Would you bet $10,000 that your dog will come back to you when you call it? If you answered no, your dog should remain on a lead.
Legally, you are under effective control of your pet when:
- on a footpath or in on-leash areas, your dog is on a leash not more than 2 meters, and the leash is held by a person who can restrain the dog
- Is not a female dog in estrous/heat
- Is immediately responsive to recall.
These things are essential for a healthy walk and relationship with your dog in all situations.
Let's talk about the recall, We often get disheartened at the park with our dog, and we call but, they don't want to come back. Often by the time they do come back, we are frustrated and ready to give them the silent treatment the rest of the way home.
So why do dogs ignore us so easily when they come to us immediately at home?
Often this means that we haven't adequately trained a recall in this environment. Practicing behaviours in a controlled environment, not only at home but in public, is essential to achieving excellent recalls.
So how do we encourage excellent recall when we are out in public? It all starts at home. Begin your training by thinking about the reasons why you call your dog. When we recall our dog, it often revolves around a few not-so-fun reasons.
Are they in trouble?
Are you leaving the park?
Maybe you're calling your dog away from doing something fun.
If our dog only sees coming to us as a "bad thing", then it doesn't matter how much reward we give when they come to us; we may never achieve consistency. Suppose you constantly call your dog, and they are not returning. In that case, the call becomes little more than a background sound your dog hears during adventures and loses its importance.
Here are some simple rules for teaching your dog recall:
- Always be consistent - If you call and your pet doesn't return, go and get them.
- Call them randomly for praise - Call your dog over for a reward if they are playing before sending them back to play again. Dinner time is a perfect opportunity for this.
- Be more exciting than everything else around them - If you can't compete with the birds, dogs, and other things they may be playing with, your recall will not be successful.
"Proof" your recall at home
At home, with minimal distractions, is the ideal place to begin our perfect recall. Practice excitedly calling your pet and rewarding them for coming back. You may find that you have a perfect recall inside but not in the yard, so start in the yard.
Start this training with your dog on the lead. Having your dog on a lead that is 3-5 meters is recommended for this practice. Starting this activity on lead means that you can prompt your pet to return to you when you call and reward it when it comes back.
When you have proofed (your dog returns to you at least 8 out of 10 times) your recall at home, you can increase the challenge. It may simply be visiting a quiet park or the street outside your house (on a leash) to practice with some distraction. For dogs, distraction is not always another dog or people. Dogs have incredible noses, so even being somewhere with different smells is a good start. Once you have practised and your dog returns to you 8 out of 10 times in that location, you have a solid recall.
You can increase the challenge and move to an area with more distractions. Perhaps somewhere they can see other dogs or animals but not too close. Practice the same activities repeatedly until you get a solid recall in many different locations.
Another thing that can impact your dog's recall is its distance from you. Some dogs may have perfect recall within 5 meters of you, practice at 5 meters and then slowly increase the distance. Remember not to jump to a 30-meter recall. Start slow, increase the distance by 2 meters, and proof it. Once the recall is solid, add another 2 meters and proof it.
We must work with our dog slowly and consistently to achieve a solid recall. Taking our dog to a dog park or beach with 30 other dogs and expecting them to come back when we call is not reasonable unless we put solid foundations into place at the beginning. Think of the recall in an area crowded with dogs as a university-level degree, but currently, your dog may be in transition. We can't expect someone with limited education to complete that level of work without first teaching them how.
Recall is one of the most rewarding tools to teach your dog. Have fun, be consistent and patient.
For more tips, tricks and information, call the Pet care helpline - 8930 0606 or visit darwin.nt.gov.au/pets