attention.
This not only can cause issues due to the cue being overused, but if you have an emergency situation and you need your dog to come urgently, you may not be able to guarantee they will come straight away. Sometimes, your dog has already associated the day-to-day recall cue with “have a sniff, finish what you were doing and then think about coming back”.
This is why it is often helpful to have a separate, emergency recall cue.
If you are introducing a new emergency recall cue, it is best to use a novel sound with no prior associations. This could be a word, whistle or any kind of unique noise to get your dog’s attention. When you introduce this sound to your dog, follow it up by running to the fridge and having a ‘party’ – showering your dog with the tastiest treats and verbal praise.
It is important to avoid making the sound without it being followed up by a treat party, as you want there to be a strong association with this cue and an amazing reward every single time. Gradually, you can start to practice this when your dog is on the other side of the room or in another part of the house/garden, and build up to more challenging distractions and environments over many successful repetitions.
These are some of the problems that are often encountered during recall training, and some suggestions you can implement to help improve your own dog’s recall. If you are struggling with training the recall, it is a good idea to hire a professional reward-based trainer to help build a structured training plan that sets your dog up for success.