Recall... Why can it be so tricky to master?

We are under ever increasing pressure to keep our dogs under ‘control’ in public, a reliable recall has become a necessity. And as a result, lack of a reliable recall can be a great source of stress on walks.

But our dogs aren't robots, we can't simply programme them into compliance.

It can be quite simple to teach a dog a recall word. It doesn’t take them long to learn that if they come back when you call, good things happen. So isn’t that the end of it?

Unfortunately not in most cases. Because again, dogs are not robots.

When we go outside, they are presented with enormous amounts of information.

They have to process all of it and decide how best to respond.

When we are in training classes, at home or just somewhere with not very much going on. Recalls are much easier, because there's less information and fewer alternative options.

But introduce a more difficult environment, say a park, where there are lots of smells, perhaps other dogs and people, the dog now has lots of information, and multiple options for how they want to handle it. When we give them our recall word, we are simply providing just another piece of information, and another option for how to behave.

They then have to decide what their top priority is at that moment. Do they come and get a little snack from you, or do they go investigate that smell the last dog left behind?

So you can see, the question isn’t simply, how do I teach my dog to recall, but how do I make recalls the priority choice for my dog?

This is where it becomes frustrating for the human side. When it feels like they know how to recall, but are choosing not to.

But I encourage you to shift your perspective in those moments.

From the dog's point of view, they are just doing what makes sense to them at that moment. As a domestic animal, living captive in our homes, much of what they can and cannot do is dictated by us in most aspects of their lives.

It is only natural that when they get a taste of freedom, they grab onto it. You could take them home at any moment, they might not get another chance to smell that smell, run freely, goof around, meet other dogs.

A recall for a treat is often not going to be as valuable to them in comparison. They aren't intentionally being naughty or disobedient, they are just dealing with the environment WE have put them in, in the way that makes the most sense to them.

To improve our recalls, we must learn their perspective, and work with it, not against it. We must make recalls make sense to them, not just to us.