Hi.

I need to work on Suka's recall, because he's learned that he can ignore the commands with no consequences to him at the dog park.

I want to use a whistle instead of saying words, because I think a whistle would be more reliable? It's a strong/stern sound, and it gives off no emotion...so if you're pissed your dog has ran away they won't know it cause they won't hear it in your voice!
(Not going to get a dog whistle - I want to be able to hear it too!)

Suka's current recall at this point:
- Will come when called 75% of the time while in the house (no treat)
- Will come 50% of the time while outside in the backyard (no treat)
- Will come 10% of the time when outside in the front with no treat.
- Will come 98% of the time inside and outside but ONLY with treats, and only if he sees its a high value one.
- Doesn't come at all while at dog park, even when there is a high value treat...unless he wants to go home and then he'll come 100% of the time.

This is where I run into the first hurdle:

How do I start training recall?

He's a rescue, so I never trained him the first time. I don't know where to start. Should I attract him with treats or will that just lead back to his original problem (where he'll only come with high value treats)?

Remember...I'm going to be using a whistle...cause I'm all out of command words (have used 'come', 'here', and a few others that he's all learned to ignore), can't really whistle myself, and I don't like using clickers.

Please any advice would be wonderful.

Start by pairing the whistle with treats. Use really fantastic treats, that Suka doesn't normally get. Whistle and then give him the treat. Then start increasing distance between you and him when you whistle. And only ever do this when you think he will come to you - for example if there are lots of distractions at the time or he is busy doing something and you think he might not pay attention, don't use the whistle. So don't start at the dog park, and don't try it at the dog park until he is already very good at it elsewhere.

When you do start to use the whistle at the dog park, whistle and treat and then send him away to play again, so that he doesn't associate it with the fun stopping.

Thank you!

I bought a 50 ft leash so I can use it to get his attention if he's ignoring me (ie: at the dog park, when there's nobody else there, of course!). Is that a good idea? Or will that teach him he only has to listen to the whistle when he's on the leash?

With Cally what I have done and continue to do is I have a rope but I start off in the backyard where there are minimal distractions and I won't use the rope and I walk away and call her and when she comes I give her a treat. I do this 10-20 minutes a day and then I will go to the field outside of our house (bigger space but still minimal distractions except the big open field :p) so I start off on her regular leash and work on her loose leash walking (trying to get her back on a normal collar-not a pinch) and after 10-15 minutes of this, I attach the long rope and let her do her thing and then call her back and when she comes I give her treats.

So basically what I am saying is that I think if you have the space (backyard) to work on it then work on recall without a leash in your yard and then somewhere else on a rope. Hope that made sense!

Thanks! My backyard isn't fenced, so I put him on a 30ft tie out when he's out there.

I go home in a week, so I'll start his training then and I'll let you guys know if I have any problems!

You could also look into using the whistle for emergency recall training.

There are a bunch of trainers out there that will actually train two different sets of return commands. One recall as the normal "Come" "Return" Ect...

The other recall command is actually a strange or uncommon word as a high value recall. You could very easily associate this with your whistle.

I know at least Kristina on the forum does this.


Generally speaking you begin by using an INSANELY high value treat and associating it with just hearing the command or whistle.

After some time move to recall training with that super high value treat and command. Once they have that down doing a small refresher once a month can't hurt just to keep the command fresh in their minds.

I always found the best and easiest way to do recall was with a partner. You can separate and really turn it into a game and gradually get further and further apart from one other.

This can also be done in an open field with the right equipment. A 50ft leash tied around both waists and a coupler or short leash attached to the pup looped over or through the 50ft.


Saving this sound for emergencies or times you really need your pup beside you for what ever reason can help a lot. It also allows you to continue recall training without treats and use a normal command and just save the emergency one for just that.

You also don't have to carry the reward with you every where you go, it is just used to trigger the need to get back to you ASAP. If used without a reward however I would use it and reward a bit more frequently then normal for a little bit and then go back to saving it for emergencies.


The bad part about training anything with a prop? What happens the day you break it / forget it. It is always nice to be able to use something you will always have... But I'm just arguing devils advocate

Either way best of luck !!!

~Chris~