Teaching the recall... this video is more an overview than anything. I feel like I left out a lot of stuff but that's kinda what happens when I try to do something off the cuff unscripted so I'm going to write a more detailed explanation here on this post.
1) Labeling Behavior. Really, in any method of training a dog you are initially just labeling a behavior. What the behavior is and how, when, or why the dog is offering the behavior varies. Sometimes they are behaviors that come natural and other times we are labeling a behavior we create. So in the first clip I show you, this is just capitalizing on a little pup's natural behavior. A baby puppy when you take it away from it's siblings and familiar surroundings will gravitate to the first recognizably safe thing around, which should be you. Walk away and puppy will follow, stop and puppy will stop. You can capitalize on these behaviors and give them labels. Watch for the pup to be running straight to you, when you are sure he is going to you then you say the words. Be careful not to label the wrong behavior! You'd be surprised at how quick these labels become actual commands. If you want more information and a detailed explanation of teaching your pup with these methods Tony McCallum has a DVD that is well worth buying mccallumk9.com/...
2) Treats. These can be a good low stress method of introducing a behavior to a pup. You can use treats to lure a pup into doing something, like laying down, and then you label that behavior as in the previous explanation. Like I say in the video, treats work great as long as the dog values the treat more than whatever other interesting things are around so you will still have to do proofing to insist that the dog listen even under distractions and livestock are very distracting.
3) The Rope. A rope or long line is a handy tool and I use one quite a bit at various stages during a dog's training. Using a rope I can place them where I want them and keep them from getting away. John here actually has a good recall (off of stock) he learned via the puppy labeling method but he thinks the rope is awful so I thought he would be a good example of reinforcing a behavior and showing you some of the avoidance that can happen. It's really hard to see in this video how I am spinning to keep him coming toward the front of me, I also back up to encourage the pup to come forward as for some pups it can be difficult to come straight into handler pressure. It's important when teaching a recall that they come straight to you, a little bit of avoidance with no distractions can turn into a whole lot of avoidance otherwise.
Don't set your pup up in situations where they can avoid or get away from you, there is no sense giving them a recall command if you have no way to enforce it, you are just teaching them the words don't mean anything. I use their name until I'm sure that I'm in a position to where the recall will mean something. I use a rope but some people use a small pen or enclosed space where the pup can't get away. Either way this is about pressure and release, you don't want to just drag the pup to you like reeling in a fish, you have to finagle things so the pup chooses to come to you to release the pressure and then you label that behavior.
4) Down, Distractions, and Corrections. When I teach a recall I will often work on down at the same time. This gives me the chance to place them and then recall them. They also learn about staying put while you're moving around. Fancy here knows what down is but she isn't real good at staying there with distractions, in this case me talking is a big distraction. Livestock is another big distraction and on a dog where they want to ignore or avoid me on stock I will put them on a rope, or work in a small pen, and take away their option to do so. Notice that on her I give verbal and physical corrections for her disobedience. Once a dog understands a concept, then you can correct them for disobeying, you can't correct a dog if they can't understand what they're being corrected for.
It's important to note that the order is: command, verbal correction, physical correction. You want a dog to respond to the command and they need to know they will get an escalating correction if not. They need to know that you will back up your words. Some dogs are softer or more people oriented than others and a verbal correction may suffice, others need more. You'll need to gauge your dog and train accordingly. The correction has to be fair and the dog has to be given a clear way to make the correction stop. If a dog is sluggish to respond you can shorten up the time between corrections even to the point of giving verbal and physical at the same time (in this case a jerk on the rope). But always begin with the staggered order first, you need to make sure the dog understands what you want and this is an important line of communication that you will use in all aspects of training.
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