Training Your Dog To Come When Called

How do you apply reward-based training in practical situations?  To understand how it all works let's have a look at each intermediate step to successful reward training.  

Luring

This is where the reward (food or a toy) is shown to the dog and it is encouraged to follow the lure in the same manner as a donkey following a carrot dangled in front of it!  This system is used extensively in puppy training classes in exercises like the sit, the down and in teaching the dog to follow on a slack lead.

Although it can be useful as the first stage in reward training, luring should be dispensed with as soon as possible because it does nothing to teach the dog about obeying commands and if the luring system is used for too long it actually reduces the effectiveness of training sessions and can lead to frustration on the dog’s part.

As a general rule of thumb, luring should be almost dispensed with after three training sessions and phased out completely three weeks after training has commenced, only being reintroduced sparingly if the dog’s attention declines.    

Bribing

Once again this is where the reward is offered to the dog as an inducement to carry out the behaviour requested by the handler.

Although this is a valid step toward our ultimate goal of reward training, bribing a dog to carry out commands always results in the dog having more control than the handler. 

Clever dogs soon work out that it is to their advantage to fail to respond to a command, as the handler is usually more than willing to increase the bribe. 

This system therefore removes any control that the handler is ever likely to have and hands all of the control over to the dog.  Although I might have made it sound as though this is a system to avoid one could argue that it is still better than the old compulsion system.

Does it really matter that an average pet owner has to bribe their dog in order to get it to do what they want?  

Rewarding

In this system the rewards being offered are not advertised to the dog prior to requesting a behaviour.

For the satisfactory completion of a behaviour the dog is given one of the many types of reward available to the handler. 

This system also utilises Thorndike’s Law of Effect (modified by Skinner), which states "behaviour changes because of its consequences.”  In reward based training the consequence of carrying out the requested behaviour is that a reward is given and the consequences of failing to respond results in the reward being withheld. 

For this to work effectively then the handler not only has to have a great many rewards but they must also have good control over the way that the rewards are given.

Positive reinforcement

This is a term often used but badly misunderstood in dog training. Basically positive reinforcement is a mathematical term used to predict the anticipated frequency of a behaviour occurring!

For our purpose it can be described as anything which when given to the dog during, or immediately following the occurrence of a behaviour, will increase the likelihood of that behaviour being offered again.

Confused yet? Well there is no need to worry, as I still have to find a dog who fully understands the terminology.   

There are five basic types of reward that can be used in training: 

 · Physical praise:  this includes stroking, patting, scratching, cuddling and tummy tickling. 

 · Verbal praise: by using the words "good boy" “good girl” etc.  It is vitally important that the trainer is able to generate a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm when using verbal praise which should immediately result in a wagging tail.

 · Food: One of the ingredients necessary for survival which means, correctly used, this can be a very powerful tool in reward training.  Used incorrectly it can result in the handler losing all control over the dog and can even lead to problems of aggression 

· Games with toys:  Playing with toys is a learned behaviour and so to use play as a reward your dog must understand (have been taught) how to play with a toy. (See previous articles on how to get your dog to play games). 

· Freedom:  Being allowed time to run free, sniff and feel the wind through their hair can be a very powerful motivation for complying with the wishes of a handler. As with all of the other rewards though, if you have little or no control over being able to apply or remove a reward then these rewards cannot be effectively used in training. 

To determine what rewards you can use in teaching your dog some simple commands/behaviours try answering the following questions:  

1 Name five things, in order of importance, that your dog would choose to play with if he/she were given a free choice in the matter.

2 Name five foods in order of preference that your dog would like to eat if given a free choice. 

3 Of the ways to give physical praise, which I have listed above, place these in the order that your dog enjoys them the most. 

4 Which words or phrases start you dogs tail wagging happily and which words or phrases cause an ears back, tail lowered, looking sorry for itself expression? 

5 Name five places that your dog would choose to go to if a free choice was given and what would your dog do when it arrived there? 

Now remember that, in order to use these rewards in training you have to have complete control over how they are presented and removed.  

So, lets try a few simple tests and see if your dog is ready for reward training. 

Place several pieces of your dogs favourite food in your open hand and tell your dog not to touch them.

a)You can use any tone of voice or facial expression as long as you do not touch your dog.  Now, without moving your hand, give your permission for the food to be taken and eaten.

