# Recall training



## Carolyne (Mar 13, 2012)

Any tips? Been trying to work on this indoors and in the garden; getting ready for being inthe big bad would of walks in about 2 weeks time. She will come sometimes, but not always. Can be quite a stubborn poo at times.
Not really been using any treats yet; just praise. Sometimes use her normal kibble, but nothing really exciting yet as she has has the odd bit of diahorrea and I don't want to make it any worse.

Any tips would be greatly received!


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## susanb (Jan 19, 2012)

The only tip I can give you on this is that I think you will have to use some sort of treat to get success. We have to use our very best "high value" treats to have any chance of Gisgo coming back (cheese, hot dog, ham or liver cake. Perhaps you could use some cooked chicken?). The other thing we have been told is to make yourself sound really exciting so that they want to come back to see what you are doing. Other people have suggested that you "hide" so they want to come back and see where you are.


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## flounder_1 (May 12, 2011)

Have you thought about clicker training? We did this with Lolly (some puppy training classes use them so you'll have a head start) and it worked really well. I just bought a clicker from the pet shop which came with a little handbook.
The rules are that you click the clicker as soon as you get a behaviour you want and then you must always follow a click with a treat - small cubes of cheese, cooked chicken, sausage or frankfurta work well. (even reward if you click by mistake)

You start by calling the pups name and if she looks at you - click and reward. Do this a few times. She will soon learn that a click means she is going to get a treat. Then while in the garden when puppy is not paying you attention, call her name and say 'come' in a singsongy voice (maybe patting your legs as well). As soon as she starts to move towards you - click and reward. The instruction book that comes with the clicker will explain it all better than I can!


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## flounder_1 (May 12, 2011)

Just read the bit about her having loose poo! Maybe avoid cheese cubes as reward in that case. But the rewards only have to be tiny - about the size of a piece of kibble or your little finger nail.


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## MillieDog (Jun 1, 2011)

Definitely work with treats as a reward. Makes life a whole lot easier. I still have a few treats in my pocket when I go out and Millie over a year old now. She only needs one or two now to be honest, but she does like them. In the beginning you do use quite a few treats, hence only using tiny amounts.

You will find that recall training will not run smoothly, so when it does go wrong don;'t worry too much about it. Do you have any thoughts on recall training and whether or not to let her off lead straight away. This is something I did on day one of letting out into the big wide world and it was the best piece of advice I was ever given.

Ask if you want tips on how to do this with piece of mind. Janet above is better at explaining it than me


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## Carolyne (Mar 13, 2012)

I was planning to let her off from day one - thought being that is she is a little uncertain she won't wader far from me and so will be easier to reward when she comes back.
She is sitting to command already -picked that up very quickly indeed; working on recall in the lounge with me and hubby or daughter - she goes between us on the settee for treats.
Today managed to get her back and forth between us about 10 times and sitting when she arrived too! Hurrah. just now need to appply this outside where all the temptation are. 
Might try clicker training as she seems to be quite a smarty pants and I think she'll pick that up really quickly.
What treat would you suggest for a pup? have been using her boring kibble atm !! (she is 9 weeks old) Cooked chicken? Hot dog sausages? Thanks for the tip about cheese too.


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## DB1 (Jan 20, 2012)

Hi Carolyne, glad to see your little one is settling in well, I usually take little bits of cooked chicken, cheese, carrots and kibble with me on walks - the cooked chicken is fav but don't always have some, sometimes i press little bits of cheese onto the kibble to make it more exciting, but Dudley does like his carrots, occasionally I take a large piece (or whole skinny carrot) and when he comes back just let him bite a piece off (this is handy for extra time when putting lead back on). he can still be a real little monster but coming back to me when out is something he always does well, he really seems worried he will lose me, i do the running in opposite direction and hiding behind a tree thing to keep him on his toes as well. In fact when in some woods recently he stopped each time there was a large tree as if he guessed I may hide behind it!


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## wilfiboy (Sep 18, 2010)

If there are two of you get her to sit,let her smell the treat then back away from her,the other person stops her form following you, when you have moved away use her name and the recall command that you are going to use come/here, then when she gets to you give her the reward. Hope that makes sense, good luck x x


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## Turi (Jun 28, 2011)

When Saffi was younger we to thought she was stubborn/strong willed. Now I think she didn't yet know her name as when we call her now she always comes. 

Re the walk - I'd let her off-lead on the first one. She'll stay super-close and it'll make recall training easier when they're older. Every time you have to put her back on the lead give her two or three treats - it'll mean you won't be chasing her round the park when she's older!


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## Cupcakejo (May 21, 2012)

Hi Ive found chopped up sausage, (cocktail sausages are great as they're small and cheap) to be the best. Call "come" in your most exciting voice and just wait, reward her with sausage and make a big fuss. 

I've been going to puppy/intermediate classes for a couple of months and we use "yes" in the same way as the clicker ie when they've done what you've asked, you say "yes" and reward. Plenty of rewards to start with to build up their confidence in you. 

Don't give up it takes a while. Good luck. Jo


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## xxxxxxxxhantsmummy (Mar 12, 2012)

We played puppy ping pong with Honey and it worked great, sit at other ends of the room and call puppy's name ie 'honey come' puppy goes back and forth between 2 of you and small treat when she gets to you but get her collar before you treat her. Hide and seek also good fun! Good luck x


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