The Recall Thread

Having an excellent recall is very important to me, for a lot of reasons.  I would say that Heidi's recall is now at about 99.9%, and I had a professional trainer help me to get there.

I started using the "come" command when she was little from the beginning at 8 weeks...without great expectations.  I would make myself exciting and fun, so that she would want to come to me.  I would call her to me and walk backwards while calling her name and saying "come".  Then, when she got to me, treat and praise like a crazy person.

As she started getting older and brattier, she started testing the waters...and even though I thought I was being fun and exciting with great treats...she started thinking differently.  So, I would call her over to me, she wouldn't come then I've lost credibility.  I started putting her on a long line and practicing that as well, but never got very far...most always having to reel her in.  I think we were at a stage where we were competing for who's top dog...me or her.   Heidi is very hard tempered too, always has been...so I had that against me too.

That's when I decided it was time to bring in the pro.  Long story short, he made sure she "understood" the various commands; made sure she knew that the command is only given once and worked with her on a long line until she had it down 100%.  Then, of course...he taught me what to do and how to do it.  Well worth bringing in a pro...she is very well behaved now and I'm diligent in making sure she does what I tell her.

I went to the dog park for the very first time in my life a couple of weeks ago...wanted to experience it; because I'm having loose dog issues on my road...sigh.  I felt confident in her recall and she proved that I should be.  I only did it once that day.  She had made her way to the front of the park and I was all the way at the back of the park with Buddy.  There were lots of dogs and people around.  I gave it a try, knowing well that it could go south.  I called her, and she came to me.  OMG, what a proud moment that was.  People that were standing around me said "Nice", "Wow, that was great" because she was SO far away. So, I'm feeling really good about her recall.  We practice it every day.

I can't say recall is massively important to me, but maybe that's because I've got a dog that has never gone and got lost on me. Sometimes she takes a while to head on back, and every once in a while I get the "In a minute, this is more important" thing, but she never goes out of my sight so even when she doesn't come back, I can just walk over and ask her politely just what she thinks she's doing and she smiles sweetly and follows me back on track. Actually, that's not quite true. I lost her when we got to Riverwood Downs the camping retreat for dogs and their owners, because I let her run off and explore while we checked in and it took us a lot longer than I was anticipating. When I came back out she was nowhere to be found and I don't think she could hear me calling. I figured she'd be at the cafe and there she was. So I guess I've been lucky with her. I didn't work very hard on her recall. I didn't let her off a longline until I was very confident she'd stick around, and I spent a lot of time with her in long grass and dense bushes. If she didn't want to be left behind, she had to stick close. She's the kind of dog that actually works on. She hates to lose her people. Don't know how I'll go with a taller dog with a stronger independent streak. But then, not sure just how independent Lappies get.

Anyway, Penny's recall is probably about 97% with almost no work at all. Just hanging out on the trail. We walked a long way with few distractions. I don't trust her so well in urban environments because she tends to go poking around in people's gardens and backyards, so she stays on the leash. I keep her on a longline more often these days because her eyesight is going and her hearing isn't as good as it was. She keeps drifting too far away and then she loses me. That's a very recent problem.

With Kivi Tarro, I'm keen to get a good recall. It makes life easier and you worry so much less when you know they'll come back, even if it takes them a minute. The couple of times Penny has got away and headed off towards a road or something, my no-nonsense tone gets her back. At the moment we're calling Kivi Tarro whenever he starts heading our way, particularly if he's running. I should really be loading on the sweet treats when he does that, but I'm still adjusting to treat training. Never done it before! I just went and bought a treat pouch, though. We're also playing "chase me" games to try to put down some ground work. We never chase him, but we encourage him to chase us. Penny has been helping with that one. We'll see how we go with the recall as he grows. He's a very low-key little guy and it's not hard to get his attention if you have treats and a clicker. Hope that continues!
 

we spend a lot of time off-leash so recall is very important. Unlike the conventional wisdom of keeping the dog on leash until the recall is perfected we do the opposite- young puppies naturally stay close to the group so they go out off-leash from day one. Every time the young puppy "checks in" he gets resoundingly rewarded. We teach a whistle recall, and have several verbal recalls with slightly varying meanings. It's really easy to teach a young puppy to come when whistled at if you already have a pack of "oh joy the whistle blew better run to mom to get the roast beef" dogs. We used to put adolescent dogs onto drag lines and then transition to ecollar at age two but haven't bothered with the latest dog; instead he just went straight onto the ecollar at adolescence.

Gracie started on the e-collar at less than a year old and her recall is something I'm pretty proud of.  The SchH training made me push to further limits and thus I could leave her in a sit/down/stand, move 200 paces out, and still call her to a beautifully FAST front and straight sit.

