Teaching a dog the recall command requires training strategies and time. Marin Humane Society
RECALL IS THE Holy Grail of dog training. Why and how do we continue to search for it? Because a dog that comes to you when called is solid gold.
Ultimately, the recall command is a lifestyle choice. Can you invest the time it takes or will you attempt to short cut it and give up long-term rewards? Unlike the mythical grail, recall is attainable. But like the grail, it can be elusive if you don't understand how your dog experiences the world.
Generally, it all starts the first time you call, "Smokey, come!" when it wants to do something naughty. Unfortunately most naughty things are also highly entertaining and rewarding. If you logically ask yourself, "Is there any chance that my puppy is going to quit eating that cow poo or chasing that bunny and come back to me?" the answer would be, "Heck no, why?" It turns out dog ownership is not a logical endeavor, but a highly emotional ride. It should come because it loves me! It should come because it is my dog! Well, yes but you need to train the dog before you can command the dog.
What does the well-meaning dog owner do in the meantime? The name of the new dog game is management. You need to get the right tools and use them. Smokey should drag a leash in the house and a long line in the great Marin Open Space so that you have some recourse in the highly likely event that you encounter something more exciting to the dog than you. If you have a line on the dog, you could opt not to use the word "come" until it is actually trained. Or, if you are in training but the meaning of "come" happens to slip past your dog in the heat of the moment, you still have the long line.
Basically, we inadvertently teach our dog not to come when called because we use the command before the dog is ready, and we do this under the most challenging circumstances with nary a Plan B. Dogs learn what we teach.
The issue is compounded when, in the name of socialization, we either take our dog to the dog park or otherwise encourage it to run up to every dog it sees to say hello and play. This seems like such an excellent plan — socializing and exercising. To elevate the experience to a higher level of multitasking, we're also on our cell phone at the same time.
What this teaches our dog is that other dogs are playthings; other dogs are more rewarding than hanging with you and charging up to other dogs just starts the fun sooner. For an effective, long-term, reliable recall command, your dog needs to chose to be with you. This isn't to say that your dog shouldn't socialize or play with other dogs, but you need to have balance in your relationship. Granted, it is much easier to let your dog exercise itself daily by playing with other dogs, but that may prove to be a costly recall decision in the long term.
What do you want your Holy Grail recall command to look like? A fast, direct, immediate response sounds good. Then, your next task is to set up practice scenarios that elicit that very response. This is when private dog training lessons or a specialized recall group training class is beneficial. The recall command is one of the easiest to destroy early on since setting up good scenarios is relatively difficult and making real-life training mistakes is quite easy.
For dog training class information go to http://bit.ly/1hAnB28.
Dawn Kovell is the director of behavior and training for the Marin Humane Society, which contributes to Tails of Marin. Go to marinhumanesociety.org or Twitter.com/MarinHumane.
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