Fool Proof Recall

No other command training is quite as important as the recall or "come" command. If your dog darts out the door heading towards a busy road, you want to have the control to tell your dog "come" and have them immediately stop and come running back to you. It can literally be the difference between life and death.  Start training the "come" command as soon as possible, making it the most rewarding experience for your dog.  The 3 things to remember are 1) Don't ever call your dog to come and then punish them.  No matter how upset you are that your dog just chewed your $100 shoes, do not call them to come and then yell or punish them.  Your dog will just learn that coming is not a very pleasant experience.  2) Don't ever call your dog to come to you to take away their fun.  Say your dog is playing in the backyard or at the dog park and you call him to come because it is time to go.  You are taking him away from all the fun he was just having.  Instead, practice calling him to come, give him a treat, and let him go back to playing.   Repeat this over and over, so that 9 times out of 10, "come" means he gets a treat and then gets to go back to playing.  As long as the majority of the time it doesn't end the fun, he will more likely listen to the "come" command.  3)  Don't ever call your dog to come if you can't enforce it. This is very important as you are proofing the behaviour.  Keep your dog on a long line/leash and if he doesn't come when you call him, use the leash to reel him in.  Still give him a reward, maybe not the jackpot reward that he would have gotten if he came to you on his own, but still give him a reward.  You don't want your dog learning that he can choose not to come to you if something more exciting is going on.  Don't forget to praise, praise, praise your dog when he comes to you. Reserve a jackpot treat for the come command. Make sure he only gets this jackpot or favourite treat of his when he hears that magic word "come".  Any other command training that you do with your dog will still get a reward, but this special treat is only given with the "come" command.  If you follow these tips, you will have a reliable "come" command when you need it the most.