Why is the recall command so important?
It may seem a little paradoxical, but a dog that comes back to its owner on command in any situation can enjoy much more freedom.
The recall is extremely helpful in many everyday situations. The recall can prevent and defuse conflicts that threaten to arise between your dog and other four-legged friends, people or yourself.
A small example: It is not always desirable for passers-by to be approached by a strange dog. This can be for a variety of reasons, for example the passer-by may be afraid of dogs. Other dog walkers don't always want their own dog to come into close contact with other dogs either. It therefore makes sense to be able to call your own dog into your direct sphere of influence at any time.
If the other side is likely to have a happy encounter when the dog approaches again, the four-legged friend can be given the Freewheel be granted.
Also with regard to a good relationship between you and your dog, a well-practised recall is worthwhile. It can be very stressful and nerve-wracking if your dog sniffs at everything, goes to every other dog or person, follows tracks, goes hunting or just explores the neighbourhood and only decides on its own when to come back to you. The recall therefore also helps to avoid hierarchy problems.
The recall is for your dog's safety
Imagine your dog picks up an interesting scent and runs in the direction of a busy road or in front of an approaching bicycle. In this situation, you will be much more relaxed if you can “steer“ your dog to the distance with the recall.
Recall and the characteristics of rewarding
The first thing you should do is realise what your dog understands as a reward and how you can incorporate this into your daily routine. This is the cornerstone of recall and that's why I've written about it in another report. Reward & Punish described in detail. But now I will explain the reward area a little and then explain the recall.
A reward can be anything that your dog finds interesting, exciting or tasty. In other words, the right reward always makes your dog feel good and that is the key point to remember. This means that some discipline is necessary for the human when recalling. Another option is to simply realise why the environment is so exciting for our dogs that they don't come when you call them. It is always varied and offers many exciting surprises. In this way, the environment constantly rewards the dog for its interest in it.
So we need different primary reinforcers and secondary reinforcers that your dog likes. If these are then used correctly, your dog will certainly perform the recall quickly. However, I must point out that this only works if the stimulus is not already too big (learn to read your dog). The recall must therefore always be carried out in good time before the stimulus makes your dog unresponsive. Why is this important? Because the dog can decide whether it would rather chase rabbits or lick liverwurst. And do you know why? Every dog is a hunting predator, so when it rummages, tracks or chases, it is rewarded from the inside out with dopamine. Dopamine is the hormone of the neurotransmitter learning drug that rewards you.
Important tip: You should draw up a list of the right rewards for your dog and organise them according to the principle of value. This could be food, a toy or free run, etc.
More on the subject of rewards?
Practise recalling the dog
What can we do? Now that I've introduced you to the reward, let's move on to the training structure to ensure that your efforts lead to success.
The aim of the recall: The dog should be able to resist all environmental stimuli as well as possible and run back to you without hesitation. This means that you should be so interesting for your dog that it doesn't have much trouble tearing itself away from the distraction and coming back to you. Take 5-10 minutes for recall training, dogs can't concentrate for longer than that anyway. You should start training in an absolutely distraction-free environment. This could be a room in your home, for example. This is because it is important that your dog cannot be preoccupied with important things at the moment of the recall. Later on, you can build up the recall in a neutral meadow or on a walk with just a few stimuli by repeatedly asking for it at a short distance from the dog. After all, practice makes perfect and the dog learns that it is exciting and tasty every time the recall is initiated.
This will give your dog a good feeling about the recall after a certain amount of time. This good feeling is extremely important for us in order to demonstrate good behaviour with pleasure. If we have already practised the recall at a short distance, we need to slowly increase the distractions or stimuli. This could be another dog crossing your path or a walker, for example. If stimuli arise during training, the reward should be adjusted. The value of the reward must be at least equal to or greater than the stimuli.
Think about a clear marker signal that has not yet been used (e.g. „to me“ or „come“). Alternatively, the recall can also be trained with a dog whistle.
The recall training can begin
Encourage your dog to come to you with a friendly voice and an inviting posture. Only when you see that your dog is coming towards you with determination do we give the recall command (marker signal, whistle for example). We only bring out the reward after the recall signal. This prevents your dog from weighing up the cost-benefit factor of „value“ for coming in the future. Once your dog has received his well-earned reward, the command should be cancelled again. This works, for example, with a release word (e.g. „OK“, „Play“, „Free“ or „Run“).
Important tip:
You should never call your dog if there is even the slightest chance that he will not come to you. As already mentioned, learn to interpret the situation and your dog's body language. This will help you immensely with training success. If your dog now follows the command in a distraction-free environment over a longer period of time, you can start to work with very small distractions and stimuli. However, only increase the intensity of the distraction stimuli in very small steps.
If the stimuli are too big for your dog, you have chosen the steps a little too big. Back off a little until the stimuli are smaller and continue practising with smaller stimuli. However, if the stimuli are always too big, you could also start the recall training with a large drag line as an aid. Please always attach the drag line to a harness for the dog (not to the collar, otherwise we will mess up the leash training). Your dog can be lured in your direction by pulling gently on the lead. If the dog doesn't react at all, you can take it with you on the lead. In this case, however, you should not use the recall signal at all.
Conclusion: If possible, the recall signal should always be linked to success, i.e. the dog comes back to you and receives a great reward from you.
The distraction
Important tip: Again, I would recommend that you make a list of all possible distractions for your puppy/young dog. Organise them according to the difficulty of the distraction: What things impress your dog so much during training that it is very unlikely to come back? Which environmental stimuli does he ignore? Which ones only distract him slightly?
So always start with the smallest distractions and work your way up to the biggest distraction on the list in very small steps. Your dog will eventually master the recall in the most difficult situation.
The bottom line: It takes a very long time to build up a secure recall from different situations. The rewards must be of equal or greater value for each situation. The recall must actually be practised anew every day.
Enjoy and celebrate small successes, don't expect too much from your dog at the beginning. It is important that the joy of coming back is always maintained and that there is no “frustration“, otherwise you may fall behind in training.
We learn more easily without punishments, pressure and all the negative feelings that come up inside us.
A small example: When we do someone a favour, we don't ask for anything in return. But which people do we do this for? In most cases, we do it for our friends or when we like someone. Bullies, who usually bully and belittle us, never come to mind. Dogs are the same. If your dog sees you as a friend because of your own friendly, rewarding behaviour, loves you and is sure that you are happy, he will do something, even if you can't offer anything as a reward. Then there's another great surprise and all is well.
