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Teaching Recall


Guest Zizi

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How does one teach recall to a Velcro hound? Jerzi is never at any distance from me to train this. My only time at being able to do it is when she goes off in the yard to do her business after she is done I will tell her to come. Problem being is the yard is a very very small area. So there truly is not much distance between us.

 

Is this enough for her to learn it? And than do it if she was ever far away from me? She does come when I do it in the yard with her now. Any insight on training would be great.

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Guest Doggone

Autumn is similarly inclined to be by my side. The only time she ventures away would be to go out to my tiny backyard, attend to "business", and then come immediately back inside. I don't have a doggie door, so I'm always either out there with her or by the door. On walks, she shows no desire to venture away; other dogs, squirrels, cats, deer etc. are only interesting enough for her to stop, watch for a while, and then proceed with our walk.

I've also wondered how I could possibly know if her recall would be effective in an emergency; in the house, in the yard, if I call her, she immediately responds, but so far, we've never ventured anyplace else where she'd be off-leash.

For now, I just stay extra vigilant in transfers from my car (car harness to leash and visa versa, but never unattached), and alert to any change in her behavior on walks. She seems pretty much indifferent to any type of distraction, and also indifferent to learning new things, which works out well since she's not food-motivated at all.

Eventually, Jerzi may show signs of interest in leaving your side and that'd be an opportunity to teach her "recall", but I know exactly the dilemma of trying to teach it to a dog that doesn't GO anywhere far enough to come back :D. Good luck :).

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Guest Mad4greys

How does one teach recall to a Velcro hound? Jerzi is never at any distance from me to train this. My only time at being able to do it is when she goes off in the yard to do her business after she is done I will tell her to come. Problem being is the yard is a very very small area. So there truly is not much distance between us.

 

Is this enough for her to learn it? And than do it if she was ever far away from me? She does come when I do it in the yard with her now. Any insight on training would be great.

Zizi, I've been wondering the same thing. My grey, Gatsby, is always with me in the apartment (not like it's super big anyway ha!) and is great on walks, but he was rather hit-or-miss when I would call him at the dog park.

 

Jennifer of Never Say Never Greyhounds fame describes a great way for teaching recall. The cool thing is you start this training while still on-leash. Here's a link to her approach: http://www.neversaynevergreyhounds.net/come.html

 

Thanks for the link!

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start in the house, once she gets it- and is rewarded generously for her efficent come, go to the yard(fenced in) and work it there. then start working it for her return to the house- always use a high quality treat- maybe cheddar or mozzarella cheese- big blocks are pretty reasonably priced at costco. save the marshmallows and twinkies or liver for modifying behavior on walks. eventually it will sink in and you will have one HAPPY hound running up to you. once it's perfected, then a fenced in public place. i always add in holding onto the collar when i teach recalls. that's what you want to do in an emergency situation.

 

some how i dropped annie's leash- i though dh had it- he didn't (duh...)- well annie turned the corner to proceed w/ her walk. i did my happy recall voice and in a second she was sitting infront of me. this happened shortly after we adopted her- but we start stay and recalls as soon as they walk into our house.

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The standard recall training techniques such as mentioned above are a good starting point. What I have noticed with a number of Greyhounds is that they understand recall but sometimes they only come when they are ready. If your Grey should get away from you and is not responding, it is not a reason to panic. Just walk over and clip on the leash.

 

Some of you will need a huge fenced area to test this but another great technique that I use every day is to call and then walk off briskly in the other direction. If your dog trots after you, reward it thoroughly. If it doesn’t follow you don’t ever let it off leash! Another thing to watch is that when the dog is off leash and gaining distance in front of you, does it stop and look back to check your location.

 

For those of you with good off-leash opportunities, be aware that over time even some Velcro dogs will build enough confidence to establish a fairly significant zone in which they will stray. Right now Hester will stray as far 50 feet either lagging behind or occasionally rushing ahead. When you get into this situation I recommend not using recall unless you really need it. It is just my theory but I worry that overuse of recall could result in a loss of importance to the dog and response may become less automatic. I know this is counter to some training prinicples but it seems to work for us. And of course never, ever have any sternness or anger in your voice.

 

In the same vein I never use Hester’s name accept in an important recall situation. Now, when he does hear his name his head instantly snaps around and he is immediately by my side. These methods have worked well for us and so far in over a year we have not had a failed recall.

 

I posted this video before – note the response to the gentle mention of his name at the 46 second mark.

 

Edited by KickReturn
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The standard recall training techniques such as mentioned above are a good starting point. What I have noticed with a number of Greyhounds is that they understand recall but sometimes they only come when they are ready. If your Grey should get away from you and is not responding, it is not a reason to panic. Just walk over and clip on the leash.

 

Some of you will need a huge fenced area to test this but another great technique that I use every day is to call and then walk off briskly in the other direction. If your dog trots after you, reward it thoroughly. If it doesn’t follow you don’t ever let it off leash! Another thing to watch is that when the dog is off leash and gaining distance in front of you, does it stop and look back to check your location.

 

For those of you with good off-leash opportunities, be aware that over time even some Velcro dogs will build enough confidence to establish a fairly significant zone in which they will stray. Right now Hester will stray as far 50 feet either lagging behind or occasionally rushing ahead. When you get into this situation I recommend not using recall unless you really need it. It is just my theory but I worry that overuse of recall could result in a loss of importance to the dog and response may become less automatic. I know this is counter to some training prinicples but it seems to work for us. And of course never, ever have any sternness or anger in your voice.

 

In the same vein I never use Hester’s name accept in an important recall situation. Now, when he does hear his name his head instantly snaps around and he is immediately by my side. These methods have worked well for us and so far in over a year we have not had a failed recall.

 

I posted this video before – note the response to the gentle mention of his name at the 46 second mark.

 

Oh my god that is amazing, that deer had a lot of interest in Hester I see. Such a great video. Thanks for your advice and sharing video!

 

 

 

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