[nagdu] Off-leash recall.

[Raven Tolliver]

Deanna,
I personally prefer sound cues over verbal cues for a recall. As with
the clicker in dog training, a whistle or squeak toy are clear,
consistent, quick sounds. There's no tone, inflection, or emotion
associated. My friend uses her clicker to call her dogs to her; 2
quick clicks and they're at her side. I snap my fingers twice without
a beat in between; it brings the Golden Guy to me instantaneously.
What I've learned from teaching other people to train a reliable
recall is that when the dog doesn't come, the person's voice changes.
They might not mean it or intend for it to, but after calling the
dog's name a third time, I notice that the voice either goes up in
pitch and gets a bit panicky, or it acquires a stern,
get-your-butt-over-here! tone.
A couple tips for working on recall:
Always reward your dog for coming to you. Never punish him, even if
you had to call him 7 times.
Start working on recalls in-house. Just randomly call your dog's name
in a sweet voice. Don't even say "come." When he comes to you, just
reward him or play with him. Let him know that coming when you call
does not always mean that it's business time.
When you work on recall outside, call him to you several times while
playing in the yard, then allow him to resume playing. Again, don't
make your dog think that each time he comes when called, the fun times
are over.
Also, remember that a recall is sometimes very hard to teach.
Especially when a dog is distracted or engaged with his environment,
you have to somehow make yourself more excited than everything else
going on. Sound cues really come in handy here, because they are
clear, distinct, consistent, and dog's tend to respond to them without
reluctance.
Good luck.

On 3/14/14, Steven Johnson <blinddog3 at charter.net> wrote:
> Deanna, I have found that with all of my labs, who seemed to mysteriously
> get lost in my yard, the simple command of, come, I need your help, always
> works.  Of course voice inflection helps, but not in an angry way, but
> enough to let them know you really need their help.  All 4 of my black labs
> have come up to me after running like wild dogs, put their head down so I
> can grab their collar and  then I have them lead me up the deck to the door
> with lots of praise of course.
>
> Steve
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Deanna Lewis
> Sent: Friday, March 14, 2014 10:05 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> (nagdu at nfbnet.org)
> Subject: [nagdu] Off-leash recall.
>
> Hi,
> So all the talk about fenced in yards and off-leash recall got me thinking
> that I really should be working on improving my dog's off-leash recall. He
> is not bad, but sometimes, he gets sniffy and is really stubborn and
> doesn't
> want to come back to me. His obedience is good, but when he gets outside
> and
> more than 10 feet away, he likes to poke around and I have to call his name
> several times.
> So, what are some good techniques for re-teaching a dog off leash recall?
> Any tips and tricks?
> I know some of you mentioned whistles, is there a specific type to use, or
> will any kind do?
> Food? Clicker? Etc?
> Thank you.
> Deanna and Pascal
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-- 
Raven