| Dunn said. “Because the collar is non-directional some dogs will just scratch at it or start to walk away. That’s the reason for the 30-foot leash. As soon as the dog starts to come to me, I turn the stimulation off.” The dog is then praised and rewarded for his response.
This initial training should take place in the same enclosure until the dog begins to show a basic understanding of the command and the leash is no longer needed. Because this could take several days and many repetitions, trainers need to be patient, Dunn said.
Once the dog is responding positively, training should be moved to a new enclosed location. Another back yard, a tennis court or any other fenced enclosure can be used, Dunn said. Because dogs respond differently in a new location, the training leash should be reintroduced at this time until the dog once again responds to the recall command. As the dog begins to gain confidence, training should be moved to three or four new sites to ensure he fully understands the command, Dunn said. From there, new commands such as sit, place, heel and down are introduced to the training regimen.
The biggest mistake people make when training a dog to return on command, Dunn said, is they assume the dog somehow already knows what the command means prior to the training. Instead, the owner should show and direct the dog so they have a basic understanding of what the command means.They tend to believe he already knows the recall command, so they put the collar on him, send him outside and call him back. When he doesn’t respond they hit him with the stimulation, which is usually set too high, and the dog takes off,” he said.
While too much stimulation at the wrong time can be detrimental to a dog, Dunn said there are times when it’s alright to bump the collar up to the next level.
“If he’s jumping up and putting his paws on the sliding glass door or getting into the trash, then I’d use a little higher stimulation.” he said. “But the amount of negative motivation needs to be just enough to stop the behavior. The punishment needs to fit the crime.” |
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