Puppy
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9 min
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Believe it or not, a puppy isn’t born with the skill to always come back to you - no matter how much they love you! That ability is introduced with puppy recall sessions, and it’s integral to perfect it early, or else end up wildly chasing after a pup you can’t catch.
In this article we’ll explain why teaching your puppy recall training is so important as a puppy owner, and offer some nifty tips and tricks to honing the skill.
Letting your dog off the lead to run free is one of the joys of being a dog owner. However, there is a whole world of distractions out there - from squirrels and birds to other dogs, bicycles, children and flying frisbees. And your pooch will be endlessly excited by all of it.
‘Recall’ basically means your puppy will stop whatever they’re doing and return to you when you call. Teaching your puppy to run to your heel on command is fundamental - not only for lessening your anxiety, but also keeping them physically safe when they’re outdoors.
Let’s look at the many benefits of teaching recall techniques to your pup:
So let’s explore the basics of recall training - these are the tips you’ll probably learn at puppy training classes that introduce recall techniques.
Choose a reliable ‘recall cue’. You may think calling your dog’s name is the most obvious recall cue. This could be confusing to them over time, however, as you’ll call their name for lots of reasons.
Though shouting their name is a great way to get your dog’s attention, a different word such as ‘come’, ‘here’ or ‘heel’ is a reliable cue to indicate that they should return to you immediately. If your voice doesn’t project that far or you don’t trust they’ll hear it, consider using a dog whistle.
Be sure they understand basic commands. Recall training should come after more basic puppy commands, such as ‘sit’ or ‘stay’. This training builds the foundation for recall, which is a slightly more advanced skill.
Use high-value rewards. When training in recall, use super tasty treats that you know your pup loves. When learning to return to you, your puppy will be more keen to comply if they know there’s something delicious in it for them.
When you have the necessities in place for teaching a puppy to come to you, you can try out some fun recall games which can help boost their learning. You could consider some of the following training exercises:
Practise name recognition. Having your pup know and respond to their own name is a key factor in almost all puppy training - but especially important in recall.
Practise calling your puppy from different places and reward them with tasty puppy treats each time they look up and engage with you. Soon they’ll come to associate the sound of your call with stopping and waiting for a command.
Mix things up with recall games. Rather than just calling your puppy over and over, try fun activities with recall. One could be a game of ‘recall ping-pong’, where two of you take turns calling your puppy over to you, and rewarding them each time they come; or try mixing up commands such as ‘sit’, ‘stay’ and ‘come’ to test if your pup understands and gets it right. You could even try involving their favourite ball and a game of fetch, if they're more toy-motivated!
Recall on a long-lead. At first, you can practise recall by keeping your puppy on a long lead. This way you can let them explore a slightly further distance then call them to return to you, without the risk of taking them completely off-lead. This basic practice can be returned to if your pooch is prone to running away!
Recall with distractions. It might be tempting to practise puppy recall training in a quiet, calm environment, but this can lead to unreliability when your pup is in a busy, real life scenario and you need to call them back to you.
As your pup gets better and better at coming back, try out recall training in places with more and more distractions, so you can strengthen your pup’s focus.
Making things harder. Once you think your puppy has basic recall absolutely nailed, you can make things a bit more challenging to increase their recall skills.
Try increasing the distance between you and your pup before calling them back, and testing if they hear and obey you from farther and farther away.
Calling back your pooch in places with more and more distractions (such as a busy park) can also test their focus.
With these harder conditions, be sure to reward your dog with a high-value reward, each time they prove they’re becoming an expert at coming back when you call.
Your pup should hopefully pick up recall easily if they’re young and engaged with the training exercises - but there are some actions that can hold them back and make progress slower.
The biggest tip is: Don’t change the method. Be consistent with training and if you notice it’s working, keep doing it until your pooch is responding nearly every time. If you change things such as the recall word or their reward system, this will only confuse them.
It might seem obvious, but don’t use punishments or negative reinforcement if your dog makes a mistake while training. Negative reactions won’t educate your dog, only frighten them and damage their trust in you.
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