Repeat three more times in quick succession.  If your dog made no attempt to take the food until told to do so and then took the food happily and willingly then you can start to use food as a reward in training. 

b) Have a tugging game with a toy and then tell your dog to let go.

Do not pull the toy away from the dog, your dog should release and stand back or sit.  Again you can use any tone of voice or facial expression but you may not touch the do. 

Your dog should let go instantly and wait to be invited to join in the game again on your invitation.

Repeat three more times in quick succession.

If your dog takes hold of the toy and releases whenever you ask then you can use this toy in training.  

c) It is possible that your dog does not like to play tugging games but prefers to chase a toy.

In this case throw a toy and allow your dog to chase after it.

Do not move from the position you were in when you threw the toy.

Call your dog back to you and ask your dog to drop it in your hand. 

Repeat three more times in quick succession.  If your dog returns and delivers the toy to your hand each time then you can begin to use this toy in training your dog. 

d) Sit on the floor and touch your dog in the way that he prefers. 

After a couple of minutes stop touching your dog and terminate the interaction by using a word or phrase such as "that's enough" and turn away from your dog.

Wait for a couple of minutes and then invite your dog back for more attention. Repeat three more times in quick succession.

If you can initiate and terminate a touching session at will then you can begin to use physical praise as part of your reward training programme. 

e) Go to one of your dogs favourite places and release your dog from the lead but indicate that you require him/her to stay next to you for several minutes before being allowed to run free. 

You are allowed to talk to your dog and give any verbal instructions but do not touch the dog in any way. 

Now give your dog a 'release' word which gives your permission for it to run free.  Wait for exactly one minute and then call your dog back and attach the lead.

Walk a few paces and repeat this exercise three more times in quick succession.  If your dog waits with you until given permission to run free and then returns immediately when called then you can begin to use freedom as a reward in training your dog.  

Random rewards or reducing rewards? 

 Interestingly enough, a group of students on a training course were given the following question to answer:  Assuming that you have trained your dog to do a recall for food by giving one piece of baked liver every time the dog responds to a command to come (referred to a fixed ratio reward training), describe how you would then switch to a system of random rewards?  Every single student then described a system of only then rewarding one in three then one in five then one in ten etc.

This, of course is not random reward training but reducing rewards and simply does not work in maintaining behaviours. And so after spending weeks of training a recall for food the handler simply throws all of this good work away by withholding the very rewards that the dog is working for. 

When we start to teach the dog a new behaviour we must pick the lowest reward that the dog will work for and be absolutely consistent with the type of reward that we give, when it is given and how much of it he gets (type, frequency and amount).

The types of rewards available are physical praise, verbal praise, games with various toys and different types of food.

The frequency refers to either a period of time or the number of times a behaviour is repeated.

The amount is the value of the reward to the dog, and three pieces of liver are of more value than one piece. 

When we start an exercise, we fix the type (lowest value), the frequency and the amount (smallest amount).

As the dog becomes more skilled, the first thing that we change is the type of reward that he is given.

If we start off with the very best rewards for very simple behaviours then we have nothing better to give when the dog becomes more skilled at his job.

It is also possible that if we use very high value rewards for too long in the early stages then when we try to change them the dog becomes frustrated and even aggressive.

This is referred to as fixed reinforcement aggression but I think that ‘temper tantrum’ is far more descriptive and accurate!. 

The next step is to try to change when the reward is given and also at this time we change the amount that is given.

Think of the word surprise instead of random reinforcement it is so much easier to understand! 

It then follows that the more rewards that you have at your disposal the easier it is going to be to train your dog.

If your dog will only play with one tennis ball, does not care for being touched or stroked and is not a good eater then you will have your work cut out in trying to train using the reward system. 

By now you should be sitting on the edge of your seat wanting to know how to apply all of this information in order to train your dog to a standard that you could only have dreamed about before.

Just to start you thinking, imagine two people being involved in a dog’s education. We shall call one of them a trainer and one a handler.

If the trainer is successful in teaching the dog all of the commands and behaviours necessary for it’s future job and then passes it over to the handler, what skills do you think that the handler needs to possess? 

Does a handler have to also be a trainer capable of teaching the exercises in the first place?

Or, does the handler merely have to know how to maintain the behaviours that were instilled by the trainer?  What do you think? 

Training the instant recall  

The question was, imagine two people being involved in a dogs education. We shall call one of them a trainer and one a handler.

