THE EMERGENCY RECALL

The emergency recall can save your dogs life! It is distinguished from the normal recall in that it is not used as an every-day function. Commands used every day, no matter how careful we are, sometimes get sloppy or muddled. We let something slide just once or someone else in the family calls the dog while he is running toward a competing motivator and he fails to comply. That decreases his chance for obedience and increases the odds that he learns that he has an option when he hears the word, “come.“ The emergency recall is only executed on an occasional basis to build and maintain extraordinary excellence in the obedience of this recall.

What if your dog, “Ruckus,” somehow bolts out of your front door or somehow manages to get off his leash and sees a cat, a squirrel or equally enticing prey scurrying across your busy road? His neurons fire up and his hard-wired predatory gear shifts into mach 1. He is not aware of anything else in his environment but that furry, tantalizing tormentor. As his focus becomes increasingly laser-like, he closes the distance between himself and the object of his obsession.  He is about to be hit by an oblivious, rolling conglomeration of steel. Your heart sinks, you stop breathing and you fear your respiration will never re-start. What do you do? Screaming and calling will not likely register with “Ruckus,” the dog. But your diligent training of the emergency recall has a very good chance of success and is the most important skill that you‘ll ever teach him. Here’s how I teach mastery of that valuable skill:

Think of a word which you and your family members will use for this emergency recall. This needs some thought because this cue word must be something that is not likely to come up in casual conversation or a word that you use, or that rhymes with a word that you use for any other command. It could be anything. “Ruckus” doesn’t understand English the way we do, so if you want to call out, “baked beans” or “lantern,” it doesn’t matter. Shorter words which are easy to remember are best. I use the word, “urgent!”

When I discussed training the normal recall, remember the importance of calling your dog only when he is already coming to you? Pick out three perfect recalls every day, the ones where your dog comes promptly, thundering toward you like a thoroughbred out of the starting gate.

You will have already spent the day before, donned in your apron with oven mitts at hand, creating a masterpiece cuisine, some of which was for your family‘s dinner last night, but a generous portion, reserved for  “Ruckus‘s” emergency recall lessons. It‘s a good idea to vary the food from one practice session to another, keeping his interest high. A few ideas to make this a fine dining experience might be; sirloin steak with béarnaise sauce, pork tenderloin, pot roast or barbequed chicken. You are going to provide the most tantalizing menu that your dog has ever experienced, that he’ll remember, tell all his friends about and will associate with this very important command. This gourmet cuisine will be used for no other doggie purpose but the emergency recall.

Three times a day, morning, noon and night, when “Ruckus” is already coming to you and coming fast, call him with your emergency recall word or words (cue). When he gets to you, feed him small pieces of your culinary masterpiece over and over, for a full half minute, while repeating your cue the entire thirty seconds. Have your treats in a plastic bag, already in your pocket or fanny pack.  Make sure you’re in a fenced area or your dog is on a long line. Start out with a minimal distance between you and your dog and very few distractions. Do this for two weeks, but only three times  day, once each and always pay him for a full thirty seconds while repeating your cue word over and over.

As he becomes very responsive, you can gradually increase the distance between you and him and increase the distractions. But take it gradually. You don’t want to make it difficult for him until it becomes “hard wired.”

Once he is ninety-nine percent reliable, you can space out the practice to once a day for a while, then three times a week until the dog is stupendously responsive. Then continue forever, practicing only once a week.  Remember, always feed for a full thirty seconds, repeating your cue. Never practice this without the extreme high value treat and the payment thereof.

People watching this will stand there in amazement, with their jaws on the floor. It’s effectiveness is very impressive and it might save your dog’s life one day.