When Willie starting working sheep as a youngster, he didn’t want to quit. This is a high quality problem with a young sheepdog, but it’s still a problem. At some point you just have to end the session. It’s a common problem too–I’ve seen scores of adolescent Border Collies zoom around and around the flock while the owner attempts to call them back and snap on a leash before the dog over heats. Or the sun sets.
This isn’t a challenge restricted to sheepdog owners. Who doesn’t need a dog to stop what it’s doing and come when called? When I asked blog readers what they’d like to talk about, this was one of the topics that came up regularly. I think that’s great, given my belief that all dogs need some freedom in their lives in order to be healthy and happy. Granted, that freedom might be inside a fenced area, but surely all dogs need a little autonomy. However, you still need to be able to call an off-leash dog to you eventually. I’ve seen plenty of client’s dogs who couldn’t be caught, much less asked to come, even inside a small area, so a solid recall is critical no matter how “freedom” is defined.
I’ve written about this before, but never laid out a list of the steps that I think are critical to developing a kick ass recall. I’ll get it started, but I’m counting on all you readers to add your expertise and experience to the mix.
1. Prevention Prevention Prevention. Granted, it’s not always possible, but the more the better. It’s hard to compete once a dog has learned that ignoring you means he gets to chase a deer or snarf down a McBurger wrapper. It’s not necessarily impossible, but it depends on the dog. My Border Collie Pippy Tay, seemingly the sweetest most obedient dog that ever lived, began ignoring me on country walks when she became an adolescent. I’m quite sure she was chasing an animal a few of those times. I went back to basics, including the prevention of more inadvertent reinforcements, some time on a long line, and in addition I introduced competition into the mix. I’d call all the dogs to come, and give high quality treats to all but the last dog who arrived. Three or four times food-loving Pippy arrived last, and watched the other dogs gleefully snarf down their pieces of chicken. Guess who began winning the recall race after just a few sessions?
Prevention means different things for different dogs in different contexts. A working sheepdog in training has to be off leash, but can be started in an area small enough that you have some control. Every dog, and every context is different. But in general, do all you can to work with a dog until you are truly confident you can call her back in Context A before moving to the more challenging Context B.
2. Winning is Everything. Start teaching a recall when you can’t lose. No distractions. Your dog practically beside you. The perfect reinforcement. (I like to vary the reinforcement, so that the dog learns that “If I come when called, I’ll be happy,” not “If I come when called, I get X”. What if she doesn’t want X right now?) Whatever you use, be sure that it truly is a reinforcement for your dog. Slappy pats on the head, we all need to remember, are punishments, not reinforcements. I almost always use food–great food–to start, then quickly add in play, chase, belly rubs, cooing praise, releasing on a walk, working sheep, or whatever the dog wants.
If you’re not sure which reinforcement to use, use the Premack principle. Simply stated, one uses a “high probability behavior” to reinforce a “low probability behavior”. This is just another way of saying that if your dog does it a lot (by choice), then he must like to do it. An clear example comes again from working with sheepdogs. Willie, for example, didn’t want to stop working sheep. If I let him loose around sheep, he’d begin working them–a high probability behavior. So high, as a matter of fact, that that was the problem. He wouldn’t stop. Perfect! All I had to do was get him to stop momentarily by blocking his access to the sheep with my body, and reinforce that by letting him work the sheep again. That evolved into stopping for longer periods, then coming toward me when called, then leaving the sheep even if a hundred yards to me and running like Lassie to me at twenty miles an hour, his face shining with happiness. That’s all because he learned that stopping and running to me meant he got to work the sheep some more.
This is relatively easy to generalize to any dog. Does your dog like to chase? Then make chasing the reinforcement for, well, not chasing. Sounds ridiculous when I put it that way, but that’s the bottom line. Does she like to chase balls? Then teach her if she is ahead of you and starting to move away, she’ll get to run after a ball that you threw behind you. I begin early recall sessions by running away from the dog and letting her chase me as a reinforcement. I usually add in food or play when they catch up, but dogs who love to run after things love to run after you too. Just be sure they don’t get nippy when they arrive.
In my DVD, Lassie Come! I illustrate teaching the early stages of recall training. I will caution you that it’s for getting a dog started, not for “advanced recalls,” but it is great for new dog owners and puppy buyers to get things off on the right paw.
