What is your recall word?

It's the emergency situations that I need a word for.  I used to open the back door and tell the dogs to go to the agility area and they would run in to have some off leash sniffing time.  Then I'd open the gate and say "inside" to go into the house, and they'd run to the back door.  One time (that's all it took) two of them took off across the yard, down the driveway and across a very busy highway to the neighbor across the street because his dog was tied up out front.  Of course they would not listen to me yelling and screaming at them.  I thought I was going to see doggy splattered all over the highway by some big Mac truck or dump truck full of limestone rock.  So I want to work on a 100% recall and I can't come up with a word to use.

I was thinking about using "cookie", Gina, but my BF thinks we say that too often.  I only say it when *I* am going to eat cookies.  The dogs get treats, not cookies.... so that word was tossed out.

Oh and you can bet they all go out on leash and come back in on leash now.

I usually blow a whistle for my serious recall but what also works is "treats!"

Come is what I generally use.  We live on a busy street though.  Scruffy, the cockapoo, has gotten out into the front yard a couple of times so since she was in immediate danger I used, "Do you want to go for a ride in the car?"   That worked beautifully since that is here favorite thing to do.  She came running excitedly to me as if she did nothing wrong by running out the door.  She doesn't do that anymore and is very good offleash so I am glad about that.
 

Strauss' recall word is "Hier!" It's german, and it's actually pronounced in two syllables.  I use "Come!" for "Come where I can see you!" All that is required in that instance is for him to come close enough for me to see where he is, and he is allowed to run off.

Basically what he does is run at me like an idiot, and right before he would run into my legs, he veers off and returns to playing.  That isn't what I MEANT come to be, but I must say, I like it.  All I really wanted was for him to come a few steps forward before he went back to play...I like his interpretation more xD!
 
Words/phrases to use:
To Me
With Me
Get on home!
Front
Center
Let's go!
Follow
 
And there is NO reason for your dogs not to come to a heel command either.  Strauss comes to me for Hier, Fuss, and Come.  They just all mean different positions, and he honors each one. 
 
Hier - Sit front
Come - Come where I can see you
Fuss - Come and sit in heel position

Vita I thought I was the only one who did that. When Ruby the escape artist ran out the door one day I was really afraid for her. She was giving me that "you can't catch me" look. I yelled "Get in the car" Car being a magic word. She did but (silly me) I was afraid that if she knew I was faking her out it wouldn't work next time so I took her for a ride around the block.

I, too, corrupted the word "come" by over using it.  I use "To me" which means the same thing.  With Gaia all I need to do is call her name though and she comes a' running.  Xerxes is a bit more...noble? He'll take his sweet time. 

Ed, don't know if this would work given the breed, but if you can start using a No Reward Marker (NRM) you might be able to up the ante on the "to me" if  you say that, he doesn't come fast enough, and you go "too bad" or your NRM and then turn away from him.  Try again in 20 seconds.  Might work, I've found it works to some degree, but I've just started using it for stuff, so just a thought. 

"to me" would also work in our situation, it's not something I currently say to them....

If Rupert is going to far  (in the yard at home, or at the beach, or where he can be off leash) I say "Come"..thats basically get closer to me, I don't want you that far away from me. If I call "RUP" then he comes and sits at my feet.

Oh geez the car trick. I too have employed that one, back when Conrad was young and spry and had way more opportunity to practice being naughty (and I was a much much crappier trainer). We used to live on many acres of waterfront property and he had the run of the place. It became a problem when he would decide that just because mom and dad have to leave now to go out, that's no reason for him to come home. So he'd dance around and play the "can't catch me game" like the absolute worst dog in the universe. We developed a couple tricks for that situation. One was "wanna go for a ride?" and opening up the hatch back of the car. That worked quite a bit, but he sort of started to get wise to it. We also would take a walk down to the end of our pier (very long) and just have a nice conversation out there. Conrad would feel all left out so he'd come running down the pier to see what kind of fun we were having out there. At the end of the pier, there's not a whole lot of places for a dog to go in order to avoid being caught. He was never a dock diver, so as long as we could keep him from running back down the pier, we had him.

He's pushing 6 now and since we've moved to the city I think he's pretty much forgotten that the option to just go running off and not come back ever existed.

Jezebelle's recall word is 'lizard check'[sm=rofl.gif] She loves to check for lizards under the different items on the porch, and she will beat me to the porch if I say it.  I have even managed to pull her off of a squirrel with it one time out of desperation and it stuck.  And considering squirrel's are 'fur tails' in my house since she knows the word, I figured anything that pulls her away from them is a God send!

Tequila on the other hand, we are still working on her not playing deaf if there isn't food involved, but we have only had her 5 months and she is very obstinate.[sm=biggrin.gif]

I have three.

"Come" is a formal recall, complete with front- only used in obedience or a non-distracting situation.

"Here" means 'come near enough that I can pet you (or grab your collar) as fast as you can, there might be food!'

"Check in!" means 'stop what you're doing and head in my direction, but you don't have to come all the way back, just within 10-15 feet, although coming closer may result in food.

She's upstairs and I'm downstairs.
"Sooooo-feeeeeee!"


She's in the general vicinity.
"Hey, c'mere!"

Training with sit/stays/waits/Stops:
"Sofie, COME." (She waits for it.)

We have much to do for recall training. She'll probably never be more than about 60%, I think.

I use JUST their name and it it works 90% of the time. On the RARE occassion that they are too INTENT on something to immediately respond, I use their name AND slap my thigh. 
 
ONLY ONCE did I ever have both of those things NOT work and that was when they were angry at me because I made them wear their 4-legged jammies in the house.  In that case saying "cookie" in a high pitched voice was something even these stubborn two could NOT ignore![]       

I use "here" for the recall. I use "here" to mean drop what you're doing and get here as fast as you can. D(umb)H ruined "come" by correcting his dog for not coming fast enough when the dog finally came.[:@]
So, now we use 'here' for all three of them. I don't use it often, as I'm saving it for an emergency, and I don't want to wear it out. I've only used it once, outside of training. Two of my dogs escaped their enclosure at my cottage. They appeared to be long gone, and I wasn't sure of how long they'd been out... I called their names followed by "HEEere!" They exploded out of the woods into the clearing I was standing in! I turned away from them and ran back to the cottage, and they followed me all the way back, and back inside! [][][] Not bad from a northern breed! Usually I require that they sit in front of me after a 'here', but that time I didn't want to risk it.

I use their names as an informal recall. It kind of means come to my general vicinity, and is usually used at the leash free when I lose sight of them in the woods...or in the house when I'm lonely and need a furry friend to snuggle. I used it once to call one of mine back after he was accidently let out (before we started traing with "here"). He was running away full tilt towards the lake. When I called him, he turned right around and came back to me! [][] Sorry, these recall incidences are a big deal for me. My breed is not known for their recall!

I use "c'mon" to mean keep up, or stay with me, if they're lagging when we hike the trails at the leash-free.

I usually just call Max's name if I want him, and then I have my hand in a fist with my pointer finger out. He'll usually run to me, touch his nose to my finger, and sit, though I do have to remind him to sit sometimes. If I want him to come faster, I turn my back away from him, and pretend I am going to run away, take a few steps away, or sometimes I do actually start running a bit.