Recall: Increasing the Criteria
TOOLS:
- Clicker
- Treats
- Treat pouch
TRAINING ENVIRONMENT: Start in the least distracting (most boring) place in your home.
RECOMMENDED TREAT POSITION: Throw a party in place
STEPS:
- You’ve been calling from six feet away and throwing a party. Extend that to ten feet or across the room from your dog. Practice this for a few days.
- Once your dog is successful at step one, begin making it a little more difficult by stepping PARTIALLY out of sight. For example, stand on the other side of a doorway with part of your body showing and part obscured by the door. Practice several times.
- Gradually move farther out of sight so your dog can see just your arm and head.
- Finally, move completely out of sight.
- Don’t forget to throw a party each time your dog comes to you!
HOMEWORK:
Practice three times a day, and throw a party every time!
TROUBLESHOOTING:
My dog won’t come.
- Try a less distracting environment.
- Are you throwing a party every time?
- Have you used your recall word outside of training? Please remember that right now this word is only to be used during training.
- Go back to the previous step and work on it for a few more days. You may have moved faster than your dog can handle.