Setting up success relies on understanding how to gradually increase the difficulty level of the recall. Distance, Distraction Level and Pace of the dog are all factors that need to be considered separately. Once you’ve done it enough it becomes automatic, but it does take experience to learn to consider each of the factors. Pay attention to those three things, and you’ll learn quickly not to ask for a recall when the dog is in a distracting environment, already running away and a good twenty feet from the owner. You’re always better to simply not ask if you think the chance the dog will come flying back to you is small.
Your mantra must be to increase the difficulty level one factor at a time: Low distraction level, dog close by but beginning to run forward away from you. Dog close by, only walking, but several distractions. You get the drift.
3. Reinforce the turn toward you. If your dog was focused on a chipmunk, but turns his head to you when you call, you’ve won half the battle. After all, a “recall” isn’t just running to you. The first step is taking his attention off what he was focused on to begin with, so don’t wait until the dog gets to you to provide reinforcement. The second your dog’s head turns toward you and takes even a half of a step forward, reinforce her verbally. Use Good! or Woo Hoo! or Yay! or Click with your clicker, but let your dog know that shifting his attention from the chipmunk and onto to you means good things are going to come. (Be sure to “load” up any verbal praise, or secondary reinforcer, with food or play, whatever is a primary reinforcer for the dog.)
4. Teach Stop on Cue. It only took me a couple of years of working with dogs to realize that, as mentioned above, a recall includes several behaviors. 1) Stop what you are doing. 2) Change your focus onto me. 3) Turn around toward me. 4) Come toward me. 5) All the way.
Teaching a dog to stop when asked–first things first–is one of the keys to getting a dog to stop running after something and come back to you. My method is relatively simple: Decide on your ‘stop’ cue, have treats that your dog adores, start walking forward with your dog beside you or one step ahead, say the cue quickly and emphatically, reinforce the slightest pause or look in your direction. Repeat a few times, but don’t over do it so it becomes boring. Gradually, over time, gradually and SLOWLY (I am sort of yelling because this seems to be the hard part) increase the difficulty. Only change one of the factors mentioned above at a time–Distance, Distraction, Pace–and again, set the dog up to win.
If your guess is wrong about your dog’s response, perhaps he continues trotting down the path when you thought he’d stop, either clap like crazy to get his attention on you and run the other way, or say “Okay!” if you think he’s on a mission and won’t respond at all. I honestly have no idea if this actually helps to build a reliable recall, but it feels good, and surely that counts for something. Then evaluate the factors, and go back a few steps.
Choose your cue carefully. Make sure it can come out of your mouth fast and furious, because that’s what will happen if your dog flushes a deer while walking in the woods. My Border Collies have to lie down on cue while working sheep, so I’ll often use a lie down cue to get them to stop in other contexts. It’s just something my brain is programmed to do and a cue they are used to hearing when they are moving fast in any direction. If you ride horses, “whoa” might be a good cue, but whatever it is, it needs to be short and carry well over distance.
You can tell I think a trained stop is important, because I’ve written about it twice before. See Safe Off Leash? from 2013 and The Importance of an Emergency Stop from 2009.
5. Repeat repeat repeat. Reinforce reinforce reinforce. Never stop reinforcing this behavior. Not every time, and not necessarily for responses when all the stars were aligned, but running and chasing is such a natural behavior for a dog that stopping a chase and coming back to you is basically a circus trick. When I walk my dogs off the farm, about every third trip or so I will practice an emergency recall when the dogs are a good 40+ yards ahead. When they get to my feet the food flies out of my pockets, and I know that next time they flush a deer or are about to dash toward an algae-filled stream I know I can count on them to respond when I call.
6. Be realistic. Adolescent dogs are famous for forgetting everything they’ve learned as a puppy, so don’t hesitate to go back to prevention for a few months, even if your dog was a star pupil as a youngster. Some breeds are designed to respond to you, no matter what. Others, not so much. There’s nothing like being the owner of Border Collies and Great Pyrenees to be reminded of the influence of genes on behavior. I never would have taken either of our Great Pyr’s on an off-leash walk in the woods away from the farm, while I could walk the BC’s off leash in a city if I had to. (Argh, but I wouldn’t. Just the thought of it makes me nervous.)
