[Episode 11] 3 Ways To Ruin Your Dog’s Recall

 

I let my dog run free at the beach and at the park, but he’s so stubborn, he refuses to come when I call him?

He came when I called him at the house, why isn’t he coming now?

What if he had run off and gotten hit by a car? 

One of my worst fears was that my dog would run off, not come when called, get lost or hit by a car. Do you have the same fear?

One of the mistakes that dog owners make is thinking that their dog isn’t listening or coming when called because he’s stubborn. But dogs aren’t stubborn and you might be making one of these common mistakes that teaches your dog NOT to come to you when you call him.

In this episode of the Naughty Dog Podcast, you’ll learn the 3 Common Mistakes that Ruin Your Recall.

1. Expecting your dog to come when you haven’t taught him or you haven’t generalize this behavior
2. Asking your dog to come do something he thinks is unpleasant
3. Calling your dog to come when you’re going to leash him up and remove him from all of his fun off-leash adventure

Leave me a comment, or send me a DM on instagram @allabouttrainingdogs, and let me know if you disagree with me, or if you thought these three mistakes were obvious. 

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IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN

• Dogs don’t generalize what they learn

• You can poison a cue by associating with something your dog doesn’t like

• How to ensure that you don’t make these mistakes  

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Mistake #1 – Expecting what you haven’t taught

This may surprise you, but if you don’t intentionally teach your dog to do something, how can you expect him to do it? And how can you expect him to do it under different circumstances? If you never actually taught your dog to “come”, is he just following the cue because he heard your keys? Or because you grabbed the leash and he knows he’s going outside? If so, he isn’t listening to the cue “come” he see the leash and hears your keys. Can you even wrinkled the treat bag to get your dog to come inside??  We’ve all done that before, but your dog isn’t responding to the word “come” he’s responding to the OTHER cues, like the leash, the keys or the sound (wrinkling the treat bag) which predicts a tasty piece of food that he likes. 

Also, dogs don’t generalize what they learn. Unlike humans, who go to school and learn math, and are able to retain that “2+2=4” no matter where you are, dogs cannot do the same. So, you need to teach him in different locations: your house, outside, at the park, in the store, and anywhere else you expect him to follow the command. 

Mistake #2 – Associating command with something your dog “hates”

Do you know what your dog “hates” or largely dislikes? Let say for example, that your dog hates the car or to go in his crate. If you say “come” when trying to get your dog in the crate, or he does come to you once, and then you put him in the crate, you just poisened your come cue. You just taught your dog that when he does come, something unpleasant (in his mind) will happen. Over time, and sometimes it only takes twice, but your dog will learn that the word COME mean something unpleasant will happen. It’s like that saying, fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice same on you. You won’t fool your dog for long.  

Mistake #3 – Leaving the Fun

Our fur children are just like little kids, they don’t want the fun to end. So, when they are running off-leash at the park or on the beach, the last thing they want to do is come to you when you’re holding the leash and trying to take them away from the fun. 

In this episode of the Naughty Dog Podcast, I’ll teach you one quick trick to get your pup to listen despite ending the fun. But, I don’t want to give all my secrets away here. Tune in to find out more.

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EPISODE BREAKDOWN

5:10  – 9:30 –  Mistake #1 – Expecting what you haven’t taught

9:45 – 14:00 – Mistake #2 – Associating command with something your dog “hates”

14:30 – 16:00 –  Mistake #3 – Leaving the Fun

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