Teaching your dog to come back when called
A good recall rests on a single promise: coming back is always worth it. You pick one word, you reward every return generously, and you start indoors, then head outside on a long line for safety. Never by force: your dog has to want to come.
Why your dog doesn't come back
When your dog doesn't come back, it's almost never disobedience. Every recall cuts short something enjoyable: a scent, a run, a mate. You won't always be more interesting than all that, and that's perfectly normal. What really counts is the story your dog carries about recall: if coming back has already paid off (a game, a treat, freedom regained), he comes; if coming back has cost him his walk or earned him a telling-off, he learns to avoid you. Forcing the return or correcting with a jerk of the lead only poisons the word. Out in the field, controlled trials confirm it: a recall built on reward matches or beats fear-based methods, without their emotional cost (China, Mills & Cooper 2020; Ziv 2017).
Your dog's name isn't a recall word: it's there to grab his attention ('Rex!'), then comes the cue ('come here'). Pick one single recall word and keep it for life. Pile up 'come', 'here', 'get over here' depending on your mood, and your dog no longer has a clue what you mean.
Building recall, one step at a time
We climb one step at a time, never making more than one thing harder at once: distance, distraction or duration, never all three together.
The word triggers a happy return, no hesitation.
- Crouch down 3 to 4 metres away, show the treat, say the word just once.
- Mark the moment he sets off with a 'yes!', then reward him on arrival.
- With two of you, take turns calling him, moving to a new spot each time.
Move on when: Five clean returns out of five before going outside.
He comes back despite the smells and the new surroundings.
- Same exercise in a quiet outdoor spot, a 5 to 10 m long line lying on the ground for safety.
- If he doesn't come, don't repeat yourself: move closer, walk backwards, make yourself easy to follow, then reward the return.
Move on when: A reliable return in a low-distraction spot.
He pulls away from a temptation to come back to you.
- One person holds a temptation (a toy, a treat) without giving it up; you call him back.
- Reward the return, then sometimes send him off to fetch the temptation: obeying doesn't mean losing everything.
Move on when: He gives it up on his own, without you holding the line.
Recall becomes a game of reunion.
- Hide behind a tree and call: he tracks you down by scent and by ear.
- Stretch the distance in an open space, ideally with two of you.
Move on when: He comes back from far away, even without seeing you.
You can let him off with confidence wherever it's allowed.
- Shorten, then remove the long line in your safe, familiar spots.
- Keep recall rare and meaningful: a few genuine recalls per walk, not a word repeated on a loop.
Move on when: A solid recall, kept up by natural following.
The long line isn't a correction tool, it's a safety net: it stops your dog rewarding himself by bolting off while the recall is still being built. Always leave some slack, never a jerk. On a fast or powerful dog, clip it to a harness rather than the collar, to protect his neck. It's a training tool, not a way of life.
When it stalls: finding the real cause
A failing recall doesn't have just one cause. Find the right one before grinding away at the exercise: very often, the 'recall problem' lies elsewhere.
He turns a deaf ear
- A common cause: you call too often. A word repeated with nothing behind it wears out, and the dog ends up 'switching off' (Skinner 1938).
- Call rarely and mean it. The rest of the time, rely on natural following: a dog who keeps an eye on you of his own accord doesn't need to be called.
He only comes back when there's nothing interesting around
- That's normal: recall competes with the pleasure of the moment.
- Lower the difficulty (move closer, wait for a calm moment), raise the value of the reward, and go back to the long line while you consolidate.
He charges at a dog, a jogger or wildlife
- Here the problem isn't recall, it's reactivity or predation.
- That's worked on separately (working on emotions, distance, suitable outlets), often with a trainer or a behaviourist. Grinding away at recall in this case is counterproductive.
He used to come back well, and suddenly he doesn't
- In an adolescent (often between 6 and 18 months depending on size), recall goes backwards: it's a phase, not defiance.
- Put the long line back on for two to three weeks, go back to easy work first then add difficulty little by little, and above all don't harden your tone.
There's no magic timeframe. Think in weeks of short, regular repetitions (a few minutes, several times a week), not one big marathon session. And a recall is maintained for life: adolescence, above all, reshuffles the deck and often calls for a little return to the long line.
- AVSAB — Position statement on humane dog training (2021)
- China, Mills & Cooper — Efficacy of dog training with and without remote electronic collars vs reward-based training (2020)
- Ziv — The effects of using aversive training methods in dogs: a review (2017)
- Premack — Toward empirical behavior laws (principe de Premack) (1965)
- Skinner — The Behavior of Organisms (1938)
Frequently asked questions
How do you teach a dog to come back when called?
Pick one single word and make coming back always pay off: mark the moment he sets off with a 'yes!', reward him on arrival. You start indoors, then head outside on a long line for safety, and never by forcing the return.
How long does it take to teach a dog recall?
There's no fixed timeframe. Think in weeks of short, regular repetitions rather than in days. A recall is also maintained for life: it often goes backwards in adolescence, and a few weeks back on the long line is enough to rebuild it.
How should you call your dog so he comes?
One single word ('come here', 'come', 'here'), said once, in a cheerful, welcoming tone, never stern. Crouch down, open your arms and reward the return. The name alone isn't enough: it grabs attention, it's the cue that triggers the return.
My dog won't come back when I call, what should I do?
First, don't chase him and don't shout, it drives him further away. Go back to the long line, lower the difficulty and raise the value of the reward. If he mainly ignores recall in front of a dog or a prey animal, it's reactivity or predation: that's worked on separately, often with a professional.
Which word should you choose for recall?
Whichever you like ('come here', 'come', 'here'), as long as it stays always the same and isn't the dog's name. Don't swap it depending on your mood: one steady word, rewarded on every return, beats ten words that sow confusion.
How can you let your dog off the lead safely?
Only when the recall is really solid, where it's allowed and safe. In the meantime, the long line lets you give him freedom without the risk. Work on natural following too: a dog who keeps an eye on you of his own accord wanders off far less.