7. Use all the resources available. There are lots of good books and videos out there to help you create a dog who is reliable off leash. I love Leslie Nelson’s work on recalls: Check out her Really Reliable Recall DVD. Kickopup has a great video on teaching a dog to come through distractions. If your dog loves to chase livestock or wild animals, a great resource is a book by Clarissa von Reinhardt in her book Chase! Along with a section in my Learning Center, there are so many other great resources out there. Don’t hesitate to use them–no need to reinvent the wheel here.
8. Ask the village. Now I turn it over to you. What’s your experience been with teaching dogs to come when called? Every time? Or not? What works and what doesn’t, with which dog(s)? What resources have you found most helpful?
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: Ah, so sorry if I am talking too much about working my sheepdogs, but I am compelled to describe a wonderful moment with Maggie this morning. Friend Donna and I were in at Cedar Stone Farm, exercising a flock of sheep to help get them ready for an upcoming trial. (Seriously, sheep need to be in shape for this event too.)
When we arrived the sheep were doing what sheep naturally do–disperse themselves around a huge pasture, some still grazing, some lolling on the ground chewing their cud. We needed to start by gathering them together before dividing them into groups. Today was Maggie’s turn to do the big gather, and so I sent her out to my right for the longest, biggest outrun she’s ever done. She disappeared in a dip about 200 yards away from me, and I wondered… will she stop short? Will she keep going all the way back to the very back of the field which was 500+ yards away. (Or more? I honestly don’t know.) I waited and waited, seemingly forever, as I write about in The Education of Will, and then, a tiny black speck of a dog appeared. There was my little dog, running so far away I could barely see her. She circled to the back of the flock (who had grouped together as sheep do when they see a dog coming) and brought them all the way down the field to me.
Her “fetch” wasn’t perfect, she let the flock drift to my right a little bit, but not too much. (We have to work on this…) But what made my heart swell was watching her do what she truly was bred for–gathering sheep on the hills of Scotland, and seeing that she was more than up to the task. Trialing is fun, and forces you to learn and improve, but I have to say that if I could watch my dog gather a hillside that big every day of the week I’d be a contended woman. I am so lucky to live on the farm, but our biggest outrun is 150 yards here, and it’s simply nothing like watching a dog gather a big group of sheep out of a massive, green field.
Here is the Divine Miss M, collapsed on my lap after a long working session:
The weather here, finally, has been lovely. Cooler. Less humid most days. Whew. Beautiful clouds–here are some I took yesterday with my phone.
I hope your weather has been friendly too–sounds like the Northwest is frying…
HFR says
What has always worked for me in a pinch: Before I close the door behind me when I leave the house I say “Bye, bye! Bye, bye!” Then when I am out with them off-leash all I have to do is say “Bye, bye!” and they come running. Not the most traditional recall but it works. Of course, if they were BCs they’d probably figure it out, but fortunately my dogs are of average intelligence. 🙂
Laurie says
I followed your advice along with others & slowly taught my English Cocker spaniel a pretty reliable recall & am grateful for the help. At puppy school we learned an emergency recall (use a unique word & reward like crazy) . What works everytime to is call out “green chewey !” – his favourite treat- he will come racing from wherever he is. I also started to tapping out the rhythm to “shave and a haircut” just as a joke when I was going to give him the same treat & now wherever he is in the house I just tap out the rhythm & he’ll come running. Sounds crazy but it works ! (it does help that cockers are food motivated)
Debbie Cullman says
Thanks for these great ideas! I am going to work with Shaq over the winter and see how he does at the lake next summer.
Mary Jo Lavin says
Love this! Also happy to hear you talk about the beginning of a great recall and the parts that make it. Stop/change focus/turn/start coming/finish all the way.
Thanks!
Vicki in Michigan says
One of the most useful things I learned in college is that you don’t get to decide what someone else thinks is rewarding. True for people, and true for dogs! Your advice about choosing rewards based on the recipient’s desires is very much to the point (as is the advice to begin this practice in a quiet and familiar location!).
Maria says
I loved when you talked about “introducing competition into the mix” with Pippy Tay! I actually set up an exercise that uses a similar competition format for my pet class students towards the end of our sessions, after they’d done a lot of work on their recalls already. We called it “Jealousy Dog,” and it really worked to clarify to the target dog that it was in his best interests to come when called—and come quickly!
