Recall training is something that’s important to work on with your dog, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy.
You might do your best to make sure everything goes well, from ensuring you have some of the best dog treats to hand to putting on your most excited, upbeat voice to encourage your pup. But even the most experienced dog parent can make a mistake or two when recall training.
Nobody’s perfect, so it’s important not to lose heart if you’ve caught yourself getting something wrong. Move on and get it right going forward – your dog won’t hold it against you!
And to get started, professional dog trainer and behavioral consultant Amelia Steele, or Amelia the Dog Trainer, has outlined three common mistakes in a new post. Let’s take a look.
1. You’re only recalling them when it’s time for the lead to go back on: “This is a mistake I see all the time and it will ruin your dog’s recall,” says Steele about training recall in dogs. “They’re going to cotton on to the fact that coming back to you means that they’re going to be restricted or the walk’s going to end. “
She explains that, for your recall to work, it’s important to be practicing it on a regular basis – not only when you need your dog to come back.
2. You’re constantly calling them away from really exciting things: Again, it’s important to practice recall regularly, not only when you need to call your dog back from something exciting.
“You have to weigh up what the reward is because if you’re trying to call your dog away from other dogs for a piece of kibble, for example, your dog’s going to realize that you are the main thing stopping them from having a great time on a walk,” Steele explains, “And that’s not the relationship we want to build when we want good recall.”
3. You’re only focusing on recall drills and you’re not building value in yourself outside of having your dog come when called: “This is huge, because recall isn’t just knowing to come when called,” says Steele. “It’s also understanding that you are worth listening to and being ready to listen to any point, so if you’re not building value in yourself, then your recall just isn’t going to work no matter how many times you drill coming when called.
Steele finishes by saying that, if you feel stuck in your recall training, one of the best things you can do is focus on your pup’s on-lead skills first, so why not try that if you’re struggling with recall, too?
Finally, you might find these three reasons why your dog’s recall isn’t reliable (and what you can do about it) useful, too.
