Does Your Dog Come When Called

Does your dog have a reliable recall?  Many don't and most dogs only respond when they want to. When a puppy or rescue comes home they often will follow us around and recall doesn't seem necessary until they begin to get a little more interested in the environment.  They will appear to develop selective hearing, at least part of the time anyway. There are some easy steps to developing a reliable recall.  It also is a matter of safety that your dog will respond. 

How do you build a solid and reliable recall in your dog?  Easier and a lot more fun than you think.  Here are some tips:

• ​Don't say their name as a cue, i.e., stop, no, wait, come.  
• Do say their name when you want their attention then follow it with something good.  Treat, game of tug, dinner, throwing the ball.  Play a few rounds of name game each day.  Randomly say their name and reward them for simply looking your direction.  If they don't respond wait 15 seconds before repeating, Even if it takes two or three times still reward.  This is incentive for a faster response.
• Use high-pitched, happy voice is more likely to engage your dog than a stern or loud voice.
• Don't punish, yell, squirt water or citronella, zap with an e-collar.  Aversives are not as likely to entice your dog to coming (they may even hide) plus they are more likely to cause fallout behaviors such as aggression.
• Use a specific cue.  I like "Touch" because it means "come touch my hand".  Once they understand to touch my hand we add a sit to it.  So when I say Touch my dog comes and touches my hand and then sits and waits for whatever is next.  Sometimes it's leashing up for an outing or it may be going back out to play.  Might even be a game of tug, fetch, a treat, maybe even dinner.  Something good will happen.
• Do not chase your dog but let your dog chase you.  Say his name and then start running.  Most dogs cannot resist a game of chase and it will become game on. (Be careful with this one if your dog becomes over stimulated too easily.)
• Play.  When your dog comes to you toss out a ball or toy.  
• Play some more.  Grab a handful of small treats and hand one to your dog and then throw one.  Drop the next one in front of you and then farther out.  Repeat this until your out of treats.  Your dog will be come back and forth, learning that the good stuff is with you. 

The main thing to remember is that the more fun you have with your dog the better your relationship and the more your dog will want to seek you out.

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