Rapturous Recall Works with Lead Training!

Every Dog is Unique!

In my experience there are many different ways to teach dogs 'Recall'. Why? Because each dog is unique and responds differently to training. Yes, some dogs are just clever, some lazy, some anxious, some fearful and so the list goes on!

The very first time that Pepper came and stayed at Kingsdale we went on a walk with his owner. Although Pepper wasn't superb at Recall, he did come back..eventually by following our dogs back to our side!

Our first attempt without his owner present was worrying to say the least. We had chosen the terrain well; wide open spaces that we could see him and be seen. No traffic and minimal interaction with people and dogs.

This little boy was like a bullet out of a gun;  he had so much fun chasing our dogs that he wouldn't return at all when asked. There were moments when he actually looked like he was smiling as he deliberately ran way from us. Nothing seemed to work and after 30 minutes, I was beginning to admit defeat! I left the scene, leaving Mike and our dogs with Pepper and returned home to phone the owner and ask for 'Help'!! No-one was at home, so I sat in our front room and regained my composure. I kept talking to myself for inspiration. "There must be a way to get through to this little boy" After all, he wasn't being naughty, he was being playful.

As I returned to the scene, Mike and the dogs were about 100 yards from me. Cara, ran at full sprint to welcome me back, closely followed by Pepper who sat with Cara by my side. Yes, we had a result!

The following day, I linked 3 leads together, so there was about 20 foot of lead to work with. Pepper was popped on the lead in the house and then I allowed him to explore the garden, without any other dogs present. Each time I called him back "Pepper, Come", he totally ignored me. I just waited and when he turned to look at me, I praised him big time and when he came towards me, he received cuddles and yummy treats. This training was over a period of 2 days for 10 minute segments throughout the day.  I then introduced the dogs(who were off lead) and just kept to the same procedure. Once he realised that coming back to me was a fun thing to do, he kept coming back for cuddles and treats.

Then we let him off lead again on a walk and when called he would come back to me; sometimes he didn't respond if he was too distracted, but he would come back. My response was always the same; praise and yummy treats, regardless if he came immediately or if he was late.

The idea is to make coming back to you FUN and REWARDING.

 If the dog gets disciplined for coming back because he didn't do as you asked, he may associate coming back to you as an unpleasant experience, leading to lousy recall, an unhappy dog owner and an unhappy dog!

Pepper Pot!

A happy boy showing off his Recall ability!

My next post will be to offer more 'Recall' training tips.
If you have any questions, please post below and I will answer them.

Wishing you a fun time with your Happy Hound

Jo and the Kingsdale Pack.