Teaching "Recall" to your Dog

Bonne Bouche and I went to the dog park this past Saturday for the first time. He did incredibly well. We actually attended a short lecture on how to teach your dog recall. While there wasn't much practice time, the instructor provided us with three different alternatives for how to teach your dog to come when called.

1) Utilize "touch". If your is well trained in the touch command (where they touch their mouth to your hand or whatever "mark" you request, you can slowly shape your dog to come from farther and farther distances to complete the touch command.

2) Have the dog sit by your side, and practice "stay" on increasingly longer distances, and then come when called.

3) Have your dog on a long lunge line, and have a partner "hold" him/her steady. Walk away from your dog with your back to the dog. Turn around at the end of the long leash (15 ft+) and then turn around and call your dog excitedly. The trick to making the dog come is stepping backward. It seems to drive the dog's instinct to "catch" you.

I think 1 and 3 seemed to work the best, and we will work on that this week. In the meantime, here is a video of us playing at the salt water pool after class. He was actually doing very well. I'm so proud of him!



Its funny though, earlier in the day, there was about 30 dogs hanging around the park. Many looked just like him, and it was hard to keep an eye on which black furball was our BB. Once I realzied he was the only one with the Bright Red Collar he was easy to track down. He is just so handsome!