TOP 5 Recall Mistakes Owners Make

Often when I meet a new client with an older dog, I always hear the same complaint, "my dog won't come when I call him".

This is probably one of the biggest problems owners face, when actually it is one of the EASIEST to train. But what happens when you train a recall but still having problems? Look below to see if you've made one or all the typical recall mistakes.

First off, I want you to shake off the unrealistic idea that your dog should come to you......just because you say so. This is unfair and honestly just plain silly.  Now you've heard me say it before and I will say it again, dog's will always do what is reinforcing to them, so if you're not better then another dog, why the heck would the dog want to come to you? Yes, you could intimidate the poor dog and that dog would soon become depressed and even aggressive (depending on what form of intimidation you used), he would only come to you because you've given him no other choice, it's not like he wants to come to you, his body may be there but his mind is elsewhere.

I can teach you how to avoid recall mistakes and have success with your dog, you will have your dog running to you happily over and over again. Doesn't that sound great?



Mistake #1
Don't call your dog to you then end the fun.
Ex: Your dog is at a field playing with some dog's, you call the dog over and he comes back to you (horray!) Now you put a leash on the dog and leave, (booooooo!) You just associated "come" to "your fun will end!"

Mistake #2
Never punish your dog for not coming.
If you punish your dog for not coming right away and taking his time, you just taught the dog that when he does finally come (which is good) he gets in trouble. So tell me why he would want to come back to you?

Mistake #3
Don't put your dog in situations off leash where if you need to call him he will be too distracted to listen.
You have to work up to those distractions, you can't bring a dog to a dog park and expect a recall if the dog can't even come inside your home with no distractions. You must train in a no distraction environment, once you have success there, move to a low distraction environment, once you have success there you can move to a higher distraction environment and so on. With every success you move to a more challenging environment.

Mistake #4
Don't approach your dog when saying "come".
What you're actually doing is using body pressure to push your dog away from you. Either A) stand in one spot and let the dog come all the way to you (which you should train) or B) walk/run the opposite way to entice the dog to follow you.

Mistake #5
Don't over use the command.
Holy moly! People over use the recall and actually desensitize their dog to the cue. If you repeat it over and over again, you will ALWAYS have to repeat it. Only say the cue ONCE and loud enough for the dog to hear you, if the dog didn't come or even look your way you know he A) can't hear you B) too distracting of an environment and you need to take a step back in training.

Any dog that you have trained a recall to mean wonderful things happen when this "come" word is said , that dog will come running to you. It's all about reinforcing the good behaviour so much that the dog anticipates what is to come when he comes to you. After much training you don't even need to use food rewards or toy rewards, the reward is you. But that takes time to get there and a lot of hard work. But if you love and care for your dog, you know it's worth all the hard work.

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