I also loved your list breaking down the “coming when called” behavior into its component parts. “1) Stop what you are doing. 2) Change your focus onto me. 3) Turn around toward me. 4) Come toward me. 5) All the way. ” Many people don’t realize that coming when called is actually several behaviors bundled together, and that each behavior can be trained separately, and reinforced separately, to make the whole bundle stronger and more successful.
You might consider adding an additional behavior right at the end, though: “6) Let yourself be caught!” I used to have a dog that left distractions without any problem, and happily raced right over to me, only to gleefully run in circles around me and never let me put a hand on his collar. (He thought it was a great game; you could almost see the “Tee-hee!” thought bubble over his head. It was obviously very reinforcing.)
Pat Doyle says
One of the things that worked for me was that when teaching my recall was that I always let my puppy back to go play after I called and rewarded. If I was bringing her in the house I just went out and picked her up. Now that the girls are bigger, I can call them into the house (or even off a deer) but in the beginning I never called them and brought them in the house (and killed the fun).
Petra says
My Malinois-German-Shepard-Dog loves to get reinforced by play in all different kind of ways or chasing, but not really food. It seems like Playing is the world for him, or scanning deer, or other environmental reinforcements. Play Play Play 🙂
Heather says
With my own dogs, and inside the confines of my day center for dogs, we start with “loading” their name much like you load a clicker to start with, name-treat-name-treat-name-treat.. and then train ourselves not to use their name in other ways. In group it’s useful if they have their OWN distinct word, but you could use anything. Then it serves as permission ( mark/release) at doors, permission to take something we are handing them AND an automatic recall. We use food but then also multiple “life rewards” (access to resources) too! At home I have a separate “GET DRESSED” cue to come put collar in my hand to get leashed up/taken off leash. Getting leashed usually precedes an outing or fun training session so no punishment there. Training the humans not to abuse the words incorrectly is infinitely more difficult than training the dogs how to respond!
Fun Stuff!
Nigel Cardwell says
I teach the stop to the command ‘Hup’, and it means stop and sit! I find combining it with the sit acts as a thorough brake, breaks the unwanted activity, refocuses the dog on me and supports the recall, or the reinforcement of release.
I use ‘Hup!’ Because you can say it breathing in or out and time really counts on some occasions.
Susan S says
Like so much in training dogs, I think timing is crucial. When I’m reinforcing recall I watch the dog until that instant when he stops what he’s doing (sniffing, playing, chasing, rolling, whatever) & lifts his head either to decide what to do next or to check in with me, & then I call him & reward him. A minute earlier he might not have come, teaching him that coming can be optional. A minute later he might be on to something else. Especially with young dogs, I try never to call them unless I’m confident that they’ll come.
Nickola says
Though I have a lot of shame in this, I believe it has made me a far better trainer today…. I raised two brothers from 8 weeks old, one mine, one my sisters. They are cocker x king Charles spaniel, now 9 years old. I was very early in my dog training and really only knew harsh methods from previous work (I won’t say who with) Anyway, the brothers loved to run off and very quickly they learnt to chance rabbits etc…i tried all positive methods but nothing worked, I couldn’t compete. One day my dog, now 3 years old, chased a rabbit and got hit by a car… £4000 later and months of rehab he was fine… thankfully. My confidence was shaken and I was desperate to stop him and his brother chasing prey, so I turned to a shock collar! IT WAS HORRID!! I hated shocking them, they would literally jump in the air, scream and dart back to me. It had worked! HOWEVER, my dogs weren’t what they used to be… they stuck to me in fear! There walk time wasn’t fun for them in anyway….theybwerent trainer to come…i had scared them of the outside world!! It was awful!!! I ditched the collars and it wasn’t long before their confidence built back up again… years of constant work and my dog is very nearly perfect, his brother who I have worked with less, is still cheeky and runs off, BUT, they don’t go far and they do come back. I tell you this as having now got better years of training behind me I train and see far better results using positive methods and the dogs are HAPPY!! I’m ashamed I have used the shock collar but at least I can safely say I have tried and tested the results on such a tool and it SUCKS! Never have and never will touch one again.
