Teaching your dog to come when called is one of the most essential skills to focus on with your pup. While it may seem like an easy skill to introduce, does your dog come every single time you call them? If not, you must start working on a total dog recall training plan!
That starts with an honest assessment of your dog’s response. Does your dog come when called inside? In the yard? At the park?
If your answer differs for each location, your dog has not learned a total recall. You want to build a strong base by making a great association with their recall word, and then practice with controlled distractions set up to be as error-free as possible.
Proofing your dog’s understanding of any cue is often overlooked. Investing time and effort in training and proofing can save a dog’s life and your sanity.
Let’s review recall training techniques and share tips on making the training fun and effective.
Understanding Total Recall Training
Total recall response is a dog that responds to their recall cue even in different environments and around distractions.
That leads us to one of many people’s biggest misconceptions about dog training. That is, if a dog learns a behavior in one environment, it should be able to respond in all other contexts. So, just because a dog learns to respond to a cue in one place, it won’t automatically transfer to a different one.
Humans experience this to some extent (learning how to drive a new car or cook on a new stove can cause us to alter behavior, particularly if the skill is new), but it is more challenging for dogs to generalize. Science has an explanation: it lies in our brains. Our neocortex is more developed, making it easier for humans to adjust to new environments than our dogs. You can read more about this here.
There are things we need to do to help our dogs generalize their response around a wide range of distractions and in different locations.
The best way to train your dog to come is to make sure to include the following things in your training plan:
- Make training fun. This should include games that reinforce your dog coming to you.
- Start easy and only increase difficulty as your dog responds the way you want.
- Do base-level recall exercises in multiple environments. No matter how great your dog’s recall is at home, start with step one when you are around new distractions.
- Most importantly, you must create a consistent history of reinforcement while training in a large variety of contexts.

Common Errors in Recall Training
Before we dive deeper into training a reliable recall, let’s look at what not to do. Avoiding these mistakes will help you build a stronger recall response, so let’s examine the most common training errors I see.

What is it?
Dogs make associations by consequence. So if we call our dogs to come and we do something they don’t like (common offenders include clipping their nails or giving them a bath) they will start to avoid responding to that cue.
How to avoid poisoning the recall cue:
If you have to do something the dog doesn’t like, go to them with treats and leash them.
Ultimately, the best solution would be to change their perspective on the offending activity, but that is another series of articles!
For now, focus on making the activity as neutral as possible. And don’t use their recall word!!
Uh-oh. I may have already poisoned my recall cue!
The best news is you have realized it. Now that you know why your dog isn’t responding, you can focus on building a new, stronger recall word (such as here, return, home)
What is it?
Dogs make associations by consequence. So much like how a bad consequence can poison your cue, you want to ensure that the correct response always gets paid. And paid in a way that is meaningful to the dog. This will create faster and more reliable responses.
What if I need my dog to come and I don’t have reinforcement?
The best thing you can do is learn from your mistakes and find ways to keep treats or favorite toys on hand.
When your dog approaches you, you can try using their favorite social interaction as a reward, but I wouldn’t use that as an everyday reward.
We give our dogs attention all of the time. Coming when called is a behavior we want to be solid. So, make sure we are building a happy recall with meaningful rewards.
What is this?
This is repeating the cue without getting a response from the dog. This most often happens because people use the cue with their dogs before they take the time to fully train them.
How does that affect behavior?
When a dog hears a cue repeatedly without any follow-through, it learns that it is irrelevant to it and becomes nothing more than background noise.
How can you avoid this?
Only use the cue when you are 99% sure your dog will respond. If you don’t think your dog will approach you, go to them. Early in the training process, that might mean you approach them most of the time, but the more time you spend training, the more confident you will be using the recall cue.
What happens?
When people call their dogs and they don’t respond, they will often chase them. One of two things happens:
- The dog loves the game of chase, so you are building value to the dog for not responding.
- You act scary, so the dog becomes fearful and doesn’t trust coming near you. This makes getting away from you reinforcing and coming to you less likely.
How can you avoid this?
You must revise your training plan if your dog doesn’t respond to your cue. But in the meantime, try turning and running the other way. Does your dog start to follow? If they do, you want to add lots of reinforcement (i.e., a small handful of treats on the ground).
Common Errors in Recall Training
Now that we know what not to do, what is the best way to lay a foundation for total dog recall training?
The two most important elements to focus on when trying to start recall training are:
- Building focus with your dog. It doesn’t matter how great your recall is if you can’t get your dog’s attention.
- A history of positive associations with the recall word.
The last element often overlooked in training many behaviors is proofing. This is the key to getting reliable behavior. As mentioned earlier, dogs do not generalize well. If they learn a behavior in one environment, it doesn’t necessarily transfer to another environment.
But you can help your dog generalize by following this in order, which may vary slightly for different dogs, so you can create a list for your dog going from least distracting to most distracting:
- Teach the behavior in a low-distraction area where your dog is comfortable and spends a lot of time. This is often your kitchen or living room.
- Do short sessions in every room in your house.
- Do short sessions (with higher-value treats) outside where your dog is most often.
- Move to another area outside for a few sessions.
- Do some sessions in new, low-distraction areas (e.g., business parks on weekends or church parking lots on weekdays).
- Go to a shopping center and park at the back end of the lot for a few sessions. As your dog is successful, you can slowly get closer to more populated areas.
- Go to parks during slow times to do a few reps.
- Continue to set up training sessions in areas with more distraction as your dog is successful.
How can you determine when your dog is ready to advance to the next step in this list? I am going to introduce you to the Train-Test-Train method. This method was illustrated in a class I took at Dognostics Career Center and it is the simplest way for me to coach you without being with you.
You will simply do five reps of an exercise. You can push to the next level if the dog performs the behavior correctly at least 4 out of 5 times. If 3 out of the 5 correct reps were correct, stick to your location. If they get under 3 reps correct, you want to make the exercise easier (most likely by finding a less distracting environment or making sure you are using a meaningful reward for your dog).

