Guest Post: The Importance of the Dog Recall

Out of all the commands in a dog owner’s repertoire, the most important is by far the recall command.  It does not matter what word is actually used but “come” and “here” are the two most prevalent. What does matter is that your dog begins to immediately and without fail return to you in the most expedient route possible.

There is a variety of different ways to train the recall which will be discussed further in a follow-on article.  This article is meant solely to stress the importance of the perfected recall. Perfected recall means that regardless of reasonable distance and distractions your dog returns without fail.  If your dog is not up to this level, then below, are some reasons that will open your eyes as to why it should immediately become the focal point of all your training sessions:

Dog Emergencies

Realistically anything that occurs unexpectedly and represents a threat to your dog would fall into this category: cars coming from seemingly nowhere, children running around corners, other very aggressive dogs suddenly appearing.  Also an untrained dog is much more inclined to run off leaving you desperately chasing your dog down the street (which only makes the situation worse).  You name it – if it is unexpected – and it represents an immediate threat to your dog’s life you must be sure he or she will return instantly.  Thinking it “can’t happen” or “won’t happen” is simply tempting fate and may end quite tragically. Such results can easily be prevented if the owner takes the time to conduct some basic training.

Equipment Failure

Equipment fails.  While proper preventative maintenance and care and even checking the equipment thoroughly every time prior to use (a habit I suggest every owner get into – especially with the leash and collar) will certainly help prevent this it still does happen. Solidifying the recall command to the extent to which you know that your dog will return to you, even if equipment were to fail at the most inopportune time, ensures you will at least be able to gain immediate control of your dog and proceed accordingly.

An example of this happening to me occurred in Fallujah, Iraq in 2007 and could have ended terribly had I not taken the time to build the required rapport and well defined recall command.  While conducting a dismounted patrol in the heart of the city, a decent sized group of children was waving at our patrol.  One of the children started to approach me and my dog (a fully trained and very aggressive bitework dog) and looked as though she was going to try to pet my dog.  Of course, I was waving frantically at her telling her to get away from my dog, who by this point is snarling and barking.  She continued forward to about a 10-foot distance when the clasp on the leash unhooked from the choke chain and my dog took off at a full sprint towards the child.  I instantly screamed my recall command and my dog returned, without hesitation, to my side.  Learn from my lessons: prepare for the unexpected and don’t count on anything to save you and your dog besides that verbal recall.

Handler/Owner Error

You left the door open by accident.  Forgot to latch the kennel.  Didn’t realize the garage was still open.  Or the children didn’t latch the backyard gate after bringing in the trash cans.  We all make mistakes; the important part is recognizing that when those mistakes are made, your dog is not taking off to the races never to come back.  Simply put, your anxiety of not knowing if your dog will ultimately come back can easily be alleviated by making the recall command a priority in your daily training sessions.

Off-Leash

I train every dog up to the off-leash standard, it’s that simple.  I know some people feel strongly against the idea of dogs being off-leash and they believe that dogs should be on-leash at all times.  Personally, it is a pleasure to have a dog off-leash and have full confidence in knowing it will listen to my every command and not represent a threat to anyone else or any other dogs.  If you are likeminded to my thoughts of it being much more simple and pleasurable to have your dog off-leash you do not have a choice – first and foremost you better be sure that recall command is perfected.  Period.  End of discussion.  Until it is, then do yourself, your dog, and your community a favor and keep the dog on-leash.

Exceptions

There is one exception to the recall and that is when your dog is already involved in a dogfight.  You will never get your dog to come back to you with a simple recall command while actively engaged in a dogfight.  In a perfect world, you will be able to recall your dog before it ever gets to that point – preventing the dogfight entirely – but “life” happens.  Off-leash you got distracted for a minute and look up to see your dog in a dog fight already, another dog appears from seemingly nowhere, or attacks your dog right next to you.  Whatever the reason of the dogfight one thing is for certain – the recall isn’t going to knock that dog out of drive and you need to properly break up that dog fight immediately and without even attempting to use the recall command.

In closing, the recall is the most important command because ultimately it is the only one that matters if your dog’s life is on the line.  Forget sit, down, or stay (all great commands indeed) -- but being able to get your dog back to you 10 out of 10 times from 50 yards away or more as an unexpected threat or situation arises regardless of the level of “noise” or distractions present is a must.   Never count on your leash, never count on your collar, never count on what I hear all the time – “oh yeah, he usually comes back”.  Provided you do this and value your dog’s life and your emotional sanity, make sure you perfect this command. Knowing you have full confidence that your dog will return regardless of the situation will in itself relieve a lot of anxiety that can arise from everything from taking your dog outside for a break to that life-or-death unexpected situation.

About the Author

TJ is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Trainer of San Diego K9 Training Inc., a dog training company serving all of San Diego County.  TJ is a certified trainer and handler through the Department of Defense and served five years in the United States Marine Corps where he held billets ranging from explosives and narcotics dog handler to Chief Trainer.  TJ has successfully trained hundreds of dogs in the private sector for everything ranging from basic obedience to advanced behavioral modification to full-fledged personal protection work.