Talk About the Recall

One of our last newsletters dealt with the Rules of the Recall, and the fact that the recall is the most important exercise you can teach your dog.

In our opinion, most new dog trainers take their dogs off-leash way too soon. They find out their dog either has not generalized the “come exercise” or it very well may know exactly what is expected, but the distractions it faces are more interesting than the reward its owner has.

When our dog knows what “come” means but refuses to come, that dog needs a correction. How much of a correction is based on the dogs age, its temperament, its level of training, and the type distraction. The purpose of a correction is not to punish our dog, but rather to get a behavior change.

Any some point, corrections need to reach a level that the dog respects the consequences of not coming when called. That can only happen with consistency and in most cases, remote collars.

The key to remote collar training is to learn how to train with low level stimulation. Most of my dogs have been trained with levels that humans can not even feel.

We cover the foundation to the recall command in our Basic Dog Obedience and Intermediate Dog Obedience, with remote collars being taught in the training videos we have done with our friend Michael Ellis.