how to teach your dog to recall

[Schatzi09]

Hi I have been working with Schatzi for a few months now on her recall, and its been going pretty good. i recently moved to a very rural area, which is great she loves it but her recall seems to have taken a few steps in the wrong direction. i dont know if its all the distractions associated with being in a rural area like the deer, squirrels, or any other random animal. so im perplexed on how to continue work on her recall but teach her to ingore the distractions and focus on the task at hand i know its possible i just dont know how to go about doing it. thanks

[jakeandrenee]

I am anxious to hear the suggestions. How old is Schatzi?

[Pattycakes]

I love Schatzi's name. Yes...I'm tryiing to work on recall as well and its not going so well....so I'm also curious to hear the suggestions.

[Schatzi09]

thanks! Schatzi is going to be a year on 10/30, everyone thinks her name is after Marge Schott's, the owner of the cincinnati reds, dog Schatzi. but its actually German for Sweetheart which i think is really cute

[Pattycakes]

Very good choice of a name.

[kidkhmer]

Long line her . Buy a 30ft training lead and when its time to recall use it !

[Ucdcrush]

I have had good success with something I read about on a Leerburg article, so far anyway. My dog knows the recall word, but with some distractions would tend to ignore it.

At a dog park if we are in there alone, and my dog saw another dog and owner coming in, he'd run up to that fence. It was a perfect place to proof the recall because there is wide open space and a fence just in case.

He was wearing a prong collar at the time, and I gave a clear recall command (I use "aqui") but he kept running for the fence. So I walked up to him, put his leash on, and gave strong corrections back to the place I called him from, while repeating the word "aqui" as I gave the correction.

Immediately after that, he understandably did not want to venture away from me. But you can train around this by giving a "stay" command then walking away. He can then see that he doesn't have to be right next to you, but he is very likely to stop what he's doing and come when you give your recall word.

I have also heard of people using an e-collar to proof a recall with great and quick success. I do not know the details of how that is done, but if I was in an area with no fences I would definitely go the e-collar route.

[Mrs.K]

What really helps and what everybody practices, at least everybody I know is the restrained re-call.

Somebody else holds your dog while you run away. While you are running you are calling the dogs name, you are shouting, clapping and whatnot. The other person really needs to hold onto the dog and they more the dog is held back they more he wants to get to you, IF the bond is there.
It works really well with puppies and I've done it with Indra when she was 9 weeks old. Thats when I started working on her re-call.

You then hide behind a tree or one of those Schutzhund Hiding Spots (if you are in the dog club). Once you hid yourself the person lets go of the dog.

Do that regularly and later on do it without hiding. Then do it with distraction and so on and on and on.

[Schatzi09]

Originally Posted by Mrs.K

What really helps and what everybody practices, at least everybody I know is the restrained re-call.

Somebody else holds your dog while you run away. While you are running you are calling the dogs name, you are shouting, clapping and whatnot. The other person really needs to hold onto the dog and they more the dog is held back they more he wants to get to you, IF the bond is there.
It works really well with puppies and I've done it with Indra when she was 9 weeks old. Thats when I started working on her re-call.

You then hide behind a tree or one of those Schutzhund Hiding Spots (if you are in the dog club). Once you hid yourself the person lets go of the dog.

Do that regularly and later on do it without hiding. Then do it with distraction and so on and on and on.

thats a very interesting way to go about a recall i will deffenatily give that a try thanks!