Owning a dog is one of life’s greatest pleasures, but training your furry friend can be as challenging as it is rewarding.
From mastering basic commands like sit and lie down to the excitement of playing fetch, there’s immense satisfaction in training successes. Among these, recall is paramount – a well-trained dog heeding a return call is essential for safety.
Dog training guru Sam Hoke understands this perfectly and has taken to TikTok to offer his golden advice to fellow pet owners. Showcasing his Labrador Mo’s flawless recall, Sam shared his top tips.
He said: “Have you ever called your dog and they completely ignored you or ran away? There’s a cure for that,” he declares at the start of the video, revealing the secret to perfect recall. It’s the cornerstone of success, according to him.
He added: “Step one – stop calling your dog when you have nothing to offer.” It’s all about making every recall an irresistible event.
“Think about it like this, if your friends text you every day and nine times out of ten it’s to complain, how long until you stop responding?” he continued.
The same goes for your dog, so stop sending your dog complaining texts. “When you call them, it should be worth their while,” Sam continued. His strategy is simple – call over Mo occasionally just to lavish him with treats or praise, not only for obedience.
Sam said: “This builds a positive association with coming when called. I’m building up the habit in places that matter, like the park.”
However, he notes that this method alone may not always suffice. To ensure Mo responds promptly to recall, Sam stressed the importance of regular practice, even when Mo is distracted.
“When Mo isn’t paying attention, either Lia or I call him over, but watch how we don’t move towards him,” he explained in the tutorial video. “We move backwards, triggering his natural instinct to chase. And when he comes to us, boom, we reward him.”
Additionally, when Mo responds correctly, they make a point of touching his collar before giving a treat, teaching him that a collar grab doesn’t always mean playtime is over.
Sam concluded: “So be the friend your dog wants to come to, the one who calls them over for treats and fun. Not the one who’s always dragging them out of the park and complaining.”