Need a recall word

I use the word "To me" which seems to work relatively well.

I know someone who uses "Too far!"

We use "That'll do" (ie, that will do).

Is your dog picking up words out of conversation, or does your DH call the dog too often? Will he start saying cookie a lot? []

Here and come weren't working for me either, till I learned to stop repeating them!

I say "here girl" only once, and wait. I've been doing specific recall training with the word "come", which is also going great. I'm thinking of training "ASAP" for an emergency recall word.

If I just want to play with her, have a little pet, see where she is, or get her attention, I whistle, make goofy sounds, or say her name with excitement.

I think it matters less what word you use, and more the way you use it.

I use "come on" when I want her to move along - like at the start of a walk.  DH says "come HERE" way too frequently - she completely ignores it 70% of the time.  Hence the need of another word.
 
If the word "cookie" is used its generally to give her a cookie (read: kibble as a treat).     Even tho I never did any real obedience training with my first dog "cookie" always got a reaction since she knew what was coming - thats why I thought it could be adapted as a recall word.
 
Does the use of the word outside of a recall context negate its use as a recall word if it ends up in the desired behavior ?  ie:  if I say "get a cookie" and she only has to take 1 or 2 steps on most occassions to get that cookie,  will that somehow ruin the word for calling her from a distance ?

I call my dogs to me from all distances that they can handle. For Emma, that's as far as I can see her. For Teenie, it's across the room. I also call them from the other end of the couch, from the floor to my lap, etc. I don't think the distance matters, so much as the end result (you are ^here).

Instead of sayin "come on" to get her going try " lets go". Also, I try not to use the word "come" or "here" for a recall word, I just say their name in a happy voice.Using the word "cookie" could possibly backfire, once she realizes you have nothing to give, she might decide its not worth it to come.

"come on" is a 10 year old habit (for me - used it with my previous dog) so its way too hard to break.
If "cookie" can backfire if I don't have a reward - why wouldn't any other word ?  Plus the chances are that if I say "cookie" its because she's getting a cookie.   What I really want to know is if I use it in a "have a cookie" context (for other good behaviors) do I "ruin" the word for recall.

I wouldn't use a word like that for recall -- it potentially could totally skew all meanings of the word.
 
I truly try to be very context sensitive.  If my dog is on leash and I want them to follow set commands I ask "Are you ready to work? Let's go".
 
If I'm in the bedroom and want somebuddy, I call the name +come or "come to Mommy"
 
In honesty, I've been training dogs for over 40 years with many many different dogs.  And a couple of years ago I had a trainer challenge me to change my call words from "c'mon" which I'd used for ... let's just say "forever".  And I found taking the extra thought to change my own recall words was really beneficial.  It gave ME the extra moment to truly gather my brain together to make sure I was saying what I wanted to say THEN, so it was effective.
 
If you have a spouse who is kind of specializing in sabotage (unintentionally but 'who cares') then you may want to make sure that the dog will OBEY at least one of you all the time. 
 
We have to learn to call a different name, and often a different sex ('here girl', rather than 'here boy'), you can truly manage a different recall word if you need/want to. 
 
Suggestion:   don't set yourself up to fail -- realize that there are times you want a truly different or faster response rather than just the casual "come here for a pet" kind of call.  Take one word and really work with it -- and reserve that word for when you truly want instant obedience rather than the casual calling them to you. 

I use NOW as my recall.  I use now instead of come, here, or lets go just because not many people use it.  Now is just as it sounds, I want them to get back to me now.  I really agree with Jennie that you have to feel out your dog to see what type of distance you can reliably recall her.  Start with short, managable distance & increase distance over time.

Amanda, I love NOW - its perfect !   That will be the one I reserve for quick recall - its not a word likely to be used in other contexts and definitely relates the meaning of the word.   Plus its not one I've used, so thats in line with Callie's suggestion that I use a word that causes me pause to think.  Thanks guys !

I use a whistle (like an actual physical whistle cuz I'm not such a pro whistler). That is definately a sound they don't hear at any other time.

I use a whistle too, but with my own lips. []
 
A soft whistle "wheeet", means come or let's go.
 
A sharp whistle "WHEEETT!", means stop what you are doing and come to me now!

We use our dogs' middle names as recall words. Just like when we were kids, we knew Mom and Dad meant it when you got your first and middle names used! I can still hear my mom... Catherine Mary!!! []
 
The other thing to keep in mind is you want a recall word that not many others will use. If you happen to go to a dog park or a place where numerous dogs are playing together "come," "here," "now," "home" etc. are all fairly common.
 
Both of our dogs are named for hockey players, so their recall words are "Ubbie" (pronounced "oobie," it's short for Ubriaco) and "Irish" because that player played college hockey at Notre Dame.