Connie suggested I start a new thread on this. I think I know at least some of what I need to do. As I've explained in other threads, I work alot and am physically exhausted when I get home, so I don't train Marco probably as much as I should. (That doesn't mean he doesn't get exercise, my wife and kids have him out alot during the day. It's just that I do the training) So that's probably the biggest reason it's not as solid yet as I'd like. If Marco is in training mode, the recalls are solid. Maybe still not quite as fast I want, but the speed is getting better lately. However, if he's loose in the house, I do keep him on a leash, but not tethered so occasionally he'll head down the hall or into the kitchen. I will usually give an "Uh Uh" and most of the time that stops him, so I guess I'm not really trying a recall but sometimes he doesn't stop and I'll try a recall and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I also haven't gotten into doing it with distraction. So I really think I just need to do it more and I also don't really know when the time is right to start doing it with distraction and what to do if he doesn't listen.

Never use the recall when you have any doubt. That is, never "try" the recall.

No distraction at all at this point. Zero distraction until you have a very reliable recall without any distraction.

My recall starts indoors in a distraction-free area (maybe the garage or basement or a boring hallway), and I have a bait-bag full of HV rewards.

In the morning, I'm going to find a few past posts that have many hints for a successful recall, so I don't re-type the wheel. Also, I'm thinking Bob, Anne, and some other experts will see the thread and hop on.

One thing is, I'm guessing that your recall is now pretty tainted and that you might want to start over with a new one.

I know many people will suggest a long line, too, which does work fine and which I have used (and still do) lots of times, but over the years, fixing messed-up recalls, I've come to prefer starting over indoors, without even passing cars or other humans to distract us, with a clean new command.

Since what you want is for the dog to hear you call him and be thrilled to come running, I always use the recall indoors for every good thing that is going to happen, all day. And never ever use it to end a game, to go inside when he's having fun outside, to be corrected (never!), to have something he dislikes (whether it's a med or a bath or whatever) ..... that is, I spend a lot of time and energy and thought on my recall "groundwork," which is associating in his mind my call with fabulous stuff.

More tomorrow!

PS
You CAN have a recall that will stop your dog mid-dash or mid-sniff, ears perked up, smile on face, to race to you. And getting there is fun, too.

" I work alot and am physically exhausted when I get home, so I don't train Marco probably as much as I should. "

Once you have done the tiny minimal work needed to show him what the recall means, you can do recall reinforcement from the couch.

There's so much recall practice you can do besides the restrained recall ....

The beginning of this is a little intro to beginning recall:
http://leerburg.com/flix/player.php/819/Can_you_help_me_with_my_recall

(You're not yet at the point of the controlled distraction described.)

Are you wanting a solid recall for competition or just home manners?
It seems your contaminating the competition recall by using it as a general manners thing.
For ALL my competition commands I have different words for house commands. Simple as that.
For competition I want and wont except anything other then precision. I personally use the command "Front" for competition because it will be where I want the dog.
For house commands I use "here". I don't expect a sit front with it but I do want the dog to come within a few feet of me.

"If Marcos is in training mode".
Does he have a good drive for a ball or food? Then no reason he can't be in training mode. If not then don't work on anything you expect precision.
If the wife and kids are wearing him out during the day then you may want to have them ease off a bit but the idea behind good training is it should be as much fun for the dog as it is for you. It doesn't have to be do it or else. Make it a do it and you get a reward. MARKER TRAINING!
How old is the dog?

I'll add a few simple basic realities of a beginning recall.

NEVER call the dog if you think it will refuse! (it's distracted or it doesn't yet have any consistency).
NEVER call the dog to give a correction! (Dog digs a hole and you call it, then punish it).
Make being with you as the best spot on the planet!
Your dog will read your enthusiasm or lack of it. You can sound as happy and cheerful as you want. If it's not real the dog can tell. Dogs are masters of reading our body language. If only we could be as lucky about reading all theirs.

I realized that my posts are all about DON'T.

With a young dog you can start building a recall is

Have your wife hold the dog. YOU stand it front of the dog with a treat, toy, whatever hold great value to the dog.
WITHOUT USING THE DOG'S NAME OR THE WORD COME, tease the dog while backing away. Only 8-10 ft at first. When and only when the dog is really driving to get to you THEN give the "come" or whatever command you use. When the dog is let go by the holder MARK and REWARD for the dog coming in towards you.
In the initial stages you don't need the dog to come all the way in to get rewarded.
Then it's YOUR TURN to hold the dog and have the wife do the same thing that you just did.
The tendency to keep going will be strong if the dog is doing well. It's a pup! Stop after only a few reps. If the pup gets tired of it that only devalues the whole thing.
Again, for this use only everyday house commands. The formal work can come later if you desire.

i'm working on the recall on two fronts .

i've been doing restrained recalls using a long line and a helper . as well , when we are out on wilderness walks i'll wait until i see him having difficulty with a particular obstacle . when he is just about to overcome it , i'll make eye contact , call " come ! " and mark him as he's roaring in towards me where he gets the reward party . i use the terrain as the restraint .

the other one i've been working on is where i just want him to get to me at the pace we are moving . for that , i've been picking moments where he'll check back to me as we are moving . i then point two fingers to my eyes , whereupon he'll move in to receive a food reward . the moment he is moving towards me , i mark with " yes " . haven't decided on a word to apply to it , but that is a hundred good reps off at this point .

henry is on a long line near 100 % of the time . restrained recalls have been done in a distraction free environment ( empty parks ) and the " c'mon over " done in the forest bushwacking or deserted trails .

Oh, good catch, Bob.

Kory, are you talking about competition or general recall? Or both? (One at a time, IMO.)

This is just general recall, no competition, however I do hope to someday do schutzhund with a future dog after my kids are grown so why not make it as good as possible to get practice now?

After thinking about this while driving and working today, I'm not so sure that I've tainted the recall. As I said before, if I've asked him if he's ready and he goes into training mode, recall is 100%. Still working on speed but he always does it. In the instances I mentioned about him going down the hallway or whatever, I haven't used my recall word which is "here". I just said "come on" or "come here". I deliberately did that to keep from ruining the "here" but to me that's still an attempt to get him to come back to me that was somewhat ignored. If he does try to ignore it, when I start walking toward him, he turns around and comes back. So he knows what I want, he's just trying to see what he can get away with I think. Also, I have never used a recall to give a correction. I have made that mistake with past dogs and understand how bad that is. I would not say that Marco is particularly food or ball driven. He wants the treats for sure and will start to offer downs or sits when we start, but not overly driven for it. A ball, he'll chase a handfull of times and will bring it back, but he's not in any hurry super excited about it. He does seem to like tugging quite a bit, but I can't do that right now because he's right in the middle of teething. Can't wait for that to end because I've watched the tug video twice and I'm really excited to see how well I can make that work. I've been telling my wife that I need her to work on restrained recalls with me, we just haven't been able to find the time yet.

So, if he's really solid on the recalls when in training mode, how do I know that it's solid enough to start doing it when not in training mode? Basically where do I go from here?

I guess I should also explain how I've been working on it. I just put him in a sit or down at random back away or walk away to random distances from say 5'-15', then say "here". I have done it outside a few times the last couple of days and he's done perfectly there too.