Golden Rules of Perfect Recall!

Recall is a difficult skill to master! How on Earth are humans supposed to be more important to our dogs than squirrels, birds, other dogs and overwhelming smells?!
Recall is one of those skills where repetition really does the trick but there are few things that can help significantly so you can achieve a perfect recall! These are the golden rules and some of them may not be so obvious.

Rule number 1
Don’t use your recall cue too often.

But I said repetition is key right?… Yes! But if you recall your dog every five minutes, they have to resign from sniffing and exploring. If you overuse your recall cue - your dog will finally ignore it. Imagine being focused on something very important and someone is asking you to pass them something every 5 minutes. Quite frustrating right? I know I would start ignoring that person and at some point I would get quite angry too!

Rule number 2
Set your dog up to succeed and use long leads.

Dogs don’t always make the best choices, but humans don’t either! Eliminate the possibility of your dog ignoring your recall and shooting off the horizon by using a long lead. There are 5m, 10m, 20m and even 50m leads which you can use in open spaces.
If your dog ignores your recall and you have no control of them, it is not only a potentially dangerous situation, but is also very likely to get reinforced by a huge zoomies session, rolling in poo or eating something found in bush…
Practice makes permanent and if your dog practices ignoring your recall - it will happen more and more often.

Rule number 3
Practice in easy environments first.

Ignoring distractions is difficult so start your recall practice in your living room! Pair your recall cue with something fun or delicious and when you master it indoors - take it to the garden. Don’t go from garden to a busy city centre. This huge jump in environment difficulty has very little chance to work best. Take your time and practice in more and more busy environments when your dog is able to recall in a lower distraction area.

Rule number 4
If you’re being ignored - run away and make some noise!

This one isn’t what we usually do, but when your dog doesn’t come back when recalled - you have much more chance to get them back by running away while waving your arms and making funny noises than you have by chasing them. Think about a group of dogs playing together. There are chasers and the chased. If you are the chaser… Your dog must be the chased one! They will run away thinking it is the best fun ever!
But if you run away and catch their attention - you will become the chased one and your dog will try to catch you.

Rule number 5
Choose a good recall cue.

Make sure your recall cue is something you only say in the recall scenario. Your dog’s name is very likely being used multiple times a day so they won’t associate it with coming over to you. You can say your dog’s name and then add an extra cue on top like “here” “come” etc. That way, you will catch your dog’s attention by saying their name and then recall them with a cue meaning they have to run to you.

Rule number 6
NEVER tell your dog off for coming back!

Yes! Even if they have been running away from you for the last 15 minutes, you feel sweaty and out of breath and now Susan from across the street is giving you a funny look. This can be frustrating and you have every right to be annoyed…
But if you tell your dog off for coming back, you have actually punished them listening to their recall. This will make the recall working next time less probable.

Rule number 7
Make it fun!

Dogs thrive on fun! If you’re standing with your hands in your pockets and shout “Fido Come” with a bored voice they will not feel like you are fun enough to come over to you. But if you shout excitedly, slap your legs and make a few excited steps backwards, you have just became the best party in the park! And if you’re waving a tug toy - you have won the most entertaining person’s award in your dog’s eyes! Heck yeah they want to come over and play!