Denice says
I believe it all begins on that first meeting and every interaction after. Say what you mean and mean what you say. I am not a big on treats,but I am big on tone. My dogs learn quickly that good things are possible if they do as I ask. That good thing might be playing, attention, going for a hike or working sheep. If you do not come when asked the tone lets them know of their mistake. If we have high exceptions our dogs will rise to them, if we let them slide then it is our fault for not being consistent. If I can not make it happen, if I am not willing to make it happen in the beginning I just don’t ask since you will teach the pup that you are not really serious. I truly believe if you develop a good relationship of respect and trust, are consistent and willing to listen to what our dogs are telling us we have a great foundation for all our interactions.
Carin says
I’d be interested in advice for improving recall with a fearful dog. Over six years with me, my beagle, who was almost shut down when I adopted her, has come to be a happy dog who enjoys being around me in the course of our daily routine and even snuggles, but I have never completely gotten the stress out of recall scenarios for her. These typically see me sitting on the ground making myself as small as possible while offering something yummy, and Fearful Beagle creeping towards me in a submissive posture. She always seems happy to have arrived when she finally arrives, but we have never reached the “runs willingly towards a human” stage, even when that human is holding high-value treats. And it doesn’t take much stress at all to make her unmotivatable by food. She emphatically does NOT chase people for fun. She doesn’t enjoy toys. Thoughts?
Michelle says
Yes, we are frying here in the Pacific NW!
Vivien Cooksley says
Continuous reinforcement schedule. While this does not make the behaviour immune to extinction – it DOES create a really bomb proof recall. And since I don’t plan to ever stop reinforcing recall continuously, I don’t really need the benefits that variable reinforcement has to offer in this case. There is no danger of the behaviour ever going through extinction. Works very well for me.
Rose says
Never call your dog to come for unpleasant tasks such as cutting nails or giving them a bath. If all else fails when giving the recall cue, pretend to fall on the ground. Many dogs come running over out of curiosity.
Bruce says
I do long, off-leash hikes my dogs so I consider recall and emergency stop the most important commands. I have made plenty of mistakes over 25+ years, and surely will make more, but fortunately (knock wood) our dogs have remained safe.
Most of our dogs have been energetic, independent-minded mixed breeds, with scent hound, sight hound, and terrier genes predominant. Non-traditional obedience dogs, in other words, rather than herding dogs.
In addition to Trisha’s excellent advice, here are a few things that have worked well:
Start with the “name game”. Say your dog’s name and reward when the dog looks at you.
Reward every recall. Recall and emergency stop are the two commands most likely to save dogs’ lives. Jackpot for extra-challenging recalls.
Figure out the minimum effective reward. If in doubt, err on the generous side.
Calling the dog(s) back and forth between two people is great training, great fun, and great exercise.
Long line is a wonderful training tool. Wear gloves and put several knots or a loop at the end of the rope. I like to let the dog drag the line for a while until they think they are free, and then casually wander to where I can step on the end of the line if needed. This may convince your dog that you have magical powers.
For emergency stop, I use a deep, guttural “HEY!” No particular reason; “HEY!” flies naturally out of my mouth when the dog(s) needs to stop doing something right away.
If the dog is severely distracted (chasing a rabbit, etc.), I use “HEY!” to get the dog’s attention before the recall.
Previous dogs were extremely solid on down at a distance, so that can also work for an emergency stop.
Empty dog parks or fenced sports fields are excellent places to start introducing new challenges. Sometimes you need to post a guard if the sports field has an open exit.
The most nerve-wracking stage is when you finally let the dog loose in the world. Try to find a “fail safe” location because you will probably encounter things that your dog did not see in training.
Pay close attention when your dog is loose in the world. You may need to spot the squirrel first (or spot the dog spotting the squirrel) and take quick action. No texting!
Whew, apologies for the long reply and congratulations if you made it this far. I hope some of this was helpful.
Mindy says
For some dogs in some scenarios food just won’t do. For one of my agility dogs he would turn his head away if I offered him even the highest value food as a reward when trying to reinforce a skill on the agility course. His reinforcement was to continue running agility, so that’s what I used. For sheep dogs it’s the same thing. They are not coming away from sheep for a treat; they just want to continue to do what drives them. So I always strive to discover what motivates a dog in a specific situation and under specific conditions and use that to reinforce good choices (and remove the possibility of reinforcement with bad choices).
