FIDO COME!!!!! That's a lot of pressure on one word!

If you are struggling to reach a reliable recall, my top tip would be to teach your dog some other things. Teach your dog around 5 other behaviours to support your recall. Teach them in all locations including outdoors.

Then go back to your recall.

Sometimes focusing on the end goal means your never reach the end goal. And as the title suggests it’s a lot of pressure on one word. Fido come Fido come Fido come Fido come. How long before that gets really boring for you and your dog. It's a lot harder to earn your dog's reliable recall if you are only teaching recall and nothing else.

You can package this however you want. Absolute Dogs called it ‘The sexier than a squirrel challenge’ and they split it into 30 games, most of which need to be done in proximity to the human. Similarly, if you see a really well trained gundog, they don't just know a recall, they know several other really solid behaviours in all locations and it has taken months of training investment.

Training a recall for the sake of a recall doesn't really give your dog a lot. You recall your dog back to you and then what? Simply taking the pressure off the recall word by teaching your dog a bunch of other tricks and behaviours will actually support your recall in the long term.

Any behaviours done in proximity to you or that involves coming back to you is supporting your recall. Heel, middle, retrieve, go round, spin, catch. Any obedience behaviour outside is supporting your dog's compliance. Emergency stop, send away, go hunt.

So, my top tip for recall training is to stop worrying about recall and start training your dog.

If you are needing help to put your puppy or dog on the right track, have a look at my pages on 1-1 puppy training or 1-1 dog training, I look forward to helping you. Send questions via text or WhatsApp and I will always respond within a day or two maximum.