The REAL Secret To Teaching Your Dog To Come When Called

I want to tell you how I got my now wife, Rachael, to go out with me for the first time. Rachael was working for me at the time at my dog training business.

I hatched a plan because I do not handle rejection very well and I didn't want her to think I was some creepy boss hitting on her.

I figured if she said "No," I would not get a second chance.

Here is the boiled down version:

A famous writer was coming to her old college to speak about his books and his life. Tickets were NOT cheap.

Anyway, I had the speaker's books and struck up a conversation with Rach. I told her how much I liked this guy's books and asked her if she would like to read them.

She said yes and took them home. A few days later I approached her and asked her if she liked the writer.

Luckily, she said she did and we talked about him for a few minutes.

Everyday I made it a point to talk about this writer with her.

After doing this for about a week I told her that the writer was coming to the University of Rhode Island to speak.

Now here is the dealio: I did NOT ask her to go with me. That would have been a HUGE mistake because she could have said "No" and I would have been sunk.

Right in front of her I picked up the phone and called one of my friends. I asked him if he'd like to go with me. Before he could answer I said, "Ah, that's too bad. Take care." and hung up.

I repeated the process two more times right in front of her.

After the third call I turned to Rachael and said: "Wow, I can't believe this. This great writer is going to be in our backyard, tickets are $150 apiece and no one wants to go."

Guess what Rachael said?

"I'll go with you."

BINGO, BANGO, BONGO!!!

SUCCESS!

AND THAT my friend is THE secret to teaching your dog to come when called.

Set your dog up for success. I made sure I controlled this situation in a way that put me in the best position to get the outcome I was looking for.

And you need to do this when you are teaching your dog to come when called. you need to "Set your dog up for success."

You have to build a good foundation for the recall command. Your dog has to hear the command and then race towards you. The big mistake with the recall is that in the beginning the dog hears the command "Come" and ignores the command.

The owner then runs after the dog and it becomes a game of keep away. Bad foundation.

An excellent technique to use is the "Spring Loaded Recall Exercise" which I am going to share but I wanted to start with this quick story to get you in the right frame of mind for teaching this extremely important command.

How To Teach The Spring Loaded Recall Exercise
The Spring Loaded Recall Exercise sets your dog up for success. Your dog is given only one option when you do this. The option is to come racing towards you. It is simple, effective and fun.

This exercise is done with a friend. Your friend is going to hold your dog's leash. While your friend is holding the leash you are going to go up to your dog and get him excited - REAL EXCITED!

Your dog has to be excited to the point that he wants to play with you. Once your dog is excited you run away from your dog. Run about 15 to 20 feet away. If you got your dog excited enough your friend should be struggling to hold your dog back (unless of course your dog is only 5 LBS.).

Since your dog is pulling on the leash and wants to be with you, you have now successfully set up your dog for success. You've set up the situation in your favor which has to be done - especially when you first start teaching your dog this command.

Now you are 15 feet away, your dog is on leash and pulling and wants to be with you. At this point you want to crouch down.

Crouching down makes your body language much more inviting to your dog. Body language is extremely important for dog training and this is important for teaching the recall command.

While crouching down, clearly say your dog's name and then give the command "COME!"

Your friend drops the leash the second you say "COME!" If you've done everything correctly your dog should rocket towards you. The second your dog gets to you take your dog's collar in your hand BEFORE giving a reward.

Some dogs love to do drive bys. They race to the owner and swerve right around and run away. Some dogs will come right up to the owner and as the owner reaches out the dog ducks and moves away.

Always have the collar in your hand BEFORE giving the treat. This will condition your dog to come right up to you.
This is the best way to build a SOLID foundation for the recall command. Start implementing this simple tip and you'll get much better results.