Susan S. says
Then there’s the little puppy thing. I don’t know if it’s true of all breeds (Beagles?), but my experience has been that young pups, maybe up to five months, stay close to their moms & stay close to their people. That’s been natural selection. It’s easy to reinforce the recall of a pup who’s ten feet away, then twenty, then thirty. An occasional scary sneak-away when he wanders, or you running in the opposite direction, will bring a young puppy right back to you. By the time the pup is old enough & brave enough to explore at a greater distance, his recall & his habit of checking in with you should be solid. I say start working off-leash in a safe place as early as possible.
em says
Carin, your situation sounds so challenging. Just a random thought, but have you tried facing away from your dog during recall? Timid or sensitive dogs (or even just dogs not strongly socialized with people from puppyhood) are often freaked out by the intensity of our eye contact. Looking away from your dog, maybe over your dog’s shoulder, maybe ninety degrees to the side, maybe turning all the way around to stare/point at something past you or at your feet might help. Just the first idea that popped into my mind. Your dog sounds so lucky to have you.
I don’t really have too much to add to the already excellent suggestions everyone’s given above, but I will note that of all the recall set ups, the one most often seen in obedience training (human stands facing dog, dog is called to turn and beeline to human) is actually one of the least common ways dogs interact with one another. Many dogs, especially the canine foodies, take to it like ducks to water, but even among that population, I’ve always found a ‘moving recall’, where I call a dog to walk or run alongside me, much, much easier to teach, and it has the added benefit of usually being self-reinforcing since even the non-foodiest, non-toy driven, non-herding dogs dogs I’ve owned have been delighted to walk or run together, and teaching a dog a ‘Come closer/ stay together” cue seems to make a freeze and true recall much easier.
Just a quick notion, now I must run off to walk the dogs!
Bruce says
I love this post. My 3 year old Newfoundland has a decent recall. However there are times that I have no reward more interesting than extending our walk by visiting the neighbors sheep. (Needless to say, the neighbor doesn’t appreciate that.) So far the only solution that I have come up with is prevention by putting her back on leash before we reach a critical spot in our walk that my recall falls on deaf ears. Is it EVER ok to use a tool that makes ignoring me less rewarding than coming when recalled, i.e. an electronic training collar. I would like her to learn that she has to come even when she doesn’t want to. In the long run, it would give her more freedom.
andrea says
I second em’s suggestion to Carin to turn away from her dog during recall and to maybe try moving away slowly. I definitely think that could help with shy/timid dogs.
In addition to the using the tips em and Bruce mentioned, I also use a targeting “touch” command to my hand to get the dogs to come to me. This works really well for the times when they plop down during walks and don’t want to move or to just bring them closer to you so you can all stay together.
For emergency recall-type situations or if the dogs are more than a little far off, we use a dog whistle. Not a silent one, but one designed for working dogs. I trained our 2 dogs to come to it by blowing it before all of their meals and with some designated training sessions. Now, they are on an almost-continuous reinforcement schedule for it. I like the whistle since it is emotionless, loud, clear, far-reaching, and I don’t have to yell. It’s also nice since it can be used consistently among different people. For example, our friend’s young child came across the whistle in the house and blew it once. The dogs came running over to him for their treats and he didn’t even know he was calling them over. It has been a great training investment for us, but a whistle may not work well for sound-sensitive pups and our dogs have bottomless stomachs for any type of treat so that helps.
Bruce says
Looks like we have more than one Bruce around here. 🙂
Suggestion: Use the sheep as a training tool. Practice recalls on the leash, slowly working closer and closer to the sheep. When leash recall is solid, progress to a long line. If you have not already done so, try some super-yummy treats. Bacon, cooked chicken, stinky cheese. Something that will cause your Newfie to lose her mind.
I have no personal experience with electric collars. Well once I was zapped by one accidentally, but that is another story for another time.
Putting your specific question in more general terms: is the use of positive punishment ever OK? You will receive a wide variety of answers to this question, some quite passionate.
My opinion: Keep working on positive reinforcement to see if you can find a way to make that work. Avoidance is not the worst thing in the world, but I would worry about how your Newfie would react to other distractions (rabbits, deer, etc.).
If you have exhausted other alternatives and decide to use positive punishment, proceed cautiously. Some dogs are quite resilient but some are not. Too-strong positive punishment has the potential to permanently damage the relationship with your dog.
