To Me

Kassa and I have been trying to follow some of the training suggestions from Jen at neversaynevergreyhounds.blogspot.com. One of the simplest but most important things we have been working on is a simple recall.   I think it is very important to have a good strong recall for your dog even if you keep them in fenced areas.  You never know when you will need it.  If a gate gets left open or your doggy slips out of your car behind you, it is comforting to know that they will come a running if you need them to.

I have chosen two recall commands being "Come" and "To Me".   The "Come" command is my emergency command.  Every time I issue that command Kassa gets the most tasty of tasty treats.   I always want to have a treat in pocket when I use it because I don't want Kassa to get into his head that he may or may not get a treat.  In other words I don't want to dilute the command.   "To Me" on the other hand I use more regularly.  I try to make sure that Kassa gets some sort of reward with that command.  It may not always be a treat.  Sometimes I throw a ball for him and sometimes it is just praise, although I try to make sure he never associates it with anything negative.  I have used it in the dog park when people are letting in a dog that I am not yet sure about or that may be too small.  I can't use treats there because treats aren't allowed in the dog park but when training it I will throw a ball.  I try to train both these commands indoors and out and in a variety of settings.  This way Kassa wont get into his head that he gets a treat when I'm sitting on the couch in the living room and he is on his bed ... and nowhere else.  I also try to mix up the training.  The commands may come in the middle of a game of fetch.. or before or after.  

 I try to vary the distances he has to travel and even make it a bit of a game when we are inside. He goes from garage to the second floor of the house to try to find me.  When I use either command I try to touch his collar.  In case of emergency I don't want him to come to me only to trot away as I reach for him.

 A big open area is a great place to train recalls because it provides a lot of distractions.  There are many things to sniff and explore.

Kassa and I just got back from a training session.  He was in the other room getting some water.  I played the video on my camera to see how it came out.  He heard my command in the camera and came running.  I got up and gave him a treat.