HAS YOUR DOG GOT SELECTIVE HEARING?
Then, keep reading! Here's our Top 10 Tips for a rock solid recall!
PRACTISE AT HOME!
This may seem obvious, but its a step thats missed by many. The biggest reason recall fails is DISTRACTIONS! The worst place to learn and practice your recall is at the park. Start in your living room first. Sit on the floor with a pouch full of treats and practice your recall at a very close distance first. Work up to calling them across the room, then down the hallway and so on and so on. Now, this is the next step that is almost always missed. Practise recalling your dog in your backyard. Just hang out outside with pup and randomly call them to you then let them get back to whatever they were doing. And the final step at home before taking this on the road- Practice recalling them from outside to inside the home! When you can call your dog at home and 10/10 times they will come running to you- then and only then is it time to take it on the road!
INVEST IN A LONG LINE
We recommend investing in a Long Line so you have a safety net whilst practising your recall- especially when you first take it on the road! . Long-lines are great for giving your dog more freedom whilst still having some control of what they are doing. They're a safe and effective way to practice recall training before letting your dog off lead completely as they give them more freedom and the feeling of being off lead. We highly recommend investing in a Biothane long line as they are easy to clean, easy to roll up and don't get sopping wet & heavy on rainy days. We love our Long Lines from Collar & Ruff ( www.collarandruff.com.au ). For Recall and Adventures a 5-8 metre long line is perfect!
RECALL SHOULD NOT BE THE END OF A GAME
If every time someone called you, the fun activity ended- how likely do you think you would be to go to that person? Not very likely I'd guess! Its super important to randomly recall our dogs and then let them get back to whatever they were doing. Pretty often I hear people say their dog knows their recall word and will come running, but won't come all the way or will come just out of arms reach then dart off again! Make it part of the game to come all the way back to you, have their collar or harness touched, and then let them go again.
REWARD IT EVERY SINGLE TIME, FOR LIFE!
Lots of people do not want to be reliant on food - and thats fine. BUT you must find a way to reward your dog for their recall EVERY SINGLE TIME. That reward can be Play with their favourite tug or moving elsewhere to play soccer with you, it can be a nice big belly rub or it can be food. Anything your dog finds rewarding - and thats the key. Your dog gets to decide what is and isn't rewarding- not you. If your recall is failing - check your rewards are worth it! This is also the one behaviour that I do not recommend fading away your rewards. Recall is a very important skill to have for safety and for legal reasons- rewarding it every single time ensures that it remains fresh, worthwhile and likely to work!
MAKE IT A GAME
Recall should be just another fun game they play with you- no different than soccer or tug! You can teach your dog a really fast recall by playing Triangle Recall- place 3 bowls on the ground. Drop a small handful of food in one, call your dogs name. When your dog is close to the bowl, you run to the next one. Call their name again, when they look at you, drop food in the bowl and run to the next bowl. Keep going and don't forget to change up the direction every so often!
SAY IT ONCE
I'm going to pick on Max for a second- poor Max, he's always being naughty! Max is happily sniffing when he hears his Mum call him. He continues sniffing. She calls again, and Max continues to sniff. When she calls a 3rd time, Max goes running to her! GREAT! or is it? What has happened here is that Max has learnt that the first 2 times he hears his name are not so important and that he can wait til Mum has said it 3 times before he has to go running. To avoid this only say your cue once and only use it when you know your dog will be successful. There is no point yelling your recall word if Max is half a kilometre away chasing a duck. If you know your pup isn't likely to return to you, then instead walk your way up your long line or use an emergency behaviour instead.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!
Play a recall game with your dog for 5 minutes before every walk. Refresh their memory that coming back to you is a good thing and that good things happen when they do come back!
CHANGE UP YOUR REWARDS
I recommend carrying 2-3 different rewards for each walk. For us that looks like a nice meaty treat or cheese, some dried treats like Liver and a tug toy. The reward I offer is based on hard the recall was that I asked for. Cheese is almost a drug for our team, so if I'm asking her to come away from a dog - she earns herself cheese. If I've just asked her to move on from a particularly good sniff for example, she might earn herself some liver treats. If I have asked her to come away from something she wants to chase, well then I'm going to let her chase me and then we have a nice game of tug!
MEET THEIR NEEDS
Sometimes our recall fails because our dog wants to engage in a certain behaviour more than they want to come back- even if they know there is a good reward on offer. For lots of dogs this is chasing things! If your dog wants to chase something, make their recall game one where they chase you for their reward. If its because they want to play with a dog, have them recall to play with you instead!
DITCH THE BALL
Fetch does some pretty yucky stuff to our Herding dogs brains. Its a chase game- Chase being a predatory behaviour. Very often I hear people say their dog will only come back for the ball or only recall if they show their dog the ball- this is not healthy for your dog and not teaching them anything other ball obsession. Do your dogs brain a favour, and ditch the ball in favour of other more breed appropriate games and actual Recall training! You can learn more about Fetch HERE
Are you looking for help with your recall? We offer Dog Training including Recall Training in Pakenham and surrounds for all Herding Breed dogs! Reach out today for help!
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