The 5 Important Rules of Recall Training

Out of all the skills that you need to teach your dog, recall training is the most important. Recall training is teaching your dog to come when he is called, and this is important because it is the kind of skill that will help save the life of your dog.

While recall training is important, it can also be a challenge to implement for many dog owners. Training their dog to have a reliable recall can take some time because many dogs have the tendency to ignore their owner in favor of something else in the environment.

But despite this challenge, recall training nonetheless remains to be an essential – and all-important – component to a dog’s set of skills.

If your dog is the type who will take some time and effort before he finally gets recall training, it is important to be in the know when it comes to these five rules:

1. Do not call your dog for anything unpleasant.

One of the basic tenets of recall training is to condition your dog to come when called – which relies heavily on motivation. As such, it is a no-no to call your dog so he can receive punishment or to get him to do something that he does not like. When you do this, then your dog will quickly develop the idea that coming to you will not yield anything good for him.

Looking at it from your dog’s point of view, no one really likes to approach a person who will just scold you or put an end to the fun that you’re having. What you need to do is the opposite: make recall fun and motivating so he will be more inclined to come back to you, pronto!

2. Do not repeat your recall cue many times over.

Let’s be clear about something: whatever recall word you use should be special and sacred to your dog. If you suddenly say “Come!” to your dog, you want his reaction to be to automatically run back to you.

For this to happen, avoid using the cue word repetitively so as not to lose its novelty. Say it once, say it clearly, and then wait for your dog to approach you. And if he ends up ignoring you, check out the third rule!

3. Save your recall word and try something else instead.

There will be times when your dog will end up ignoring you over something that is seemingly more interesting in the environment. When this happens, you might be tempted to break the previous rule and incessantly call your dog to come to you. What you have to do instead is to simply save the recall word and exercise other means to get your dog’s attention.

You might dangle a treat in front of him while moving backwards, tempting him with it. Your goal is to male it really easy and tempting for your dog to ignore whatever it is he is distracted with and make a move towards you instead. His lack of interest in coming to you should tell you that he has yet to master the art of coming back to you and not because he deliberately wants to disobey you.

4. Do not call your dog if you know he is not in the best position to respond.

When your dog is deep in the middle of interacting with another dog or playing with something in the environment, save your recall training for a later time. Scenarios such as these should automatically tell you that your dog is in a highly distracted state and taking the opportunity to practice recall will most likely end in failure.

It will not be fair to gauge your dog’s ability to perform his recall skills when he is in this state, especially if you have not been able to practice recall training for quite some time! Bear in mind that recall training should be taught progressively.

You need to begin in a safe and secure place that has zero distractions with a minimal distance between yourself and your dog. As your dog masters recall training in this kind of environment, take it up a notch by moving to a new training ground that has just enough distractions to test his skills yet still encourage success.

Training your dog in this way (taking challenges one at a time) will mean greater chances of success and lower feelings of frustration.

5. Always have your dog’s favorite treats to use as rewards.

You might already give your dog the best that your budget can afford but do make it a point to save all of his best treats to be used as rewards for recall training. Whatever it is that you know your dog loves the most – cookies, beggin’ strips, plushies, etc. – you should be very prudent about giving this regularly but have it on hand for recall training sessions so he will be more inclined to come when called.

A good way to wisely manage these treats is to break them up into smaller pieces so you have plenty of opportunities to practice recall training while being able to stretch a single treat. If you call him often and he gets a bite each time, your dog will come to see you as a jackpot machine that dispenses his favorite treats for as long as he drops everything and makes his way back to you!

When it comes to treats, don’t scrimp the budget for recall training. You want your dog to have a very legitimate reason to come when called, and nothing is more tempting than his favorite treat. The novelty of this will not wear off if you do not give it to him on an ordinary day.

Likewise, other things that can be used as an alternative include lots of praises, new small toys every now and then, or even an opportunity to play his favorite game.

These rules will really do a lot to help improve your recall training sessions with your dog – so keep them in mind and you will soon relish the success of having a dog that is adequately trained to come back to you when called!

Here’s the next step: 

If you’d like something as a reminder when you are recall training your dog, then download the bonus below.

You’ll receive a free step-by-step checklist that shows you the process to ensure your dog comes to you every time you call.