In a hurry?
- Stop letting your dog practise ignoring you: use a long line until the recall is reliable.
- Pick a new recall word or whistle if the old one has been ignored a hundred times.
- Make coming back the best thing that happens on the walk.
- Don't only call your dog to put the lead on and go home.
Alex can help with this: Recall.
Want Alex to look at your dog?
Four quick questions. We reply Monday to Saturday, usually within the hour.
Thanks, .
We reply Monday to Saturday, usually within the hour, by email.
What happens next:
- Alex asks what happens and when. A short video helps, but never set your dog up to react just to film it.
- He tells you where he'd start and what it costs.
- You agree a time, at your home or at the field.
If your dog has bitten, keep them behind a gate or on a lead until you’ve spoken.
Nothing by the next working day? Check your spam folder, or email hello@essexdogtrainer.co.uk.
Preview only: this copy of the site is not connected to the enquiry inbox, so nothing was sent.
You call, your dog looks at you, and then carries on doing exactly what it was doing. Or it comes back, but only when it's finished, or only when there's nothing better to do. A recall that only works some of the time is the most common thing owners bring to me, and the good news is that it can almost always be rebuilt.
Your dog isn't being stubborn to annoy you. It has learned that coming back is optional, or that coming back is the end of the fun. Change what it has learned and the recall changes.
Why dogs stop coming back
- They've practised ignoring it. Every time you call and your dog doesn't come, it learns the word can be ignored.
- Coming back ends the fun. If the only time you call is to clip the lead on and leave, your dog works out the pattern.
- The competition is better. Other dogs, scents, deer, squirrels and food on the ground are more rewarding than a dry biscuit.
- They've been told off on arrival. A dog that's been shouted at for coming back slowly learns to come back slower.
- Adolescence. Somewhere between six and eighteen months many dogs suddenly stop listening. It's normal, and it's a phase you train through. My guide on the teenage dog that's stopped listening explains what's going on.
Step 1: stop the rehearsal
While you rebuild the recall, your dog shouldn't get the chance to ignore you off lead. Use a long line, 10 metres is a good length, attached to a harness, in open spaces. It lets your dog run and sniff while you stay in control. This one change makes the biggest difference.
Step 2: a fresh recall cue
If your dog has heard "come" ignored a hundred times, start with a new word or a whistle. A whistle is the same every time, carries a long way and doesn't sound angry or worried. Charge it up at home: blow the whistle, give something amazing, repeat until your dog spins round at the sound.
Step 3: make coming back worth it
Use rewards your dog really wants: real meat or cheese, a game with a favourite toy. Vary it. Sometimes a big jackpot, sometimes a quick game and then straight back off to play. Your dog should never be able to predict that coming back means the end of the walk.
Call your dog back many times on a walk, reward, and send it off again. Most recalls should end in more freedom, not less.
Step 4: build up the difficulty
Start in the house and garden, then a quiet field, then places with mild distractions, and only then places with other dogs or wildlife. At each new level, call when your dog is likely to succeed: when it's looking at you, not mid-sniff. Then work up to calling away from distractions.
If your dog fails twice in a row at a level, it's too hard. Go back a step.
The recall that matters is the one away from another dog or a running deer. Set up those situations with a helper and a long line, at a distance your dog can manage, and reward heavily for turning away. Over time, close the distance.
- Don't call your dog when you know it won't come. Go and get it instead.
- Don't chase your dog. It's a brilliant game, for the dog.
- Don't punish a slow recall. Whatever happened before, the dog came back, and that's what you want more of.
- Don't let it off the line too soon. A few weeks of patience saves months of undoing.
If your dog runs off, chases livestock or wildlife, or has got lost before, get professional help sooner rather than later. 1-2-1 training is £160 for your first 1.5-hour session at our secure field near Chelmsford, or £190 at your home, then £100 an hour at the field (£120 at home). Read about recall training in Essex. If you need it done properly while you're at work, residential training includes recall practice every day, on the field and in busy real-world places.
Questions owners ask
How long does it take to fix a bad recall?
With a long line and daily practice, most dogs show a big improvement in a few weeks. Making it reliable around strong distractions like other dogs and wildlife can take a few months.
Should I use a whistle for recall?
A whistle is a great tool, because it sounds the same every time and carries further than your voice. Teach it from scratch at home, so it means something brilliant before you use it outside.
Is my breed just bad at recall?
Some breeds find it harder: scent hounds, sighthounds, spaniels and huskies all have strong instincts to follow. They can still learn a good recall, but they need more management, more practice and better rewards. Tell Alex about your dog using the form. Say what your dog does when you call, and he'll tell you where to start.
Google review
Our Rottweiler puppy is living/being cared for in two households, mine and my brother's. Puppy was showing behaviours with me that he wasn't doing with my brother e.g. walking in front, nipping at me, jumping up. …
Read the full review
Our Rottweiler puppy is living/being cared for in two households, mine and my brother's. Puppy was showing behaviours with me that he wasn't doing with my brother e.g. walking in front, nipping at me, jumping up. Alex has accommodated the training to ensure I am developing confidence in the management of our puppy's undesirable behaviours, after a couple of sessions, lead walking/control, done. Alex's style of training and support is top notch and invaluable.
Sources
Related
Last updated . This post is general advice, not a diagnosis. If your dog may be unwell or in pain, please see your vet.