February 18th, 2025

Recall Training

I always get asked, "How come your girls are always off-lead, listening, and never far away?"

Bella and Emma recalling to me (zoomed in) Jan 2025

Honestly, until recently, I’d forgotten what it was like to teach a recall. Bella is now 4.5 years old, and Rylee is 10, so it’s been a while since I’ve had to pay close attention to recall training.

Then Emma came along, and I made sure to pay attention to every step of her training, keeping her as much of a blank slate as possible. I’m proud to say that her recall is now more solid than my other two.

So, how did I get that started? Just like with all my clients' dogs, I limited her freedom and made it dependent on me.

She was always on a lead, always tied somewhere, or left somewhere when I was at my mentor's place or on the farm. Only recently has she been allowed to run around and explore freely—and most of the time, she makes good choices. Because she was raised on a leash, she understands boundaries well.

The leash allowed me to communicate with her when my words failed me or when I got frustrated. I kept repeating "That'll do, with me" (throwing in her name occasionally), and that’s how her recall was built. Now, her recall to "That'll do" is solid—and I think that’s pretty cool.

Happy Training,

Addi and her dogs