If the trainer is successful in teaching the dog all of the commands and behaviours necessary for it’s future job and then passes it over to the handler, what skills do you think that the handler needs to possess? 

Does a handler have to also be a trainer capable of teaching the exercises in the first place?

Or, does the handler merely have to know how to maintain the behaviours that were instilled by the trainer?  What do you think?

Well I can tell you that I know many people who could never even begin to train a dog themselves but who, nevertheless have beautifully trained and well behaved dogs. 

Their skill is in handling a trained dog!  Don’t believe me?  Just go and have a look at some guide dog owners or an Army dog handler etc etc..

In training the instant recall it is better to have both a trainer and a handler present for the first few sessions, only dispensing with the trainer when the dog fully understands what is required. From that point on it is up to the handler to maintain the recall. 

If you have a problem with an exercise then it goes all of the way back to when you ran your first ever training session on that exercise. That is where the first impression is formed. So if you have a problem getting your dog to stay down on command then go back to the first stay training session that you carried out with that dog for that is where it started to go wrong. The same applies to recall, retrieve, walking on a slack lead, tracking etc., etc. 

If a dog was let off lead and chose to run off then what did that tell the handler about the relationship between them and their dog.  If the dog chose to run off then why condemn it to a lifetime of having to live with someone that it did not choose to be with? 

A recall is merely a test of your relationship with your dog! 

Here is a true story of how not to do it. 

The handler had let her dog off lead reluctantly and then immediately started to panic as the dog walked away from her. 

We were in a very large, fully fenced field and so there was little danger of the dog getting lost.

She called the dog when it was around fifteen feet away, it turned its head and glanced at her before continuing to walk away.

She then started to walk toward it, calling it by name and adding the words “look what I’ve got,” producing a ball and throwing it up in the air as she did so.

The dog took no notice and continued to move away but now broke into a steady trot. The handler then took out a bag of liver food treats and continued to run toward the dog calling it all of the time. 

Eventually the dog stopped and allowed her to get within around twenty feet or so.  She then dropped down on one knee and called the dog again, showing it the bag of liver and then she turned and ran away, calling it all of the time. 

The dog then ran past her and she stood still and coaxed it in. The handler then gave the dog a big hunk of cooked liver!  I asked her why she had given the dog the liver and she replied “well he has to get a reward for coming to me when I call him doesn’t he?”

This was my explanation.

I want you to imagine that your husband is going out tonight to play cards with his friends. 

You have to visit your friend later that evening to deliver something that is really important but only have one car, and your husband is going to be using that.

So you ask him to be back by ten P.M. so that you can use the car.  It is now ten thirty and he still has not returned.  Eleven P.M. arrives and still no husband.  It is now one thirty in the morning and he finally arrives at the door.

When you let him in, would you have a nice meal prepared for him and then throw your arms around him and give him a big kiss because he has decided to come home at last?  Well would you? 

She replied that she would have thrown his dinner away or better still given it to the dog.  She said that she would have been in bed with her back to him and would have used some subtle body language to imply that she was not amused.

After refusing to speak to him the following morning she said that she would really make him work hard to get back in her good books.

She actually used the word grovel a lot! She agreed that if she had prepared a nice meal and been really nice to him she would only be encouraging him to do the same again the next time.

When I asked her why the relationship that she had with her dog was so different she was at a loss to explain it. 

I asked her to release her dog again and walk off in the opposite direction with me, paying no attention to the dog.

After a short while I asked her to call the dog. The same thing happened, he totally ignored her. 

We carried on walking and the dog then stopped, looked at us walking away and stood still looking a little bemused.  He finally decided to join us and as he came to her she was about to give him a food reward.

I quickly reminded her of her husband arriving home late and told her to show him the food that he had missed by arriving late but also told her to then put the food back into her pocket and give him none.

I also asked her to be really cool and rejecting in her body language only.  The dog then jumped up at her and she turned away using the words “if you think that you can get around me like that then you have got another thing coming.” 

We walked away and the dog tried really hard to please her, refusing to leave her side. Her words were “I have never seen him grovel like this before.”

It was difficult to get him to leave her far enough to attempt a recall but finally he found a nice smell on the ground and gave her the opportunity to recall him. 

When she called, he came running and I told her to pat him on the head and tell him how nice he was.  She was told to save the liver for the more difficult recalls that would inevitably follow over the next few days. 

Of course this dog had gained complete control over the handler because rewards had been used for far too long to bribe the dog to come when called. The dog was making the handler increase the bribe until things had reached a point where she had nothing better to offer.

