What to do if a dog ignores recall?
Mariano Casper
2025-06-02 08:45:27
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: 12
If your pooch keeps darting off when you call them, stick with training on a long lead attached to a harness, and only let them off-lead in secure areas.
Only let your dog off their lead in open spaces when you’re confident they’ll come back when called.
If you aren’t seeing an improvement with your dog’s training, you may wish to contact a qualified trainer or behaviourist to help.
You need to teach your dog that coming back to you is always a good thing, and will result in tasty snacks, a fuss, or whatever reward they like best.
Always ensure your dog is wearing a collar and ID tag at all times in public and that microchip details are kept up-to-date.
If you find your dogs recall isn't quite where is should be, it might be worth enrolling in some dog training lessons.
Our Dogs Trust Dog Schools give practical training to help you and your pooch understand each other better.
Ned Mertz
2025-05-20 03:42:38
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: 12
Don't try to eradicate your dog’s chase drive in any way, it’s an instinctual urge that’s part of who they are. Instead, use your dog's prey drive to your advantage. Choose a chaser tug toy that will tap in to (and fully satisfy) your dog's urge to chase - and make running to you for a game of tug far more appealing than the nearest squirrel. If your dog loves following its nose, it means they find strong smells very rewarding. To compete with this, and make yourself more exciting than your environment, you need a ‘smelly’ reward. Our rabbit skin and sheepskin toys have a natural scent and texture that most dogs find incredibly motivating - they're great for both scentwork games and for recall.
Be sure to build value into your tuggy at home before using it on walks - and keep it as a high value recall reward. You can also try a food toy which you can stuff with strong-smelling treats that your dog can happily sniff out and return for.
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