Recall
Recall is probably THE most important lesson a dog should know. Most dogs I see have a reasonably good recall, rarely perfect but rarely enough to keep their dogs out of trouble.
Have you ever seen dog owners following their dogs round the park shouting and shouting? And the dog doesn’t look the slightest bit interested? Sometimes the owners don’t even bother and excuse their dog’s actions with “He’ll stop [attacking your dog] in a moment” or worse the accusational ”Did your dog start that or mine?”
Recall is better when it’s 100% reliable, but it doesn’t have to be that strong to keep your dog out of trouble, achieving 80% is ok but the important part for you is to understand when it won’t work, and to call your dog BEFORE he reaches the deaf stage thus increasing his reliability and giving you control.
My Jake is a sight hound, and as such, any squirrels running past his view will instantly attract his complete attention. I can shout until I’m blue in the face, I won’t be able to bring him back. But knowing where the prime squirrel spots are allows me to be more aware and we can either avoid, leash up or use the walk to perform some carefully run ‘heel’ training.
By avoiding situations where he won’t listen, I increase his recall reliability but also we are then able to start moving closer and closer to those squirrels to push his boundaries and increase his focus on me and off them.
Do you want help teaching your dog to come when called? Email me here