All I did was to show her how to teach her dog the consequences of his actions, knowing that this dog fully understood what was required of him.

This system only works if the dog has a good understanding of what he is supposed to be doing.

So you will need to learn to manipulate the rewards in order to teach your dog how to come instantly whenever you call him.

See if you can work out how this is going to be achieved, you already have lots of clues. 

I am guessing that if most readers put on their dog walking clothes, picked up the dog's lead and stood near the door and called the dog, it would come to them instantly. 

Actually it probably would not need to be called as it would read all of the signals that meant it time to go out for exercise.  Now lets go out of the house and watch the dog carefully.   

When exercising off lead the owner, still dressed in the same dog walking clothes and with the same lead, calls the dog.

This time we often see the reverse of what happened in the house - the dog deliberately avoids the owner - but why? 

The answer is because the consequences of both recalls are very different and it is the consequences of an action that maintain and strengthen that behaviour.

As with all training, the basic idea of what you require your dog to do should be taught in a distraction free environment. 

Your own house serves this purpose well as there are not likely to be many distractions that you cannot control, unlike a public park where you have no control at all over events that are likely to take your dogs attention. 

The first thing that we are going to establish is whether your dog understands how to come when called under almost ideal conditions.  

There are five tests that are required and the rules are the same for each test.   

Have a clip from a lead (available from your pet shop) in your hand when you call your dog but not the lead itself. Otherwise, your dog may think it's time for a walk! 

You are only allowed to give one command if your dog does not respond then you are not allowed to repeat the command. You are not allowed to have any food or toys on show. 

When you call your dog, you are not allowed to move in any direction but must remain stationary.

When you call your dog you may not use any verbal praise until your dog is actually moving toward you.

The clip that you are holding must be attached to your dog's collar within ten seconds, after which you can give any low value rewards that you have concealed on you.

Each test is to be repeated twice and your dog should respond within the rules above before you go on to the next test. 

Test 1

With your dog in the same room as you but not paying any attention to you at all, give his name and your chosen command to come.

 He should come to you instantly and accept having the clip attached to his collar after which he should be stroked, told how wonderful he is and maybe even given a small, low value, food treat or toy. 

If he does not come instantly or you have to break one or more of the rules to get him to come to you and have the clip attached then you have failed the test!  

Test 2

This is a repeat of test one but this time you must call your dog when he is out of your sight.

To do this you can either wait for your dog to wander out of the room that you are in or you can wander out of the room yourself.  Wait for a few minutes and then call your dog.

Remember that you cannot give any verbal praise until your dog enters the room that you are in. 

Repeat this test twice and be honest with yourself if your dog passes or fails under the strict set of rules that I have given you. 

Test 3

This test repeats test two but you now have to have your dog out in the garden (as long as it is completely enclosed) and you remain in the house.  Position yourself so that you can see your dog but he cannot see you - peeking through a gap in the kitchen curtains will do.  Call your dog using the same rules as for tests one and two.    

Test 4

You are now going to introduce a controlled distraction in your recall tests.  Assuming that your dog is friendly to people, have a friend or relative walk into the room you are in and let your dog go and greet them.  When  the greeting is in progress, call your dog to you using your chosen command.  Remember that you are not allowed to repeat the command if your dog does not obey the first time!   

Test 5

Assuming that your dog is friendly to other dogs, have a friend or relative arrive in the room that you are in with their dog on a lead.  Allow your dog to go and say hello and then call him back to you.  The rules are the same as the ones you used for the previous tests.  

So how did your dog fare in the tests?  If your dog passed each one with flying colours then, and only then, can you think about training an off lead recall outside of your house.

If you failed any of the tests, you have to carefully retrain your dog to come when he is called in your own home environment before commencing your training outside. 

It is a sad fact that many owners expect their dogs to return to them in the local park under all sorts of distractions when, in truth, they cannot get the dog to come when called sitting in their own living room where there are no distractions!

It is also very wrong to condemn a dog to a lifetime of being restricted on a lead when, by investing some time and effort, the recall exercise is so easy to achieve. 

If your dog was one of the many tens of thousands that fail one or more of these tests don't despair - Sit down and first try and think of a reason for your dog to want to come to you when you call him.

Next you must think of the consequences of him refusing to come when called.

Think of ways that you can change the consequences in order to teach the behaviour that you require. 

