23/11/2025
I keep seeing videos popping up on my feed of dogs being let off lead, then proceeding to bog off into the far distance to crack on having a good time independently of their handler. The person videoing then recalls their dog/s, and fair play, they come bombing back. Impressive?, yes, but what isnโt impressive and what will ultimately be detrimental to most dogs recall is if you follow suit and allow this behaviour of having independent fun a looong way off to become an established behaviour in your dog.
The people Iโm seeing sharing these videos are staunch advocates of the use of e collars ( now Iโm really not trying to trainer bash here, there are very good trainers and poor trainers in both camps imo). Now Iโm also not going to get into a debate on how I feel about e collars, I donโt use them personally, and have no intention of using them. I do however empathise and appreciate the world isnโt always black and white. One person sharing these posts points out that dogs need to blow off steam. I also believe dogs do need to blow of steam, however I think claiming that dogs need to blow off steam 100โs metres away from their handler running around with no real purpose aside from free hunting is irresponsible and possibly the reason why people may be finding that they then have to turn to devices like e collars to get a solid recall. You see recall isnโt just about responding to the cue, itโs about your relationship with your dog and what you mean to them when you are out in exciting environments, they need to want to hang out with you.
Teaching a recall cue without aversives relies on a history of building value in the cue/behaviour itself in various different increasingly difficult environments. However much more importantly it works on building value in them not wanting to bog off a massive distance from their handler in the first place. I mostly work with gun dogs living in pet homes and allowing this sort of free hunting away from you with dogs bred to hunt will weaken your dogs response to their recall, as whilst they are at that great distance from you they are learning that hunting is something which they do alone and it is a highly reinforcing behaviour for them so they will want to repeat it.
So what is actually more impressive in the first place is a dog that you rarely have to recall, a dog that wants to do things with you and doesnโt run several hundred metres away from you whenever the lead is removed.
(Below is a video of Badger ( a springer with a high prey drive) recalling off a deer, taught without the use of an e collar. He looks further from me in this video than he actually was, I also generally keep my dogs closer than this unless they are being sent on a long retrieve)
