Recalling the Mistakes

Learning to recall to the down/stay is a lot more challenging than to the cot because there is no obvious target for the dog to aim for until we teach her that the target spot is directly in front of the handler’s toes.In most cases the very first attempts to recall to the down/stay result in the dog running past me because she doesn’t know where to aim. In videos you’ll see me turn, back up and repeat the recall several times until the dog finds that optimal spot in front of me when you’ll hear me ask her for the ‘down’.

Using your body as a magnet...

When dogs are learning to recall or being introduced to a new object or dog bed or working in a new environment, they often need a bit of extra help to get the job done! The most common instinct in this situation is to chase after the dog and try to corral her, which would actually push the dog further away. What we want to do instead is move backward and away from the dog while drawing her back towards us as we also add some remote collar guidance and some encouragement to attract her back to me and into her Down command... like a magnet!