Providing the dog has had few opportunities to practice the bad behaviour and with a skilful trainer the dog can be trained to recall in a few minutes!  

Training the instant recall 

At last, with all of the preparation and theory behind us we can look at actually teaching a dog to return when called. I am going to divide this recall into three sections namely: 

1  Training class recall to be conducted by a training instructor in a class environment, hopefully outside. 

2  Free running recall trained in the house to begin with and then progressing to outside 

3  Chasing recall to add to the basic recall for dogs that like to chase things that they are not supposed to!  

Recall 1 –The training class recall

Our first recall is a training class recall. 

First set up a chair in one corner of the training area.  Alongside the chair have any raised surface such as a table or platform onto which you can put food treats.  I never allow the handler to have food treats on their person!  

Now simply ask the handler take their dog on the lead and sit on the chair.  The instant that they sit down they should do four things in this order. 

1  Talk to the dog in a reassuring way; “good boy, Clever girl” etc. 

2  Stroke the dog  

3  Smile 

4  Only when the dogs tail starts to wag should they then give the dog one small food treat from the table. 

After giving the treat they should then wait for around three seconds (count this for them) and then repeat the talk, stroke, smile and treat the dog once again.

Wait for a further three seconds and then continue to repeat the talk, stroke, smile, treat procedure until ten food treats have been given. 

The main aim is to get the dogs tail to wag before giving the food treat. By pairing three secondary rewards –talk, stroke, smile, with a primary reward – food, it will probably enable us to just about dispense with the need to use food later in the programme.

This means that your dog will end up wanting to please you rather than just carrying out a behaviour for food. Don’t confuse love with hunger! 

As soon as the ten food treats have been given the handler should stand up and walk away from the chair a distance of around fifteen paces, taking their dog with them on the lead.

 It is important that when they stand up to walk away ALL REWARDS SHOULD STOP. 

That means that the handler should not speak to, look at or touch the dog and they should also stop smiling.

When they are standing fifteen paces away keep them there for around two minutes (this seems like an hour in practice). 

Then ask the handler to return to the chair and as soon as they sit down start the talk, stroke, smile, treat process all over again.

When ten pieces of food have been given the handler should stand up and walk away again, remaining there for two minutes before sitting down and repeating the talk, stroke, smile, treat process once more.

The third time they walk away (with some dogs (Irish setters?) it is the fourth), you should notice something happen. 

When the handler is standing and ignoring the dog it should make an attempt to drew the handlers attention to where it wants to go – back to the chair.

Some dogs will merely look in the direction of the chair, some will whine, some will pull some will look at the chair and then look up at their handlers. As soon as you see that happen – you are the trainer correct? – take the lead and ask the handler to go and sit in the chair.

As soon as they sit down ask them to call their dog.  It helps if this is the first time that the dog has ever heard this particular command. 

You should find, if you have read the dog correctly, that you can now let go of the lead and the dog should immediately run to its handler who when the dog arrives should begin the talk, touch, smile, treat process all over again. 

The reason that the handler should be using a command that is new to the dog is that we are trying to teach a very specific meaning to a command and if the old (failed) recall command is used the dog may well go back to it’s old not coming behaviour! 

Repeat asking the owner to walk away and hand you the lead routine twice more and then finish the session.  Remember that when the handler finishes the training session they should simply get up from the chair and walk away, taking the dog with them and leaving any food treats behind. 

Some important points to note are: 

1  The handler should not ask the dog to sit – we are only teaching one behaviour, the recall.  Of course if the dog sits automatically then that is fine as well. 

2  The handler should be instructed not to lift their bottom off the chair unless instructed to do so.  This prevents the handler trying to intercept the dog as it approaches with a head on tackle. 

3  The handler should not hold on to the dog at all, other than holding the extreme end of the lead.   Holding on to the dogs collar is not permissible, they have only their voice, facial expression, hands to stroke the dog and a food treat to keep the dog with them and it is that I want them to work on. 

4  If the dog wanders away from them then you, the trainer should pick up the lead and restrain the dog or even guide the dog back to it’s owner. 

5  Be cautious about using food treats that are too valuable to the dog at this time.  You will know if the food treats are too valuable because when the handler tries to stroke the dog it will actually try and avoid the hand that is coming out to stroke it, almost as if the hand is irritating the dog in it’s quest to be given the food treat! 

