Of the basics obedience skills, I think the most important is recall. That is to teach your dog to come when called. Even if your dog only has the earliest glimmer of a recall that little bit can save his life if you drop the leash. For that reason, I want everyone to work on their hound’s recall skills. It doesn’t matter how much or how little your dog knows, recall is a lifelong work in progress that requires regular practice so humor me & practice, will ya? For those who have not worked on this, now is the time!
So quickly before I loose anyone, here is something to start with. If you read nothing else, please read this one! "10 Rules for a Really Reliable Recall" http://www.brisbeethewhite.com/id26.htm
OK, back to the regularly scheduled post.
Though important to anyone with a dog, as Greyhound owners a recall is even more important. Do not let that “always on leash or in a fenced area” clause give you any false ideas that you will never have a situation where you need a recall. You will. If you love your Greyhound you will work on teaching recall. This also includes you who are happy just watching your Grey roach on your couch and are only reading this blog hoping to see a another houndie you know featured soon. (And I promise that will happen.) Would I bet my dog’s life on the fact that she will come immediately, every time? No, but if you don’t work on recall then you are betting your dog’s life every time you open the door. OK, OK. That’s enough of the scare tactics. You get my point.
Like many other basic training skills, this one is very easy to start. In fact, it could hardly get any easier. Call your dog’s name & then quickly pop a super yummy treat in his mouth. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. That’s it. That is the first step. This not only teaches your dog his name but also ensures he will turn to look your way when you call it as he will be expecting a treat. This simple thing in itself could save your dog’s life. Imagine dropping the leash in a parking lot. Bubba starts to mosey away slowly or perhaps faster. “Bubba” you call out & Bubba, now conditioned to look your way in anticipation of yummies, does exactly that. That slight hesitation could be all that’s needed to allow you or someone else to grab the leash. From there you start to reward for moving towards you, then add the actual recall word like Come or Here or even Kumquat if you want, and the process continues.
So it’s easy, right? Well, um… yes & now. While easy to get started, a really solid, reliable recall is one of the most difficult things for the average pet owner to teach. All in this group please raise your hand. OK, those of you with upraised hands may now lower them. I had to lower mine so I could resume typing. So now we know we’re in good company. A reliable recall can be very hard. For some, even a 50% reliable recall is difficult. Does that mean we shouldn’t try to teach recall? Heck no! Recall is an important skill and even more so if we are going many places, doing lots of things with our dogs.
Whether perfect or just barely there, any amount of recall training is better than none. I am not particularly good at training dogs and even worse training people so I am not going to tell you how to teach recall. I will instead provide some links at the end to help you get started. These work, I assure you. They really do. And please start, please, please, pretty please! When you do, remember the following:
1. Dogs come reliably when it is reliably rewarding. Make coming to you a good thing and do not call them for something they consider at all unpleasant.
2. Scientific studies prove we learn more from success than failure. Set your dog up for success. Don’t ask for more than he can deliver.
3. If it is going to be reliable, there really needs to be a lot of successes. You may be surprised at the success you can have with lots of very short yet successful & rewarding recalls. This means that even if you don’t have a safe fenced area you can still work on a 6’ or even just a 4’ leash.
4. Keep working on it. Practice really helps and really needs to be continued over your dog’s lifetime. Keep at it.
5. Teach your dog to respond to other people when they call your dog. (I am so guilty of not doing this and have vowed to correct that.) Your dog is far more likely to get lost, injured or killed when loose if she will only come when called by you.
6. It isn’t a recall if you cannot hold onto your dog’s collar. Having your dog respond and come to you is a good start but a recall includes getting your dog back under your physical control. Make taking hold of their collar part of the command.
7. Even if you can only do it inside, work on some off leash recalls with your leash in your hand & do not reward until you snap the leash on. Why do I suggest this? Some dogs could spook if you suddenly pull out a leash when all prior recalls did not involve it.
Some dogs who allow a stranger to touch their collars may bolt when there is an attempt to leash them. And sometimes pulling out a leash adds just enough distraction to blow a recall.
8. Never correct or scold your dog after he comes to you. Does this one need to be said? If a recent trip the park is any indication then, unfortunately, yes. If when you release Kraken, he initially ignores a recall but then finally comes back or you manage to catch him, never, ever act upset or correct him. Coming to you should always be good. Don’t spoil it even if Kraken has already spoiled your day. “Good Kraken! Thank you for only making me slog through half the swamp. Let’s go home boy. How did you manage to climb through all that kudzu? By the way, there’s a leaf in your collar.”
Oh, hey wait! [insert sound of tires screeching to a halt] I wasn’t supposed to be trying to teach you anything. That should be left to the experts. OK, here are those promised links:
This one again just in case you missed it the first time:
"10 Rules for a Really Reliable Recall" http://www.brisbeethewhite.com/id26.htm
"Recall Redux" from the Shirley Chong site.
http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/Lesson6.html
“Really reliable recall or Fido, PLEASE come home!” by Pamela Dennison
http://www.positivedogs.com/articles/fido_come_home.html
“Recalls - Coming When Called” by Jen Bachelor (hmm… that name seems familiar)
http://neversaynevergreyhounds.net/come.html
This is a webpage from Suzanne Harris. It gives instructions for a simple yet surprisingly effective modified version of Leslie Nelson’s Really Reliable Recall.
"Come Here Now" http://www.dogdaysusa.com/comeherenow.html
We've done this & it works. [Note: This is not an endorsement of this trainer, just this method.]
"Really Reliable Recall" by Leslie Nelson is available as affordable booklet from Dogwise.com or still somewhat affordable DVD version from Tawzer Dog Videos: http://www.tawzerdogvideos.com/
And check the links on the right side of the page. Included is Training Levels by Sue Ailsby. Then designed to be trained in a complete level at a time you can also pick one behavior like recall and work up the levels on it without finishing the rest of the level.
Very important stuff!!! Gotta train recalls!
ReplyDelete