Recall is an important skill for your dog's safety. Your dog needs to learn that coming to you when they are called is worth leaving whatever has their interest behind; therefore, you need to ensure the recall is really fun and worthwhile.

To get started with recall, you will need high-value treats for this exercise. Think soft, stinky, squishy. Hot dogs, BBQ chicken, deli meats, cheese - think what makes your dog go wild!  

1. Start in a quiet environment, close to your dog, and call your dog’s name, and then offer your hand (see: Touch/Hand Target Skills). 
2. As they touch your hand, say ‘yes’ and reinforce them with ten treats, one after another. Make it a big party; tell them how great and smart they are! You want to feel ridiculous.
3. Do this 3 times and say all done, ending the session. 
4. Continue practising this in different locations inside and outside of the house
5. Begin adding distractions such as toys they play with. When your dog goes over to grab the toy, call their name and offer your hand for them to touch, then say “yes” and reinforce them with your excellent treats and party. Do this only 1-5 times. Keep it really short. We want it to be magic.
6. Then start doing this as they’re running away from you - you can ping pong them away from you with a friend giving them pats, or running towards a ball. 
7. Once they are springing back to you, we need to add in a word when we call them over. Think about this word, or sound. Whistles are great in this situation, as they can go further than your voice. Be careful when choosing “Come” because we often say ‘come here, over here, come this way '”, so it can lose its meaning. Other ideas are “quick!” “here!” “CHEESE!” It doesn’t matter; it just always means “hey, turn around and spring back to me right now - I have hotdog!!”

Practice occasionally - but pay very well every time - don’t overdo it. Consider when you ask them to come, do you want to teach something else instead? Do they really need to come back to you, or would you like them to stop and check in? 

This is a common problem. Start rewarding your dog for looking at you; reward them ‘for nothing.’ We get more of that lovely look back at you when you start telling them it’s worth a good snack. 

Often, we don't train recall to fluency — trainer-speak for stress-testing it under every condition: rain or shine, twenty metres away, at the dog park, mid-play with other dogs, or mid-chase of a rabbit. You have to build up these distractions gradually. It takes time.

If you can't count on a solid recall, walk up to your dog instead, use a long line to prevent them running off, or wait until they check in — then reward generously. Recall is also easy to "poison" (create a negative association with), like calling "come!" right before leashing up to leave the park. So think about what happens after they return, and make it worth their while.

Tips for dog recall: 

• Use a long lead 
• Take treats with you on walks 
• Use a treat pouch 
• Keep reinforcing the behaviour and reward often
• Use high value treats 
• Train in quiet calm areas 
• Use exciting tone of voice