1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,240 Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, Welcome to The Houndation's podcast. I'm your host, 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,720 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson, and today's episode is all about one of 3 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:12,280 Speaker 1: the commands that really makes or breaks a good dog. Recall. 4 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: There are a few behaviors that a dog just kind 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,279 Speaker 1: of has to know and you know, truly obey to 6 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: be considered a good sporting dog. You know, steadiness is 7 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: a big one, especially if you're the kind of person 8 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: who is most comfortable in chest waiters, staring at a 9 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: sleeting sky, waiting on some green heads. But even the 10 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:36,599 Speaker 1: most steady dog isn't so great if you can't get 11 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: him to come back to you when you need him to. 12 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: Recall is huge, and it's one of the biggest holes 13 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,639 Speaker 1: in a lot of dogs games. On this show, I'm 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: going to talk about how to train that into puppies 15 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: and to try to keep your dog honest about it 16 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: as they mature. I'm real bad at math. When I 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: say that, I'm not being haha, humble. I'm telling you 18 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 1: the full truth. My little girls, on the other hand, 19 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: must have gotten their math genes from their mother, who 20 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: can handle numbers in a way that is totally foreign 21 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: to me. And now that they are in seventh grade, 22 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:18,199 Speaker 1: their math has eclipsed my level. Again, that's not a joke. 23 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 1: It's true. They are in algebra, and about the time 24 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: they started multiplying fractions and doing math problems with parentheses involved, 25 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,039 Speaker 1: they left their father in the dust. I was good 26 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: with the early stuff, although the way they teach math 27 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: now is not the way I learned, and I don't 28 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: quite understand that either. It's like they added a lot 29 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,959 Speaker 1: of extra steps, and I don't really see why. I do, 30 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: at the very least understand how you can't get into 31 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: the deeper waters with math without first waiting around in 32 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: the shallow stuff. The simple addition and subtraction and division 33 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: and so on has to be there, and there has 34 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: to be a total understanding of it before you can 35 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 1: start bringing in letters to represent numbers or I don't know, 36 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: figure out how many watermelons some fictional math challenge character 37 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: bought when they were on sale for some amount, and 38 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:11,239 Speaker 1: some equally fictional supermarket scenario with sparse details and a 39 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: bunch of stuff. You got to figure out that basic 40 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: math is oftentimes not so basic, but it is important 41 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: if you want to learn more advanced stuff. In the 42 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: dog world, this is pretty relevant if you want to 43 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: do triple blind retrieves. You know at four hundred yards 44 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: with perfection, you're going to need to do a lot 45 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: of work with your dog on the fundamentals, and we 46 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: often skip those or more likely move on before they 47 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,720 Speaker 1: are really cemented in place, and that can lead to 48 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: a lifetime of frustration when you're trying to level up 49 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:44,239 Speaker 1: your dog. This is most evident for most folks when 50 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: it comes to recall. You know, the simple act of 51 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: calling your dog back to you. Think about this for 52 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: a second. How often have you had serious anxiety with 53 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: your dog when you rolled into a situation where you 54 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: just knew that, no matter how hard you yell, the 55 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: dog was going to do what it wanted to do 56 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:07,559 Speaker 1: and suffer the consequences later. This is common, it's aggravating, 57 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 1: and in the interest of a lot of dogs with 58 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 1: jobs potentially dangerous, it's also almost entirely preventable. My first 59 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,160 Speaker 1: exposure to a dog that did not believe for one 60 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: second that recall was a command he should listen to 61 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: involve my old high school buddy Jared and his Springer 62 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: Spaniel Eddie. Keep in mind, in high school, Jared and 63 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,280 Speaker 1: I weren't the smartest kids in class. We probably weren't 64 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: even in the top half, to be honest, but we 65 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: hunted very hard, and since I couldn't have a dog 66 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,839 Speaker 1: for reasons i'll put into a book someday, I sort 67 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: of pseudo parented my friend's dog. Jared and I were 68 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,200 Speaker 1: tight enough where he'd let me take Eddie to hunt 69 00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:51,120 Speaker 1: when he couldn't, which if you know bird dogs, you 70 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: know that's not something to be taken lightly. And Eddie 71 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: was the kind of springer that liked to hunt. His 72 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: stubby tail never stopped moving, and while we messed with 73 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: words where we lived in the bottom right hand corner 74 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 1: of Minnesota, we also spent a lot of time driving 75 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 1: an hour south to hunt Iowa during the high water 76 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: mark of rooster populations back in the late nineties. I 77 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: don't know how much school we skipped