05/06/2025
The Recall. A life saving command. I give the below advice to every client I see but it's also a difficult one to follow. Complacency that your dog will come at home or your puppy knows what "come" means and then expecting it to happen everywhere is a sure way to set your dog up to fail. The recall takes work..alot of work but is well worth it. It may save his life.
Morning Tips !!!
Recall Advice.
A major mistake we make with dogs when it comes to recall, is letting them off the lead when they’re not ready.
If your dogs recall is good 9/10 and it’s off lead you are setting the dog up for failure.
You see 9/10 might be good for you, but that 1/10 the dog doesn’t listen is the problem.
Dogs are opportunistic animals and they also work very much by association. This means if they can ignore you 1/10, they will eventually start 2/10, 3/10 and so forth. You open the door for them to ignore you.
They will also learn that in certain circumstances under certain distractions they can ignore you, which they will start to take advantage of.
Your dog needs to be on a long line, until it’s responding first time, every time and has been tested around a whole multitude of distractions, from kids running and screaming, kites being flown, footballs being kicked, cats, birds, squirrels, live stock, calm dogs, excited dogs, cars, water, woods etc etc and not just once, but multiple times to proof it.
ENCLOSED FIELDS is another big problem that ruined your recall with your dog.
A lot of people who have a dog who has a poor recall, will hire out fields, that are secure, so their dog can have a good run around.
The MISTAKE however is letting that dog off the lead to have a good run around. The field might be safe and secure but you are allowing the dog off lead and giving it access to blow you off.
What the dog learns here is, when there is nothing going on, I ignore you, so why would they listen when there are real world distractions.
Enclosed fields can be great for recall training if you use them correctly. The dog should still be on a long line, you should still be using that to proof recall and to have fun with your dog. This way it won’t hinder your recall and you won’t forever have to use enclosed fields when there is nothing going on.
TAKING YOUR DOG TO THE SAME PARK EVERYDAY
That’s right, something so simple, as the above, hinders recall. Your dog might even listen to you in the same park, but if you’ve not taken the time to proof recall in nee and exciting environments, your dog will always struggle when they go to these new or exciting environments.
You don’t get a good recall by going to the same place over and over again.
Also it’s important to go to new places to practice recall not just for recall sake but for confidence sake, some dogs don’t get nearly enough environmental socialising, so any new place or nee distractions can be overwhelming to them and lead to more serious issues.
So here are some things you can do to improve your recall.
1. Make sure AOA is a lifestyle and you don’t just set aside time to work on it for a few minutes here and there.
2. Hand feeding can help massively. It will improve attention, food drive and all round obedience.
3. Taking a toy with you. If your dog doesn’t have 100 toys indoors that he can go through like a steam train and get bored very quickly (which will result in loss of shoes or kids toys) Toys can be a great thing.
Find that toy your dogs loves, bring it out, play and then put it away. Keep that toy relevant.
Too many toys means the toys lose value. Too many sessions where the dog plays with toys without you, YOU lose value.
4. Teach your dog to walk nicely on a lead. A lot of people don’t realise, if your dog doesn’t listen on a lead, very often it will struggle off a lead. Lead walking done properly allows you to teach the dog to follow you, you start making all the choices, you’re practicing Recall, technically without doing recall.
Regular Structured street walking done properly has so many powerful benefits to yours and your dogs relationship.
5. Keep your dog on a long lead over fields, until your dog is listening in any and all environments. The long lead allows you to remain in control. If the dog IGNORES you, it has a 30ft lead attached to it, which means you can step on it, pick it up and make sure your dog listens.
Puppy owners, don’t be fooled !! Puppies will often have a half decent recall when they are a pup, they’re dependent on you for the best part, cautious and more receptive to listen, but the big mistake is thinking you have a decent recall and letting that pup completely off lead with no long line.
You see ADOLESCENCE is a Bitch !!! That’s when your puppy who has a decent recall, suddenly gives you the middle finger and decides it wants to do things his own way, so puppies should always be on a long line.
6. Talk less !! That’s right, saying the dogs name over and over in a negative, repeating commands over and over, talking to your dog like it’s a human, teaches the dog to drown you out. It makes your voice non existent and damages your relationship and authority.
7. Remember, it’s what you do when nothing is going on, that dictates how the dog will behave when there is something going on.
If your dog IGNORES you indoors, gets away with things indoors, if you fuss fuss fuss but ask for nothing before this, your dog will definitely ignore you when there is something more exciting going on.
So I hope this helps you guys.
- - - -
This was a long one, but we’ve not had any morning tips for a while.
