4 steps to an awesome recall

The recall cue is THE most important cue you can teach your dog.  

When we have dogs who were bred to hunt such as our Gundog breeds and Terrier breeds, it can be more challenging to achieve the level of reliability needed for safe, responsible, off lead time.   

The more hunting drive they have, the more advanced their training needs to be.  

Off lead skills are my most favourite things to teach and a reliable recall cue is only a part of the puzzle, but definitely an important one!  

Here are 4 steps to an awesome recall with your dog….

Step 1:

Get to know them, play around and figure out what they love. I mean, REALLY love!  

Don’t assume it’s eating treats, it’s often not for our hunting breeds! It could be chasing a ball, chasing and tugging, chasing treats, chasing you, searching for a ball or treats, or hunting. 

Don’t start recall training until you have this information!

Step 2:

Pair a distinctive audible cue (e.g., a whistle) with their favourite activity. 

Teach them that when they hear the whistle, their favourite activity is about to start!  Forget about the fact you are training a recall.  With this approach we are not training a behaviour, we are programming the brain.  An awesome recall behaviour will develop as a result! 

Step 3:

Get the reps in and build up your recall savings account.

Aim for 5-10 reps each walk. Think of it as adding £50 to your recall savings account every time you pair the whistle with their favourite activity. If you over do it, the value of each rep could reduce to £30 or even £20.  The more money you’ve got in the account, the higher the chance of a successful recall when you really need it.  Every time they hear the whistle and just get a treat, consider that a MASSIVE withdrawal from the account!  Make EVERY whistle count.  Make it memorable. 

Step 4: 

After a few weeks of pairing the whistle with their favourite activity in LOTS of different types of environments, you need to start teaching them to come away from distractions using a long line to avoid failures.  

Teach them they still get their favourite activity for leaving a distraction. Or, if it’s appropriate, send them back to the distraction if they love that more. This is especially useful for dogs who love to hunt, but not a strategy I would use for dogs who love to chase joggers and cyclists!

A reliable recall isn’t something that a dog naturally has or doesn’t have.  

It’s something to teach, nurture, and protect throughout their lifetime so when the day comes that you need to make a withdrawal, you’ve got the savings in the recall account to cover it! 

If you’d like to chat about off lead skills struggles with your dog, you can book a free call in here.