The Recall Activity Guide: Using Your Recall Cue in Real Life

Here some important things to think about as you decide how and when to use your recall cue outside of training sessions.

Welcome back to our Recall Guide series.

In the previous section, we covered Building Attention and Engagement on Walks. While there is a lot of recall progress to be made in training session, there’s still plenty of progress you can make by adding little moments into your existing walks.

Now we are going to cover using your recall cue in real life and how to avoid wrecking all the work you’ve put in - lol.

So you’re ready to use your recall “out in the wild” when you actually need your dog to come to you. One of the most important things about building a strong recall is your ability to read your dog’s conditions and make decisions about when to use your recall cue (and when not to). If I am not pretty darn sure that a dog will come when I call, I use more informal recall cues (an excited “this way,” “let’s keep moving” or kissy noise/clapping etc.). You want your dog to rehearse coming to you when you call them (not walking the other direction), so you have to be thoughtful. Here are some things to think about as you decide how to use your recall cue outside of training sessions: