Wheaton Snow
We have had a very mild winter in New York with some days almost reaching 60 degrees. Last week, however, the feels-like temperature was down in the single digits. Of course, that is the day I am sitting at my computer and see something out of the corner of my eye moving in my yard. I think it’s a cat or rabbit, but realize it is too large to be either of those. As I am typing I remembered that it was the color of my neighbor’s Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier, Taffy.
So I take a peak out the window to see if they are around hoping I don’t have to go out at 7:00 a.m. to get the dog. The house is locked up tight with nobody in sight. I throw on my robe, grab a handful of yummy treats and head out to get Taffy and that is when my subfreezing adventure began. I wandered the neighborhood calling her hoping she’ll come to me. A few minutes later she trots across the yard on the other side of the street. I call her and she stops and looks at me. I call again and start running away from her. She begins to chase me and gets close, but not close enough. As I reach for her she darts the other way. We played this for 10 minutes with me hoping I might be able to grab her so she would be safe. Taffy and I are finally in my neighbor’s yard and I knock on the door – where is my cell phone when I need one? While knocking I see a big truck coming down the street. Trying to get Taffy was out of the question so I did the only thing I could do – control the truck. By then my neighbor came out and we herded Taffy inside.
Puppies Running
Taffy knows me – what is the problem? Taffy had never learned a recall on command. “Come” or “Here” is the most important thing you can teach your dog but for Taffy and many other dogs it is a game. Give the command, she moves toward you and as you begin to move toward her the game is on! Teaching a recall is actually quite easy – maintaining the recall is where most people have difficulty. A recall is a conditioned response to something visual (seeing something) or audible (hearing something). When the dog hears a particular sound it has learned that something will follow. Here is an example of conditioning a recall:
- Start in a room with very few distractions
- Blow a whistle three short, not-too-loud toots.
- As the puppy is turns its head toward you praise the puppy and give it a really tasty piece of porkchop or something equally yummy.
- Repeat this five times.
- Repeat this process three times a day for two days
- Go into another room and repeat for another two days
- As the puppy is moving toward you with commitment you praise the puppy and only then will you put your hand in your pocket to reach for the expected treat. You want to avoid the cue becoming the visual cue of you putting your hand in your pocket.
- Move into yet another room and repeat for a day or two
- add distraction when the puppy is responding well by quickly turning and running toward you
- add different locations and distractions while always trying to not make it too hard for the puppy to be successful
Distractions are anything that might be of interest to the puppy: a basket on the floor, another dog in the room, another person in the room, a piece of paper on the floor. Once your puppy comes running when it hears the whistle you have a trained recall. You should continue to add distractions and distance to continue solidifying your puppy’s recall.
Where does it go wrong?
Intention: Most people don’t carry a whistle on them at all times. In the scenario above when you make a decision to call your dog you have to put the whistle in your mouth. Blowing the whistle is intentional. When people use a word as their recall they use their recall word all the time without thought. Remember the puppy has an expectation of something following the sound (cue/command) and when they learn that it doesn’t they stop responding.
Most puppies are called by their breeders using a phrase like “puppy, puppy, puppy”. If the breeder does this well the puppies come running. Now you get your puppy home and she is just a few feet away facing the other direction and you want her to turn around. You say “puppy, puppy, puppy” and the puppy turns around. This was not an intentional “recall” but you used the sound that had the expectation attached to it. If you do not reward the response, and most people don’t, over time they will learn that nothing happens after the sound and will stop responding. That does not mean you have to give a treat every time you call your puppy for the rest of its life but during those critical first few months with you, while you are conditioning it, you do. As the puppy gets older and the response is solid you can give a treat randomly the expectation will still be there.
How good is your dog’s recall? This is not just used for puppies since you can teach an old dog new tricks. When conditioning a recall for an older dog you will need to use a sound that does not already have an expectation attached to it. If you call your dog now saying “come” try using a new word like “pronto”. If you don’t have a phenomenal recall on your dog, try it. Pick a new sound and condition it. You cannot hurry the process since conditioning takes a little time, but you will be amazed at how quickly they learn. I’d love to hear how it goes!
My next blog will be about another common mistake people make which destroys their dog’s recall. I hope you’ll look for it and please share this with anyone you know whose dogs have taught their people how to play the chase game.