I've already learned a lot from reading past posts, and am excited to try these techniques with my dogs. I think I understand markers, rewards, teaching the basic come and then progressing to distractions. My question is, can you use one word for the urgent come (here, or maybe a whistle) and one for non-urgent, meaning, hey, come on in, but no rush. I have a safe wooded area to run the dogs, and I don't mind if they run the woods a bit. In this case, when I want them to come in, I just call their names. So far, they're great with non-urgent come, and I plan to use a completely different word and training to train the instinctual recall. I'm just wondering if this is asking too much. Also, is a whistle advisable for the 'urgent' come? I may not always have one with me. In the meantime, I'll keep reading previous posts. I've found some excellent advice. I also plan to incorporate e-collar training with the recall, but only after I know the dogs know what they are supposed to do, and do it without distractions.

It is not too much for them to have 2 different recalls. I use two different commands for recall (urgent and not). In my experience, they can do a lot more than we ever ask of them. And, I have found the e-collar (correctly used) to be a very helpful tool.

If the wooded area is very large, I'd definitely try to always have the whistle. A whistle can be heard a lot farther than your voice. If they even run to far, as if they chase an animal, or simply are enjoying themselves too much to notice how far they are running, a whistle could save the situation from escalating to a much worse outcome.

But yes, two different commands for two types of come, is perfectly doable.

What do you do when you need a urgent recall and you don't have a whistle? You know like when the dog has a big distraction like a rabbit running across a busy street?

This has happened to me! (The Rabbit) Luckily I have worked my recall to death and my dog disengaged, but it could've gotten real ugly quick!

I do use a whistle when I work my dog on the field but you 110% need a similar command by voice. When a situation like the rabbit that happens it can be a life or death situation fro your dog that you don't want to chance.

Thanks for your responses. I am going the e-collar route, definately. I like the whistle for long distance use. I'm not sure if I should use it for urgent or non-urgent though. I totally hear the rabbit situation. I guess you could tie the whistle with the command. I'm not sure how I'd do that. I'll have to search the posts some more. Do people like to use 'here' when you are re-training the 'urgent' come, or is there another sharper sounding word you might suggest. Not a bid deal, I know, but by starting with an 'H' here seems a bit weak to me.

For a non-urgent recall, I use the dog's name. Since I train in French, I use "vien" for an urgent recall. And, say it like you really, really mean it. Tone of voice helps to convey the urgency to the dog. Training it with distractions is part of a successful outcome. Of course, you start with something minimal and increase the level and proximity of the particular distraction.

I LOVE the whistle for the "urgent" come. It's sharp, the sound carries a long distance and it's a real attention getter. The sound itself almost feels urgent, if that makes sense. When I use the whistle my dog comes running like he was shot out of a cannon. I love it. I also LOVE the e-collar for anything off leash. I rarely ever have to push a button anymore, but it's nice to know I can if I need to.

I actually have three come commands: "urgent" with the whistle; "hey" which means 'come a little closer' and "here" which means 'come in straight and sit in front of me'.

I'm going to start the training tonight, with a long line to start. I'll have to come up with a plan for incorporating the whistle. Thinking about it, I rarely use 'come' to call my dogs, usually I use the names and something like 'comeon'. There's a lot I'm learning on this site, that's for sure. I know my shepherd will be easier than my husky- but they both have their own challenges.
Does this sound right? I'll have a long line, say "Tessa, come". Here's the tricky part- at this point do I mark with 'yes' any movement toward me or wait until she/he is in front of me to mark and reward? In these early stages, if the dog doesn't respond immediately (since this is the urgent come) do I pull the dog toward me AND correct with a training collar or just pull toward me and reward when he/she gets there? I know I'll run into this sooner or later, and I won't be offended if you simply tell me to check older posts. I'm just working out the steps in my head and trying to problem solve before I run into issues so I can set the dog up for success. I know timing is key. Five minute training sessions to start? Play afterward?

I would not correct at the early stage as that would be unfair. I would use something totally different than the normal command you use for come.

I personally taught my husky "car ride" to use in emergencies, namely when he shoots out the front door and I need to get him contained to avoid disaster.

This of course wouldn't work if we were anywhere away from the car, but I am hyper vigilant about his leash and collar when we are away from home.

I use Here for the urgent, non negotiable recall. I have no problem with the soft H in the beginning of the word. I like Here because it is one syllable and I can get the word out even when I am under stress... Sometimes it sounds like a grunt, but the dogs understand it and come running. I require that they come to me on the double and touch me (either they nose my hand or touch my knee). I taught them this in several steps, but it really went quickly. To get them to run to me on the double, I ran the opposite direction.. this got their prey drive involved and they would practically tackle me. I didn't introduce the corrections until they were solid and understood what I wanted of them.

For the more non urgent recall, I use Come. If they are close to me but I think they might get into trouble if they stray too far away, I use With Me. Both of these commands means that I want them near me, but they don't have to drop everything and race to me.

You can use any word you want for your command (I used BONES back before I had my current dogs). I don't like to add the dog's name because I want it to be obeyed by all 4 of them. If I use a name, it tells the dogs that I am only calling one of them and the others can do whatever. I also only use one word for the urgent recall... I want to be sure that I will be able to deliver the command even in a super high stress moment... like if the dog is chasing a rabbit across a road with a car coming toward it.

Make the learning phase fun, and your dog will respond faster. When I use the Here command, I ALWAYS praise the heck out of them when they get to me and they will get a good game of tug or whatever when the disaster has been dealt with.

Good luck with your training.