to feasant hunt, 78 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: but I do know that during my senior year I 79 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 1: had to sit down with the principal to negotiate my 80 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 1: punishment for it when they figured out just how much 81 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: school I had been missing defeasant hunt. We killed plenty 82 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: of roosters over Eddie, but we also watched him do 83 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:29,919 Speaker 1: his own thing. I remember watching him bump into a 84 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: cottontail one time, and he took off across a snow covered, 85 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: chisel plowed field right toward a farmhouse. Jared yelled, screamed, 86 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,560 Speaker 1: lit him up with the e caller, and promptly ran 87 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: out of options. There was no level of anger that 88 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: he could reach or electricity he could deliver from afar 89 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: to get that dog off of that bunny's trail. And 90 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 1: as we watched the situation play out, hoping that there 91 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: wasn't a giant dog of some sort guarding the farmhouse 92 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,040 Speaker 1: because Eddie would have fought him and lost, we eventually 93 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: lost sight of Eddie. Five minutes later he came trotting 94 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: across that field with Thumper fully deceased and clenched firmly 95 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: in his teeth. Some dogs just have the drive to 96 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 1: go after certain critters, and they get such a single 97 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: minded focus on that that I don't know if you 98 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:20,119 Speaker 1: can train it out of him after it sticks. Maybe 99 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:22,479 Speaker 1: you can, but it'll cause you to go a little 100 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: grayer and question whether you should maybe just get a 101 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:29,600 Speaker 1: cat for me. At least with my old dog, it 102 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: was turkeys. I don't know what was rattling around in 103 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:35,800 Speaker 1: her brain from a young age, but the scent of 104 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: turkeys or the sight of turkeys made Luna decide that 105 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 1: it was her moment and you weren't going to keep 106 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: her from them. While actually bird hunting, it was sometimes 107 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,679 Speaker 1: easier to call her off shed hunting scouting, just taking 108 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 1: a walk in the woods and we ran into turkeys. 109 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: Forget it. I haven't met that animal or situation with 110 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,559 Speaker 1: my new pup yet, but that might be entire because 111 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: she has that scooby and shaggy coward gene in her 112 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: where she's pretty much only comfortable keeping me within eyesight. 113 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: But maybe we just haven't stumbled into what will make 114 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: Sadie run with abandonment and ignore me completely. The thing 115 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: about recall, really good recall, is it starts young. It 116 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,480 Speaker 1: has to. And I'm not talking eight months here, I'm 117 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: talking eight weeks. When you get that puppy, you know, 118 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: the one that's all stubby, sausage legs and snuggles, it's 119 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: easy to get lulled into the false belief that it'll 120 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: be right or diet your side forever. Now I had 121 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: about three months most of them fully dispel that notion. 122 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: The key to laying this foundation is through treat training. 123 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: Most young puppies don't care as much about you as 124 00:06:44,279 --> 00:06:47,360 Speaker 1: they do food, and this is the way to motivate them. 125 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: It's also important to look at setting up your training 126 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: sessions in a way where you really don't give the 127 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: dog much of a choice but to engage in the 128 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 1: desired behavior, but to also make them believe they are 129 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: making the right choice. I know that's about as clear 130 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: as the Mississippi River delta. I just spent some time 131 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: fishing down in Cajun country, so let me explain. A 132 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: check cord and a handful of kibble are your friends 133 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: with young pupps and recall. I suppose it doesn't really 134 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: matter the length of cord, although I prefer longer chords 135 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: versus shorter chords, so maybe it does. Anyway, get that 136 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 1: puppy on a check cord, let it roam when it 137 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: gets out of ways, say its name so you get 138 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 1: its attention, and then use whatever recall command you choose. 139 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 1: I use COUM, but here is fine. It doesn't really 140 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: matter as long as you're consistent. Anyway, what the pup 141 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: will most likely do is totally ignore you. That's where 142 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: the check cord comes in. While repeating your recall command, 143 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: reel that sucker in like it's an adorable land based fish. 144 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: As soon as the pup gets to you is treat 145 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 1: time now. No matter how interesting the yard smells, the 146 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:09,600 Speaker 1: dog will start to connect the recall command with something positive, 147 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: which in this case is just a little treat, maybe 148 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: a little love, simple right kind of. This is not 149 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: a one and done thing here. This is just baby 150 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: step number one. This is also something that can work 151 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: in conjunction with another tactic, which Tom Doc can explain 152 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,320 Speaker 1: to me patiently one time after I admitted that one 153 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: of my pups was just more comfortable going its own way. Now, 154 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,959 Speaker 1: when you're working with a young pup and its off leash, 155 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: and really even if you have a checkhord dragging behind 156 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: it and you want the dog at your side, simply 157 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: turn around and walk away. When they're little enough, they 158 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: almost always eventually notice this and run to your side 159 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: because they don't want to be alone. You are their safety. 