6  You are the trainer and as such you are going to decide the exact second that the handler needs to call their dog so that when you let go of the lead, you already can virtually guarantee the dogs response to the handlers command.  

By preparing the environment and setting the dog and handler up for success their first introduction to this new command should result in the dog wanting to learn this new command very rapidly.  But we now need to go further. 

To extend the dogs perception of this new command we need to advance quite quickly but still only one step at a time.

So for the next session have the handler sit on the chair and start using the talk, stroke, smile, treat routine as before but now, just as the handler is about to give treat number ten, use the lead to take the dog away from the handler rather than the handler walking away and handing the lead to you.

Walk away for a distance of around thirty paces before telling the handler to call their dog.  You may actually find it difficult to get the dog thirty paces away because of its desire to get back for the rewards in which case just go as far as you can. 

Now let us change the handlers behaviour a bit more. This time ask the handler to attach your lead to the dogs collar and hold on to theirs. 

Take the dog away as before and ask them to call their dog.  Tell them to put one arm behind their back when they call their dog. 

When the dog gets to them they should still repeat the talk, stroke, smile, treat routine but should then attach the dogs lead. 

Remember that one hand should have been behind their back all of the time.  Does the handler find this difficult?  What would make this exercise easier for them?   

Now lets strengthen the recall even more.  When you take the dog away from the handler ask another handler to position himself or herself between you and the handler sitting on the chair.

Ask the handler to call their dog so that it now has to pass the other dog on it’s way back to its handler.  I should mention at this point that we do not have dogs in class that are aggressive to other dogs right?

If the dog is tempted by the presence of the other dog and prefers to say hello to that dog in preference to returning to it’s handler when called, quickly pick up the lead which is thus far still attached to the dogs collar. 

Now ask the other dogs handler to walk their dog to the handler sat on the chair.  Ask the handler on the chair to stroke and treat the stooge dog. Usually the sight of another dog being spoken to , stroked and given food treats is enough to make any self respecting dog turn green with envy.

Make sure that when you do this the ‘visiting’ dog is given some really good food treats and plenty of them. 

As the trainer your job is merely to hold on to the disobedient dogs lead and let it observe and learn from the situation that has developed in front of it.

Wait for at least two minutes before repeating the training.  I would bet that this time the dog ignores the other dog on its way back to its handler.

Remember that when the dog arrives with its handler they should genuinely surprise the dog with the rewards that it gets.

How about secreting a whole roast chicken (bones removed) and suddenly producing this when the dog successfully carries out the recall. 

Remember that each and every time the dog returns when called it can now be given any number of rewards in any combination – keep the dog guessing.

The penalty for not coming when called is that it is restrained so it cannot have any fun which means that someone picks up and holds onto the dogs lead and keeps it under very close restraint until such time as the dog decides to make the right decision. 

Sometimes the penalty might be that the handler gets into their car and drives away leaving the dog restrained by another handler for ten minutes.  Sometimes the penalty is that the other dogs in the training class get all of that dogs rewards given by it’s own handler!    

Recall 2 – Free running 

For this recall to work I would first of all need to have the results of the tests in the last chapter as we do not need to start from square one with each and every dog. 

Test 1 Failure : 

Mix up your dogs food in the morning and put it into ten (twenty would be better) containers and leave them dotted around your house. 

At any time, and without your dog’s prior knowledge, pick up a container and call your dog to you.  When he gets to you talk, stroke, smile, and treat as for the previous recall. 

If he does not come immediately (you set the rules) then tease him with the food in the container but do not give him any – put the container away and wait for at least two minutes before trying again. 

Give your dog as many chances each day as it takes for him to learn to come when you call him.  If you find that you can get six or seven recalls really easily but the last three or four are not good at all then you are feeding him too much each day! 

Repeat this for one week and then move to stage two which is also for dogs that failed test two.

Test 2 failure : 

Mix up his food as before and split it into your ten or twenty containers.  Now recall him only the number of times each day that you have containers of food.

If he satisfies your requirements for the recall then talk, stroke, smile, and treat using that one portion of food.

If he does not satisfy your recall requirements then use a very harsh facial expression, turn away from him in disgust and let him see you throw that container of food into your trash can.  That container is now gone forever and he now only has the remainder of containers to work out Thorndike’s law of effect on! 

Remember that this is the only food that is available there is no other food on offer each day. 

After a few days move on to stage three which is also for dogs that failed test three.