Games For Building Focus
Can you compete with distractions for your dog’s attention? Distractions often trip a dog’s natural desire to hunt, alert, or chase. But these games can increase your dog’s focus on you by creating a habit when their attention is paired with things they love. This will help you build many cues more successfully, including the recall.

Start with your dog on a leash and treats in your pocket or a food pouch. It is important that the dog doesn’t see the treats or the food itself can be what cues them to look at you.
- Your dog can do whatever they want (as long as it is safe of course). When they look at you, you are going to mark with a “yes” and reach for a treat. Place it between your feet.
- Repeat.
Seriously, that’s it. This game builds value in checking in with you. Work your way through your list of environments.
This game will build on the first one, but it adds a little more action. This is an excellent game for training and serves as physical enrichment for your dog. Build this with your dog on a longline so you can increase distance while making sure your dog doesn’t run away,
- Start this game inside. Put a few treats down. As your dog sniffs and eats the treats, quickly move a foot or two away.
- When your dog looks up at you, mark that choice with a “yes” and treat your dog.
- As your dog is responding well, move even further away.
When your dog is responding well, repeat all of the steps outside. If you want a visual guide, here is a great video of a variation of this game by Happy Hound Training.
As mentioned above, we often unknowingly create poor associations with our recall word. But once we realize this, we can better build a cue that your dog will love responding to.
First, if your cue is already poisoned, training with a different word is the easiest way to build a solid cue. While “come” and “here” are the most common recall cues, other suggestions include “return” or “home.” You can use any word you will remember because your dog needs the cue to be consistent.
Then start to condition the cue = good stuff. Start simple:
- Say your cue with a treat hiding behind your back, then deliver the treat.
Important: Make sure the reward is not visible until you say the cue, or your dog will be so focused on the reward, that they probably won’t hear the cue. Repeat in multiple locations. - With your dog close by, say their cue word and wait. If your dog looks at you, mark that correct response with a “yes” and put the food between your feet. If they don’t, go back to step 1 for more reps.
- As your dog is successful, slowly add distance to the recall. Progress through different environments like you have been doing with your attention games.
Total Recall Training With Distractions
Once your dog reliably responds to your cue, you are not done! Dogs are opportunists, so when you call them, we want them to want to come to you. Will they do that if there’s food on the ground?
They will if we set them up with enough training sessions where they learn that the recall will pay more reliably.
Here is the beginning exercise:
- With your dog on a leash, place treats or a toy far enough away that it isn’t too distracting for your dog and where they can’t reach them. Use your cue and reward success. You are building a foundation of positive reinforcement in the presence of distractions.
- If your dog is too distracted to respond when you use your cue, you need to add more distance from the distraction. Don’t worry; you will be able to build back up to where you tried to start. Your dog just needs to learn that you pay off more reliably than distractions in the environment.
- Use the Train-Test-Train method to help you determine when you can start moving closer to the distractions.
Helpful Hint
When you first set up distraction exercises, ensure your dog is rewarded with something they like more than the distraction. This will help create a strong foundation for this exercise.
Recall Games For Dog Training
The more fun we make the recall, the stronger it will make your dog’s behavior. In addition, the more different ways we train it, the more we will help generalize your dog’s response. So, in addition to training sessions, you want to incorporate these games into your training plan.
Don’t start this game until you have worked through the foundational exercises.
Set up small plastic containers with lids in areas around the house where your dog can’t reach them, such as the medicine cabinet, on top of bookshelves, etc.
While going about your day, when you see one of the containers, stop what you’re doing and call your dog to come. When they approach, mark them with a “yes” then give them a treat out of the container (don’t open it until they respond). And then you’re done for that moment.
If your dog is toy-motivated, you can do this with their favorite toy throughout the day. Hide it behind your back and call them. When they respond, start playing with them.
When your dog is distracted, slip around the corner and call them. When they seek you out, throw treats on the ground and have a party.
Start with super easy hides, and as your dog gets better at the game, you can gradually hide in more challenging places.
Tip
In the recall exercise, our dogs see us before they approach us. This game looks different! They may be confused when they can't see you the first few times you play this game. So, if your dog is trying to locate you, you can make kissy noises or clap to give them some audio cues.
This great game teaches your dog to call away even if they are busy investigating. Check out this video by Kikopup to see the process.
Start running away from your dog. When your dog takes notice, call them. When he catches up to you, mark with “yes” and treat.
In Conclusion
The secret to building a total recall is making it fun and practicing in different locations and around different distractions.
If you have tried teaching a recall in the past and think your dog was too stubborn to respond, it is time to adjust your training plan. Dogs that appear stubborn are often not motivated, or they may have had a bad association with recall in the past.
Spend a short amount of time each day building value for coming to you when called. Then, start playing daily games, and soon, your dog will be looking forward to your training session.
When you make training fun and rewarding, your dog’s response to its recall cue will improve with each session!

Authors
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Devene obtained a BA in Journalism from Michigan State University and spent several years working in marketing. However, when she adopted her first greyhound (who came with some behavior challenges), she began researching ways to modify her problem behavior and found help with a local dog trainer. She became a volunteer assistant to learn more, and eventually started teaching classes and conducting private lessons. She currently trains puppies full-time to become scent detection dogs. Devene lives in Michigan with her husband and kids, as well as 4 dogs, 2 cats and a tortoise.
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