How to teach your dog to come. Top 3 Tips for recalling your dog.
hey guys I’m Adam from top dog and I
promised somebody yesterday that I would
put together a little video talking
about some of the highlights of some of
the most important things you can do to
improve your dog’s recall now recall is
just a fancy dog trainers term for the
come command when we want the dog to
come to us when we call them but it’s
just easier to say Rico when we’re
talking about that a sentence or
something like that so anyway so many
people struggle with recalls with their
dog their dogs don’t come to when they
call them or they come to them they get
kind of close and then they run away
again they turn it into a game of tag so
I’m gonna give you a couple of pointers
that I share with folks about how you
can improve your recall with your dog no
matter what method of training you’re
using no matter if your dog is food
motivated or toy motivated or what these
are some things some helpful tips that a
lot of people are doing wrong that are
actually shooting themselves in the foot
so before we do all that I’m just gonna
show you just a quick recall with my dog
Zeno and this is just a simple one
obviously we’re in a sterile room
there’s not lots of distractions in here
or anything like that but just as a
quick little demonstration here’s what
we’re gonna do
Zeno cups good so you notice Zeno does
what I call a finished recall good boy
place where he comes and he sits
directly in front of me that’s what we
call a finished recall he comes nice
it’s so not every dog has to do that I
don’t care if everybody teaches it that
way that’s how we teach you here some
people teach her the dog just gets in
close but anyway I’m gonna talk to you
about how you can make that a very
reliable command for you dog we use the
whiteboard today I apologize I should
have erased it beforehand but I just
wanted to hurry up throw this video
together for you guys so quick um we’re
gonna talk about this let me do the
whole thing just in the back right big
and you guys can see it on the screen I
need a bigger eraser this one’s cute
doll but it’s not very big
all right so recall stuff
the first rule when it comes to recalls
is that most people don’t even realize
it but they are on a very regular basis
training their dog not to come to them
the what that what I mean by that is
think for a second about when you call
your dog to you most of the time people
really only do it when it’s gonna have a
negative outcome for their dog like
let’s say when it’s time for you to go
to work so the dogs out playing in the
backyard having a good time time for you
to go to work you call the dog inside
put them in their crate or just in the
living room or whatever and that’s way
more boring than what they were doing
outside it a lot of dogs prefer to be
outside playing so you just made it a
negative thing for them the other thing
is that a lot of people only use the
come command when their dog is in
trouble so your dogs over there knocks
over the trash chewing up your favorite
shoes or something like that you call
your dog do you hey get over here bad
dog you know you get after your dog
right after they came to you so the dog
starts to create a negative association
with the come command so for example you
called gene you said bad dog your dog’s
gonna pair the last event with that
punishment so they’re thinking okay I
came to you I got in trouble next time
you call me to you I’m not gonna come to
you because you didn’t like it last
night it’s a rule number one don’t
create negative association don’t create
a negative association with the come
command you have to make it a positive
fun thing for your dog which brings me
to rule number two practice it regularly
even when you don’t need it so practice
the come command ten times more and then
you actually need it practice it and
just make it fun and exciting for you
don’t have your dog’s favorite treat or
toy or just love on them give them a big
reward just like I did with Xena when he
came to me and I just grabbed his
she loves it when I rub all over him in
a roughhouse in a little bit making a
positive thing do the opposite of this
don’t create a negative association
practice regularly and make it a
positive thing for your dog so again I
ask a lot of people you know hey when do
you call your dog in like I said a lot
of them are calling them when the dog is
in trouble other thing that I see a lot
of is that they never practice it just
for fun to teach the dog what it means
they only ever call the dog when they
need the dog I go out in the yard and I
call xeno 15 20 times a day
just for him to come to me and go
through the motions and create that
positive association and muscle memory
so boom he comes to me he gets her
reward I keep him amped up and pumped
about it so I make it lots of fun and
excitement for him so I wait he’ll come
to me whenever I need him to if the good
times outweigh the bad times your dog’s
going to be a lot more likely to come to
you whenever you call them okay so
that’s rule number one don’t create a
negative association rule number two
practice regularly rule number three
have consistent expectations
all right now what I mean by that when
I’m just around the house and I need to
get xenos attention I might just you
know hey buddy come here or something
like that tap a leg or something that
gets his attention and he comes and he
follows me and that’s fine that’s just
getting his attention but when I need
this Rico when I need that solid come to
me so I can put your leash on so we can
go for a walk or so we can go in the
house or so we can leave the park load
up in the car whatever I need to have
consistent expectations so there’s two
parts of that one is the way that I
called him you’ll notice that when I
called him I used his name first and
then his command so by pairing those two
together I’m not gonna do it right now
because he’s gotten knocked over the
tripod if I do so just imagine that I’m
doing again so his name first then the
command and I’m always very consistent
about the way that I call him so by
doing that that means that he has a
clear understanding of every time that I
called him in that way he’s supposed to
do something which is turn come to me
and like I said he does a finish where
he just sits in front of me some people
have their dog finished beside them some
people don’t have their dog really do a
finish they just come and stand close
enough that they can click the leash on
whatever it is just make sure that
you’re consistent with your expectations
and the end results a common thing I see
is people after a dog comes for a board
to train we’ve taught the dog one thing
then they call their dog in you know hey
Rover here and then they turn around and
walk away the dog can’t do their part at
that point there’s it wait Adam taught
me that I’m supposed to come and sit in
front of you so if every time you call
you turn and walk away you start to be
sensitised the dog that the command
doesn’t really mean much to you so
you’re not being consistent with the dog
in the way that you’re presenting
yourself the dogs not going to be
consistent with you in the end results
and you’re gonna start losing the dog’s
reliability with the come command okay
so anyway those are our top three rules
for making sure that your dog is gonna
be way more reliable on the come come in
again they applied it no matter how
you’re training your dog these apply to
everybody don’t create a negative
association make it a positive thing
every single time and you can do that by
practicing regularly so your dog is
gonna be excited and happy to come to
you and then three have consistent
expectations always call your dog in the
same way and always make sure that you
allow the dog to finish whatever you’ve
instructed them to do
if it’s a come and sit in front of you
let them finish before you turn and walk
away reward them for that mark that
behavior that we taught them to do
before you just turn and release them or
walk away or something do those three
things and your doggies gonna be a lot
more reliable on the come command and a
lot safer too because this is one of
those commands that could literally save
their life now there’s a whole lot of
other things we can do to make the come
command successful there’s different
exercises and ways to train it and we’ll
try to put out some more videos with
some of those things too but again no
matter what you have to start with these
three things if any of the other
exercises are gonna be successful
anyway I’m Adam from top dog thanks so
much for watching we’ll catch you next
time
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