The majority of dogs who come through the Outsmarting Dogs’ board-and-train program need a recall behavior installed into their behavior repertoire. The owners of these pups often tell me how their dogs take off for fun and games when they’re called instead of obeying the cue and coming when called.
Playing the chase-me game is great fun and very rewarding for the dog, but most owners are not amused when the game is out of context. We’re living in a by-the-clock world, and most often we have somewhere to go or something to do that’s time sensitive. So having a dog or puppy come when called is an extremely valuable tool. Not only for the benefit of time sensitivity, but for emergencies of all kinds. Coming when called is a top, if not the top, cue a dog should respond to,
There’s a first time for everything, and I fortunately had my camera out during this board-and-train pup’s first chase-me choice. I had done a group recall into the house, and would then go in behind the dogs to start breakfast, preparing the training food and lessons, and so on. It’s the Outsmarting Dogs’ routine, and Cameron the Cockapoo pup had been following along every morning for the 25 days he’d been with us. The timing of his deviation was very good because he had had that many days of practicing the recall. It was time to test the reliability of the behavior.
I took a moment to set up the recall to be more assured of the desired outcome – that Cameron would come when I called him. I want my board-and-trains to succeed after all. There was no chasing him, no bargaining, no repeating the “come” cue ad nauseam. I’d cued him exactly as I had, repetitively and successfully, for the past three weeks. It was fun, which is how dog training and maintaining dog training cues should be. Gamelike. Fun for both owner and dog.
Cameron On The Run from Helen Verte Schwarzmann, CTC on Vimeo.
This is an example of outsmarting dogs. Cameron made his move. How I responded gave him information on me as the human in his life and how well he could play me. Anyone who’s every lived with a dog knows that dogs train people as well as vice versa. And these are the moments that determine who’s doing the training and how future similar moments will play out.
There was no force, no intimidation, no pain training Cameron. Just fun and games and Cameron responded appropriately. That is how to outsmart a dog!
Playing the chase-me game has its place. After all, everyone should get to play games or sports that they love including our dogs. But there’s a time and place for everything, and when we call our dogs, that is the time for them to come to us, not to run away, even though that sparkle in their eyes is ridiculously cute.
Habits become established, but they can be changed. If your dog ignores your recall cue, contact Outsmarting Dogs for help.
Helen Verte Schwarzmann
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Certified in Training and Counseling
Certified Pet Dog Trainer-Knowledge Assessed
Certified Trick Dog Instructor
AKC Canine Good Citizen/CGC and STAR Puppy Trainer and Evaluator
Your Board-and-Train Dog Trainer for Fort Myers, Lee county, Naples, Collier county, and southwest Florida
