The Importance Of Good Recall For Your Dog

Training Your Dog To Have Good Recall

Dog training is essential to teach your pet to come to you when you call their name. This is also known as recall. It’s one of the most important things to teach your dog as soon as possible, but depending on the nature of your dog this can sometimes be challenging. The world is extremely interesting to your dog and getting it to ignore it can be tricky.

Asking your dog to come back, means asking them to stop what they are sniffing or interested in and focus on you.

That could be, asking it to turn away from:

• Interesting smells
• Dogs
• Food

This can be difficult.

To obtain the perfect recall, we must apply proper dog training methods to programme them to think that being near us is the most exciting choice and nowhere is a better place to be. There’s also the fact that we have plenty of food as a reward, most dogs love a tasty treat.

Lead Laws

This is something that should be considered even if your dog has an amazing recall ability. Lead laws should always be respected, and this means keeping your dog on a lead in a public place or somewhere that isn’t fully secure. 

It’s your responsibility as the owner to make sure your dog is fully supervised and isn’t a danger to anyone else. If your dog isn’t properly secured in a safe, fenced-off environment, the lead needs to be on. 

There will be times, especially in public locations that someone else’s dog might be nervous and react if your dog approaches. For this reason, your dog should be securely on a lead and not be allowed to roam. 

When Should I Start Recall Training?

You can start your recall dog training as soon as you get your puppy. In terms of an on-lead dog recall, they should be pretty successful at this technique by the time they are 6 months old. At this stage, your puppy will most likely be pretty good at it. 

You can then look at perfecting off-lead recall and this can usually be achieved by the time they are 12 months old. Recall training is something that requires patience and understanding. It will come eventually!

Recall Training Tips

There are some things you can do to speed up your recall training. Keep these handy tips in mind when spending time training your pooch. 

●     Reward your dog when they make eye contact – if your dog is looking at you, they are engaged! Reward this with treats to let them know they are doing a great job.

●     Don’t punish your dog for coming to you – even if the recall isn’t perfect, if they make the trip back to you, reward them for it. They just need some final touches to make it perfect.

●     Use plenty of treats! – You don’t always need to reward your dog with a treat but make them fully aware that most of the time, they’ll get one. Don’t let it be a bribe, however, or they may only be coming back to you for the treat and not the command.

Hunters Lodge

Here at Hunters Lodge, we offer a spacious kennel and cattery facility. We also offer a state-of-the-art 9.5-acre daycare centre for your pet. The daycare centre is fully secured by 6-foot-high fencing. 

We can cater to all your and your pet’s needs, call us on 01604 870330 today or visit our contact page for more information.