Recall Training

A recall, or coming when called behavior is one of the more useful things you can teach your dog. There are multiple ways to train this behavior, and plenty of additional factors to work on to improve the response over time.

Two options for starting to teach a recall include:

1. Using Pavlonian conditioning.

In this type of training, your dog does not have to perform a behavior to earn the treats. Instead your dog will learn to associate your cue or signal with good things (creating a positive association), and will quickly turn into a recall.

You’ll prepare some high value treats ahead of time (canned food, fresh meat, cheese, etc.), set them aside so they don’t interfere with the process - we don’t want treat preparation to predict treats, but rather we want your recall cue to predict tasty treats.

Next you will give your new recall cue (say “your dog’s name,” then “here!” or your desirable word/phrase), pause a second, then deliver the treats to your dog. Your dog doesn’t have to actually come over to you yet, and it shouldn’t be expected necessarily, since the cue is new to your dog and it has no inherent meaning to him yet.

Practice this a few times over a few days. Not too long after beginning you’ll start to notice when your dog hears the recall cue, that he is looking expectant for his rewards, and will start to come towards you.

Then the next step is to start a few feet away, give your cue, wait for your dog to come over, then praise and reward him, and gradually over time increase the distance he has to come to you. You can still mix in some easier repetitions too (shorter distances), so not every single recall is more difficult than the previous one, since this can actually hinder training results.

2. Using Prompting.

For many dogs it’s relatively easy to encourage them over to you, especially if they are happy, energetic and fear-free. In these cases, you can call your dog: give your recall cue, then prompt or encourage your dog to come to you, and then reward with some treats.

Some strategies for prompting your dog over to you can include crouching down, patting your leg/thigh, whistling or making a clicking sound if your dog enjoys those, or running a little ways away - dogs like to chase moving things.

Over time you can fade out the prompting, meaning you gradually discontinue it until it’s not needed at all.

So the final process equals: give your cue, dog comes to you, then praise and reward.