Repairing Rover’s recall
With spring arriving and dogs more likely to be spending time outdoors, now is a good time to brush up on recall skills.
Having a reliable recall for dogs is not only imperative for safety reasons, but will also allow dogs more freedom if owners can trust them to return when called.
From dogs’ perspectives, there are many enjoyable things to do outdoors — such as sniffing around, eating things found on the ground, chasing squirrels and playing with other dogs — instead of returning to their owners when called. Unfortunately, many owners seem to call their dogs back only when they are engaging in these activities. It’s no wonder they are reluctant to listen.
As well, owners often inadvertently “train” their dogs to not come when called. When owners repeatedly allow off-leash dogs to do their own thing, even when being called, dogs quickly learn that owners are unable to control these situations. This is another unfortunate case of practice makes perfect — dogs learn it is more beneficial to ignore owners.
It’s important to remember that when dogs are off leash, their actions are of their choosing. Owners need their dogs to be motivated enough that they will come when called because there has been a strong history of the recall being generously rewarded.
If dogs learn that the result will not benefit them — for example, they’re leashed up, taken out of the park, crated indoors or roughly restrained — they will not come when called. This helps explain why correction-based approaches do not work well for recall. Why would dogs want to be close to their owners if they are treated in an intimidating manner or punished when they return?
Most importantly, owners need to build a history in which their dogs are being generously rewarded for recalls, working at progressive levels of difficulty. Owners need to set up situations to work on recall instead of just hoping for success.
A dog training class designed to work on recall skills can be a fun way to practise with dogs, especially if offered where owners can work with real-life distractions.