Good luck!
Chris from Boise says
Carin – I agree with em that you have a real challenge, and you’ve presented a real challenge to this community. Here’s a thought. Would there be a completely different way to re-teach the concept of coming when asked, and eventually add a completely different cue? Is there any consistent time that she approaches you joyfully, that you could build on? You’ve told us what she doesn’t view as a reward – what does put a sparkle in her eye? I’m thinking non-food, non-toy, environmental rewards. (As for food rewards, have you tried green tripe? That’s the only thing that can pull Habi into our thunder parties).
Good luck! Sounds like you’ve done wonders with your girl.
Bruce says
To the other Bruce, I appreciate your reply. I know e-collars can be a passionate subject. I have never used one and don’t particularly want to. My Newfies recall is almost perfect on a long line, no matter the distraction. But she knows when she is offline. We walk very close to deer everyday and she has never chased one. She does occasionally chase rabbits but gives up quickly. Ferrell cats are a different story. We also walk in an area that has cougars and black bears but when she smells them she won’t leave my side. For now I will continue to use prevention. I will also work on an emergency down and see if that works.
Frances says
Looking back, one of the most useful things I did with my toy dogs when they were tiny puppies was to teach them that the safest place to be was between my feet. It took a while, but if they were scared, or simply anxious or a bit overwhelmed, being close to me meant reassurance, safety, and my being able to fend of whatever was worrying them. Over the years that has meant that in an emergency they are more likely to run to me than away from me in a panic, which is when they are least likely to be able to here and respond to a command.
Their recall is good but not perfect, but they do know Wait! After a very scary experience when they chased a rabbit across the road in front of our property one dark night and were on the far side with cars passing while I hunted and called for them, we realised Waiting can sometimes be safer than Coming. Thank heavens that they had the good sense or good instinct on that occasion to freeze and wait for me to find them – and that I had put their flashing armband collars on, so could do so.
Rebecca Rice says
My rat terrier, who I have worked the most with, has a rock-solid recall. I do let her off-leash in certain areas, so it was important to me that she did. My greyhound, not so much, being a dog that is not allowed off-leash and, in general, much more likely to shut down when stressed, which happens often, and makes training an entirely different ballgame. Training classes were about getting her to be comfortable enough in the environment to eat, not work on sits and downs and stays.
To Carin: If you are generally managing your dog, keeping her on leash in most situations, then I would really only worry about an “emergency recall”, the command you want to use when you accidentally drop the leash and she decides to head towards a busy street. And the good thing about that is that you can make it a game in your house, where your dog is comfortable. Here’s how my trainer teaches it:
Pick a word that you don’t use in everyday conversation, that comes easily out of your mouth. Foreign languages are good for this. Short and sharp are important, too. Supercallifragilisitic may be unique, but it’s not fast to say in an emergency.
Every time you put down your dog’s food bowl, say that special word right before you do so. You want the dog to learn that that word means LOTS of good things are coming her way. (Of course, I am assuming that your dog is food-motivated. Most beagles are.) Once that seems to be solid, go to the next step.
Now, start using that word inside your house. Probably with your dog on leash… you will have to be the judge of that. Say the word, run backwards a few steps, and when the dog gets to you, give her high-value treats for at least 10 seconds while praising her and stroking her with her fur. The idea is to draw the dog into you, so you want the food centered between your knees. In your case, you may need to drop the food on the ground between your feet. You want her to get used to the petting, too, since you may need to grab her in a real emergency.
Once THAT seems solid, you have a couple options. Move it outside and start the whole thing over, and playing hide and seek. Hide and Seek may be more appealing to your girl than you think. If you have two people, one person holds/distracts the dog while the other person hides. The hidden person calls out the recall word until the dog finds them, then parties with the dog, then hold the dog while the first person hides. Lather, rinse, repeat. At first make the hiding easy… around the corner, in the next room, etc. You can do this with one person, by distracting the dog by throwing a treat one way while you hide the other way. It does limit your hiding options.
Now, once your dog thinks this is the best game ever, you can start generalizing it out in the world on walks. But the secret is that this ALWAYS reinforced, with whatever high-value reward your dog has. It’s always a party. And your dog is ALWAYS the most awesome and amazing dog when they get to you, no matter if they hesitate, stop, etc.
