Recall Training

Recall training is simply about teaching a dog to come to you on command from wherever he is, at home or in the park. While it is possible to teach this to a dog of any age, recall training ideally should begin with a new puppy as soon as he comes home. This is because he has a very strong urge at a few weeks of age to follow his mother and her owner, and will willingly transfer this to his new parent figures.

Common mistakes
Unfortunately, many owners of puppies and older dogs make the mistake of only ever calling the dog to them at the end of the walk, putting him on his lead and taking him home. The dog simply comes to view being called by his owners as indicating the end of freedom, and so he may soon learn not to return when called and, instead, learn a whole range of techniques to avoid being caught.

There is nothing more frustrating for the owner than being stranded in the park calling their dog, while he disappears in the opposite direction, or returns to dance around on a point just out of arm's reach. Some owners get so annoyed at their dog's disobedience that when he does eventually return, he is punished. So, quite apart from having other more interesting things to do, or seeing the end of his freedom looming by returning, he now learns that it is very unwise indeed to come when called.

It's all rather the opposite of his owners' intentions, but have a look around the park and you'll see this routine being acted out time and time again, and great numbers of owners who simply never let their dog off-lead for fear of not being able to get him back!

Training programmes
The methods used nowadays in modern training clubs to teach the recall aim to prevent these kind of problems from occurring and can be used to just as good effect whether you are training a new puppy or an older dog. With a new puppy the following training programme should commence around the house and in the garden as soon as he has settled in and without waiting for his vaccination programme to be completed.

Name recognition
First teach your puppy or new dog his name. Whenever he hears his name he should look towards you to see what you want him to do, but, of course, there will always be a lot of interesting distractions. The aim of teaching him his name is to make you the most important thing in his life and to show that it is always worth listening to you in case he may hear you call his name.

• Sit on a chair with a bag of tasty treats with your puppy or dog close up to you, say his name and immediately give him a treat when he looks up. Within a few repetitions he will look expectantly at you as soon as he hears his name.
  
• Say his name and encourage him to take one or two paces towards you before giving him the treat. Build up the distance between you and him gradually and practice in all rooms of the house and the garden. We are not ready yet to tell him to 'come', we are just teaching him that whenever he hears his name, irrespective of where he is at the time, there is always a pleasant outcome for responding to it.
  
• Within the house and garden you can now call the puppy from one family member to the next with each member giving him a treat for responding to his name. The word 'come' can be added after the dog's name as he is moving towards you. Remember his name gets his attention, 'come' tells him what it is that you want him to do. Wait until he's actually moving towards you before saying 'come' to ensure that he makes the correct association between word and action. When he's got the hang of this new 'game', don't give him a treat every time, but instead reward him on a random basis, and then only for the very quickest and direct responses to being asked to 'come'.

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