*Music and Barking*
*OW!
hi I'm Chirangee tissera and I'm RoserSzymanski. We're part of a pack of
hosts of the new show on GPB called Unleashed: A Dog's Life. It's about well
everything concerning dogs, so from training to treats from news to nonsense
if it concerns dogs you can find it here.
Today we are going to look at one of the
toughest but most important commands that you need to master with your pup,
that pesky often ignored "come" command. Well, lucky for us, we have dog training
expert and CEO of Victoria Stilwell's Positively dog training here with us to
walk us through the ins and outs of how to get your dog to come when called.
*Music*
Recall is probably one of the most important things to teach your dog,
because it's vital for safety, but it can be really difficult for some dogs to
stop what they're doing and come back to you. The first step to this training is
to find out what motivates your dog the most. It could be food, toys, praise,
petting, play, and use that for the recall cue.
To start off recall, what dogs are very
good at doing is when you recall them they come back to you but they stay at
arm's length because they don't want you to spoil their fun. People tend to only
recall their dogs when they want them to come to them put them on the leash and
take them home, so therefore I want Josie to realize that the only way that she's
going to get this reward as if she comes close to me and I can actually touch her collar.
Yes
I'm using yes as a mocker word, it's
very clear and I use yes before I give her the piece of food. Yes is a kind of
bridge to the food. Now what's happening her brain at the moment is that she's
anticipating the fact she's going to get this reward and it makes her feel good,
because when dogs are anticipating, when they're in seek mode, their brain is
flooded with a neurotransmitter called dopamine that just makes them feel
really good. Now you're gonna see that I'm gonna sort of pull her in with the
food as my hand goes under her collar.
Yes.
I'm not pulling on the collar I'm
just pulling my hand back.
Now I'm going to add the word. Remember we haven't
added the word yet because she doesn't know what the word means.
Now I've built up the action now I'm gonna put the word to it
Josie, here.
Yes.
The next step is that I want to do this here in the house at greater
distances before I take it out into the backyard.
I'm gonna throw the piece of
food and she's gonna try find it.
If she's in the act of sniffing, calling her
right now at this particular time when she's not so great with the recall cue
that might not be setting her up for success. Look at that sniffing behavior,
that's all really stimulating for her, that hunting seeking behavior that's
just making her feel good. She's found the treat, she's got it. Wait for that lull.
Josie! Here!
Yes, good girl. Now I'm gonna throw the piece of food
again and this time I'm gonna take a few steps back from her.
Josie, here!
Yes, good girl!
Lots of dogs, especially Josie, like to chase so you can use that for your
recall cue get them to chase you. Brilliant way of teaching your dog a recall.
To teach an effective recall you need to find what motivates your dog,
start inside in an environment that's free from distractions, then increase
distance gradually, and once your dog is responding well you can take it outside.
The most important ingredient to this teaching is to make it fun both for you
and your dog.
To see more tips on how to make this training more effective visit us at
gpb.org/unleashed