Pixie does think that this is the most amazing game ever. I have worked it out in the “real world” by putting her in a Wait (a less-formal stay), walking away a distance, and calling it. It’s just such a thrill to see her come flying to me, with that little doggie grin on her face! I also wait until she is distracted off sniffing something and hide behind things (generally bushes or trees, since that’s what in the area) and call her with it. The last time I did that was a bit nerve-wracking, as I realized that I had no way of seeing her and thus couldn’t tell if she was coming or not until she actually showed up at my feet! That got her lots and lots of party-time!
There was one time that I hesitated to use it. We were out in yard late at night (part of the response to a barking episode at 1 am, to see if there were any critters out there), and Pixie was sniffing along some bushes near the house while I walked to the door to go in. I turned to call her in for the night, and saw a coyote up on my block wall, with Pixie between me and it. I was about to call out the emergency recall, which would have brought her running to me, when I suddenly wondered if that burst of motion would trigger the coyote’s prey drive. Thankfully, as I was trying to figure out what to do, in what seemed like forever, the coyote jumped down on the far side of the wall, and I THEN used the emergency recall to get Pixie inside. For which she got a lot of honey-glazed carrots, since that was the highest-value thing I had in my fridge at the time.
So, that’s been my experience. I hope something in there helps!
Kat says
Finna gets bored so recall practice with her is a variety of actions. On=touch hand, come=run between legs and around to side, here=come between legs from behind, and front=sit in front facing me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEswQolK2jA She has a pretty decent recall but on those rare occasions when she blows me off when I call, I call for my son and she always comes. I’m not entirely sure why that works. I can identify the origins; when we first started giving Finna freedom of the entire yard if she was reacting to something and couldn’t listen I’d call him to come help me herd her away from whatever it was. Now it has become the sure fired recall cue. I don’t really know why calling my son is the sure fired recall cue in Finna’s head but as you can see from the video we don’t need to use that one very often and as long as there is a sure fired cue I’ll take it.
Bruce says
A confession of sorts:
Red Dog and I went for a hike in the woods along winding cross-country trails. Red Dog was dragging the leash but otherwise loose and behaved wonderfully, coming when called every time despite lots of distractions.
After about an hour we rounded a corner and practically tripped over a half-grown fawn. The fawn could not have been more than 15 feet from us. I hesitated; Red Dog and the fawn did not. By the time my brain caught up the chase was on.
Fawn and Red Dog went crashing through the woods, with me following as fast as I could, yelling a blue streak the whole time. I stopped and heard an ominous silence. I called again and hear the distinctive jangle of dog tags, shortly followed by a very happy dog. I showered Red Dog with praise and treats, because at that point what else can you do?
Soooo, we still have some work to do. Maybe I’ll go back to the long line, hoping for a similarly powerful distraction. I am open to other suggestions, of course.
Trisha, I finished ‘The Education of Will’ last night. Wow. If anyone has not yet read this book, I encourage you to do so. It is powerful, inspirational, and beautifully written.
Trisha says
Bruce: We are never done, are we? Last week ten-year old Willie was asked to come into the house and looked at me as if I was speaking in Urdu. He wanted to work sheep or go on another walk or play Find It. It took me awhile to 1) convince him to come inside after 2) remember that saying something louder does not result in obedience. Glad Red Dog is okay, and how luck he is to go on such wonderful, long walks.
And thank you Bruce for your comment about Education of Will. It means a lot, more than I can say actually.
Uyen says
My guy is now 20 months and we constantly work on recall and will do this for as long as it will take 🙂 We go to an off leash park that is wide open, but there is a small/short trail completely hidden in the woods kind of like a kiddie pool version for hikers. We walk through the short trail but I have discovered how wonderful of a reinforcer it is for recall since I’m practically always hidden by some tree or bush he always come running back to look for me enthusiastically likes its a game of hide-n-seek and it has been working magically his recall has much improved. Did I mention how many distractions there are in the woods with squirrels, birds and wonderful/awful scents, but he comes back to me every time. We also started playing fetch in the woods which turns into a kind of find-it game which I think also reinforces his enthusiasm to run back to me with his toy after he has found it. I know many people are nervous to take their dogs into the woods off leash (we actually started with a biothane long line it doesn’t snag or get caught) but it has been a great tool for us.