Test 3 failure : 

Stage three 

Now practice your recall in other areas of your house and garden, preferably when he is out of sight.

 Have eight containers of his normal food and two containers with something extra special inside.

 For a successful recall keep him guessing as to whether he will get a container of  ‘normal’ food or if it is going to be the extra special one. 

The whole of your attitude, that is the talk, stroke, smile should almost allow him to predict that this is the special bonus container before it is opened. 

Of course if he fails a recall then which container do you think he is shown being thrown away?

I would briefly tease him with it first while I was explaining that, as he did not come immediately I called him I thought he must not want this container! 

Now move to stage four which is also for dogs that failed test four and/or five.

Test 4 failure : 

Have a friend arrive, making sure that your dog has a light length of cord attached to his collar beforehand. 

When your friend arrives allow your dog to run up and greet them and then, when the initial excitement has subsided, call your dog to you.

If he comes straight away keep him guessing as to how much of his daily food allowance he is going to get.  It might be one tenth, one half, three quarters or all of it in one go. 

It might also be his normal food or a whole roast chicken!

Of course if he decides not to come when called then ask your friend to fasten the end of the cord to anything suitable and come an join you for a whole roast chicken, right on front of your dogs eyes. 

Repeat with other dogs that visit your house and garden. 

So all we now have to do is to translate the two recalls that I have just described to six different environments outside and we are done.   

Recall 3 –Chasing recall. 

Assuming that you have a really good recall most of the time but just have problems when your dog begins to chase something then you will add this chasing recall to the basic exercise.

What you are about to teach is a concept of returning when involved in a chase.  As with all training you will have to start in a way so that your dog quickly learns a basic behaviour and then has multiple opportunities to practice this behaviour. 

Assuming that your dog will chase after a toy (if not, you will need to read the power of toys chapter) and you will need to understand the concept of category 'A' and category 'B' toys. 

If you gathered up ten different toys, teased your dog with them and then threw them all at once which one would your dog select to play with?

If you threw all ten toys three times is your dog’s selection the same every time?

In other words, out of the ten toys available is there one that he will select in preference to all other toys? This is known as an 'A' category toy. 

Now remove that toy and throw the nine remaining toys a further three times.

Is there any other toy that your dog shows a preference for?  If there is, then this is also known as an 'A' category toy. 

When the most highly prized toys have been removed is there any left that your dog simply will not play with?

If there are, then these toys are also removed.  What is left are known as 'B' category toys.  These are toys that the dog will play with but not if the really good ones are available. 

You will now need an assistant to help you and a large area preferably with no distractions. 

Have an 'A' category toy concealed behind your back and with your dog off lead and close to you tease him with a category 'B' toy. Have your assistant positioned around fifty yards away and facing you.

Throw your toy towards your assistant and let your dog chase it. 

When your dog is around half way to the toy call him back using your recall command.  Assuming that your dog does not return immediately on hearing your command, have your assistant either stand on the toy or even pick it up.

This makes it unavailable for your dog who should now get to your assistant and then look puzzled as to why he cannot get the toy.

As soon as your dog looks in your direction (don't worry - he will eventually) call him as you show him the 'A' category toy you had concealed and then throw it in the opposite direction from where your assistant is positioned. 

Chase after the toy yourself and make sure that you manage to just pick it up before he get to it. 

Tease him with it but do not let him have it.  Repeat the exercise by recovering the 'B' toy from your assistant and starting all over again. 

Usually, within three of four throws your dog should break off his chase of the 'B' toy and return to chase the 'A' toy. 

When he turns immediately you call him then let him overtake you and got the 'A' toy for himself. Make this part of the game really exciting.   

You should find that in a very short time your dog will anticipate the recall and when this happens and he slows down and turns without your command then switch to two identical 'A' category toys. 

Now, keep your dog guessing as to how the game will be played. 

Around 60% of the time your dog should be allowed to get the first toy that has  been thrown.

Of the remaining 40% you will sometimes need to call him back from the first toy and let him get the second one. 

Sometimes you will also call him back from the second toy as well and send him back for the first one.  Sometimes let your dog get the second toy and also send him aback to get the first one thrown.  Sometimes surprise him with a whole roast chicken (bones removed) for returning when called. 

The more you practice this chasing recall the luckier you will get when your dog decides to chase something he is not supposed to! 

Remember if you cannot get him back from a thrown toy you are unlikely to be able to get him back when he is chasing another dog, bicycle etc.