Teach your dog properly and no “emergency” recall needed, Modesto pet trainer says

Linda writes that during her search for a dog trainer in her area, she came across information about teaching an “emergency recall,” and wonders how this differs from a regular recall.

In a word, Linda, it doesn’t. Various dog training businesses and websites list an emergency recall as a specially trained command to guarantee your dog comes in the event of an emergency. This is a recently new buzz term meant to grab the attention of the consumer.

The premise is that if you’ve taught your dog a regular recall (“Come!”), and your dog responds to it only some of the time, then in addition, you need to teach this other thing.

In my opinion, if you’ve taught a successful recall, and maintain it with regular practice in a variety of environments, with top level rewards given each and every time your dog comes to you when called, then you have done everything possible to create a reliable response in your dog to the “Come” cue.

Most trainers who teach an emergency recall are really just pairing a unique word combination with a high level reward. If you yell “cookies!” and your dog comes running, you already have what is described as an emergency recall. You’ve done the training without even realizing it!

The idea of needing to teach an emergency recall is a response to dog owners unknowingly ruining what once started out as a perfectly good “Come!” cue. We trainers know that in order to keep learned behaviors strong, we must reinforce them. This is particularly important with the recall. And quite frankly, it is a rarity to have a dog owner truly get that concept. Dog owners expect their dogs to respond to cues consistently, but often fail to be consistent about reinforcement or rewards.

Another common mistake: Owners call their dog to come, when they really want him to do something else. An example is using the come cue to imply other things, like walking with you, jumping up into your lap, or moving in or out a gate or door. When we use one cue (it’s just a specific sound to the dog) to mean a variety of things, the dog becomes confused about what you really are asking, so begins to ignore that cue. This is described as a poisoned cue.

If you teach your dog to sit, and over time fail to reinforce it, the response to your sit cue can become weak. Dogs are reliable at repeating behaviors that benefit them, so if over time the dog finds there is no benefit to responding to your sit cue, the dog’s response will become slower or the cue will be ignored altogether. This may not be considered a big deal when talking about the sit cue, but it becomes much more important when it is applied to the come cue.

I describe the recall as being an expensive as well as valuable behavior. Expensive meaning that you do have to put a lot into it in order to get the results you want, and valuable meaning it’s a cue you will often use and it may be a potential lifesaver when used to call a dog away from danger.

If you already have a well trained “Come” behavior, your job is simply to routinely practice and reinforce it to keep it strong and reliable when you really need it. This means that at least a few times a week, put your dog in the position of being in a safe environment and give him an opportunity to become interested in something other than you. You can back up or simply wait for him to get some distance from you before calling him in an enthusiastic tone of voice. To encourage a faster response and more speed in heading your way, turn and run away from him as he’s coming to you. When he gets to you, lots and lots of praise combined with a super high-in-value reward is in order. A lively game of tug, some hand play and praise or some tasty treats. In other words, leave him with the impression that coming to you when called is always the best choice, because it offers the opportunity to receive what the dog perceives as the best reward on the planet.

If you don’t feel like you’ve got a reliable recall yet, choose a trainer who will show you how to positively and accurately teach your dog to come to you when called, by teaching you to consistently reinforce and reward that desired behavior. Use whatever cue you decide on to mean only one thing – “come to me and get a great big exciting reward, each and every time!”

Lisa Moore’s pet-behavior column appears once a month on the Pet Page. Write to her in care of LifeStyles, The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352.

This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 8:26 AM with the headline "Teach your dog properly and no “emergency” recall needed, Modesto pet trainer says."