Jada's recall was trained w/KMODT and I'm not as satisfied, but I've spent less time on teaching and finessing it than I did with G.  When I started Jada on the e-collar she was remarkably improved.  She's the kind of dog who spent much of her life avoiding corrections before she became my BF's dog.  The ecollar is clear and quick and she spends less time trying to figure out the wrong way to avoid a conventional correction versus just coming to me.

 Sequoyah - 100%, and my friends joke to me that this dog will "come" to any high pitched noise I make LOL.

Sioux - 100%, and I've called her off of moving cats on more than one occasion!  And, I can put her in a "stay", call her from fifty feet away, and tell her to "leave it" as she comes, so that she will not touch the pile of dog bones I leave in the way!  She wows the seniors at our demos with that one. (How do you say "proud dog mom"????)

Maska - 99.99% - really 100%, but he IS a hound, after all, and so I don't tempt fate.

Fergie - used to be 100%, but now she can't hear me call her - at 19, she's in little danger because she doesn't go out alone or off of a harness 

All the dogs were taught ON lead first, for quite some time, and had to earn the privilege of being off.  I tie 30' training leads together, and call them from 90 feet away before moving them to thin tracking lines (wear leather gloves).  I use restrained recalls, hide and seek games, etc.  Lots of it is patterned after Leslie Nelson's "Really Reliable Recall". 

I'd almost forgotten this thread. 

Our youngest dog has a wonderful recall.  It's about 98% I think.  If there are other people around that she wants to go and bodyslam in frenzied excitement, then she may well need calling a second time (which I don't like doing but there you are, sometimes you end up in a less than perfect situation when an idiot leaves all your gates and doors open.)  If there are kids (which there are very rarely) then I am afraid you need to walk up and fetch her.  She won't hear you.  She loves kids SOOO much, and to stand there calling her while she's "loving" them just isn't good enough in my mind.  There hasn't been much formal training with this dog, she is very very people orientated.  You might say she has a HIGH pack drive.  Being next to her people is her default state of being and almost doesn't require an actual cue.

I have an aging terrier whose recall fluctuates wildly.  It depends on his proximity - the further away he is, the less reliable he is.  Therefore, I call him before he gets too far away and we tend to be OK.  I do WISH I'd done more "watch me" exercises with him when he was a puppy, because I do think his hearing is going a bit and that has had an adverse effect. I have to keep him closer now, than I did when he was a puppy.  Used to be, if I could see him, I could recall him, even if he was the other end of a massive field.  I also have to call him before he "locks" on anything now, because after that he tends to go deaf.  I call him if we approach a bend or hump in the track so nothing takes us by surprise and if there are a lot of other animals around or if he has that twinkle in his eye, I just keep him on a long lead.  His recall USED to be about 90%, and that was TRAINED because he is an independant, rebellious little dog and "being with his people" is NOT his default state of being.  "Giving his people the finger and doing exactly as he pleases" is his default state of being, unfortunately.  And now I'd say it's worse..... the older he gets, the more I stay safe and keep him on a lead.

A few years ago, I helped train my then-boyfriend's dog.  I devised a method I thought would work and implemented it straight away.  He got to about 95% reliable recall by the time I left.  This involved erring on teh side of caution, only ever using the cue when I KNEW the dog would respond, often when he was ALREADY hurtling towards me and usually when he was on a long line.  My next pup will be trained in vitually the same way, allowing for personality.

 Emma's recall is 100%, at 4 1/2 years old. I taught her the way Anne described. I used a lead, at first, and only called her when she was on a lead. She was never able to refuse. Now, when I call her, it's almost compulsive. She turns from whatever she's doing and comes FLYING to me. I wish her formal recall was half as nice...

Ena is shockingly reliable, and I'll call that her general nature. I have done very little training with her. She's getting basic socialization, table training, potty training, and general manners training. She sits and stands on command. Nothing else, yet. She has learned a lot from just taking Emma's lead. She does come, every time I call her. Personally, I think it's just because I have treats in my pocket. If it works, it works, LOL.

Abby doesn't really listen very well anymore, and we did't really know what we were doing when we got her, so we're lucky she's been so good for us, haha. She's 13 and stubborn, so we just kind of let her do whatever, she never goes out without a leash, although she does come every time you offer her a "snackie!"

Emma's recall is amazing when it's urgent and she's alone, she's a very smart, confident, and sensitive dog so she's a real joy to work with, IMO.

As for the babies....I've never really tested them, the only time they're alone is when I'm training them or they're out on a leash, and the rest of the time they listen very well (being in the yard, playing in the big park, etc).

 I don't think any of them are 100% and I think it's very important to get them there since we take them out in groups for walks so often, even if it's not (EVER) off-leash walking. If there is any fear/aggression it escalates VERY quickly, which I have had the misfortune of witnessing more than once.

I might need to work with a professional to get any of them to that point, and I have been searching due to my new interest in agility and other competitions.