| Article
Thirteen
RECALLS
My first introduction
to dog training was over twenty years ago, to earn
my pocket money each week I would have to help at
the local gundog training club. The club met in an
enclosed field, the entrance to the field however
was an opening in the hedge. My job was to sit at
the entrance and catch any dogs which decided they
had enough of the session and went to leave without
the owners. This then was how I began my dog training
apprenticeship, catching dogs that refused to recall.
In those early
days I was told that the down is the most difficult
aspect of obedience to teach as this is a submissive
move by the dog, the come is easy as long as you have
a good relationship with the dog as he will always
wish to come back to you. Whilst the theory is plausible
the fact is that this is far from reality, dogs that
drop like a stone when commanded "down"
still run over the horizon when let off the lead.
The most common problem I am approached about by owners
is a dog which refuses to come when called.
Why? You would
imagine that a dog that is fed, loved, given toys
and a nice place to sleep would be only to happy to
come to you when you tell it to. There can be several
reasons why the dog should behave like this, conditioned
association, does not understand what "come"
means, hearing problems or just plain disobedient.
Often the
reason is a mixture of disobedience and the dog not
really understanding what "come" means,
the owner has made an effort to introduce the come
but this has been only half hearted and the dog has
learnt that the command means make your way to me
as you see fit. This coupled with the owner allowing
the dog to ignore the first five times the command
is given cannot be classed as real disobedience. Next
in line for the most common reasons I have experienced
is conditioned association. By this I mean the dog
that has run off or carried out some other act of
naughtiness, he has been told to come and upon return
to the owner is scalded for the act. A dog cannot
associate punishment with an action which he carried
out in the past even if it is only in the last minute.
As far as he is concerned he has been punished for
returning when told, do this often or sever enough
and when told to come he will not as he will fear
a scolding. I know that some owners reading this will
be thinking that this is obvious but you would be
surprised how often I see this when walking around
the exercise fields. Unless you catch the dog in the
act of naughtiness then do not punish him, no matter
how annoyed you are.
Teaching a
dog to come is quite easy and can be achieved within
a week of starting as long as you practice the exercises
several times a day for a few minutes each time. The
first thing to do is get the dog to associate the
come with reward and what reward do most dogs enjoy?
Food. Start by introducing the come command when you
feed him, get somebody to hold the dog and then show
him his food at the same time telling him to come
in a happy tone. Once released by the helper keep
telling him to come until he reaches you then give
him his food. If he is the type of dog that gets exited
when you pick up his lead then tell him to come and
upon arrival to you pick up the lead and make a fuss
of him. When you go for a walk take some edible treats
with you that the dog really likes, let him know you
have the treats by allowing him to sniff them in your
hand then let him off the lead. Once the dog is ten
or so feet from you call him back and immediately
reward him with a piece of treat. Do this several
times within the exercise period at varying distances.
Once the dog is returning quickly gradually phase
out the treat and offer only physical praise. If you
find the dog is bolting as soon as he is let loose
and gaining to much distance for this to work effectively
then start by attaching a thin line to his collar.
As the dog runs off call him and jerk the line, the
idea is not to pull him back but to reinforce your
command, upon arrival carry out the actions already
described. Although I have state that the treat should
be edible this is only the simplest method, if your
dog is one that will not except a titbit, believe
me there will be one out there, then substitute this
with something he does enjoy such as a toy.
One note of
caution if you do use titbits as any form of reward
remember to take this into account when feeding him
his normal daily allowance. If you still encounter
problems then why not join a dog training club, there
are clubs in most areas and you are bound to find
somebody with a worse dog ownership story than yours,
normally the instructor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article
was written by Paul C Bunker, a professional dog trainer.
You can visit the website at www.Southwestk9services.com for more articles and
dog training resources. You may freely distribute
this article or save to any electronic media as long
as it is left intact, including this copyright box.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