160 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: This is a good opportunity to give them a treat 161 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 1: as well, but also sets the stage up for heel 162 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: training later. But mostly you want to start reeling your 163 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: puppy in on that check cord and making that positive 164 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: connection between the command and the behavior. If you keep 165 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: that check cord attached, you can turn any little adventure 166 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: into a training session, and you should. What I mean 167 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: by this is that this is a great move in 168 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: the yard. You know when you're doing a dedicated training mission, 169 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: even if that's a two minute deal. But over time, 170 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: you want to expose your growing dog to new environments 171 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: where the distractions will have a lot more gravity than 172 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: the usual stuff your dog sees and smells on your 173 00:09:27,679 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: home turf. This is where training really levels up. If 174 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: you take your pup to the soccer fields at the 175 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: neighborhood park, you might see other folks with dogs. There 176 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: is nothing that will capture and command a young dog's 177 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: attention more than seeing another dog. This is also one 178 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: of the reasons why getting two puppies at one time 179 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: is almost always a recipe for total training disaster. But 180 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 1: this goes beyond that. People will want to pet your puppy. 181 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: There will be butterflies to chase and interesting tufts of 182 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,440 Speaker 1: grass and bushes to sniff. There's a world to and zoom, 183 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: and it's all new and interesting. That kind of thing 184 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: doesn't really stop for dogs, so they need to learn 185 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 1: that no matter what has caught their attention, when you 186 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,679 Speaker 1: say the word, they got to get back to you. Eventually, 187 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: you're not gonna have a pocket full of kibble everywhere 188 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 1: you go. And this usually coincides with the age at 189 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:22,559 Speaker 1: which pups grow into their confidence. Some that's a double 190 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: whammy where you're going to have to relinquish a powerful 191 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: training tool while also watching your dog decide to check 192 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: out the world without you at its side. At this point, 193 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,440 Speaker 1: the work you did when he was a puppy will 194 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 1: really decide the arc of your next year or so. 195 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: The more that dog learned to connect recall with a reward, 196 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: the easier it will be to get him to engage 197 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,800 Speaker 1: in that behavior for you when he's off leash in 198 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: a fun environment, maybe even during your first woodcock or 199 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 1: grouse hunts of the year. For hunting dogs, especially dogs 200 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:57,719 Speaker 1: that like to retrieve stuff, this stage again doesn't have 201 00:10:57,800 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: to be terrible because you have a way to reward 202 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: them through a bumper. This is one of the reasons 203 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: I just kind of like female labs. You generally get 204 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: a fairly timid personality that's mixed with a high retrieving desire. 205 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: If you get the right bloodlines. That means a raised 206 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: voice often gets their attention, and the ability to give 207 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:17,560 Speaker 1: them exactly what they want is a reward is pretty 208 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: cut and dry. Now, this isn't the case with all dogs, obviously, 209 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 1: so it's a matter of, you know, sort of starting 210 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:27,679 Speaker 1: over with recall, but off leash at various distances in 211 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:32,119 Speaker 1: relatively controlled environments. What I mean by that is environments 212 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: that are comfortable for the dog and very light on distractions. 213 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: A lot of dogs follow similar training paths where you 214 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: start small and easy and work out to some degree, 215 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: but then you add a new environment or a new 216 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: wrinkle to the training, and you back up to the easy, 217 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: small stuff that they already have nailed. Eventually, the command 218 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,200 Speaker 1: or the training, whatever it is, allows you to go 219 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: into the big environments with lots of distractions. But it's 220 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,679 Speaker 1: so important to not outdrive your headlights just because you're 221 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: bored with the current training. The dog will dictate your 222 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: timing on this stuff, and it doesn't matter how much 223 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,120 Speaker 1: you want to see them do those triple blind retrieves 224 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: to perfection, because all that will do is convince you 225 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,839 Speaker 1: to skip necessary steps and see positives where there are 226 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: only really false positives. Now I have to say this 227 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: because if I don't, lots of smart listeners will. The 228 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: recall command is just part of so many bigger things 229 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:29,720 Speaker 1: than dog behavior. It's a piece of the overall retrieving puzzle, 230 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: but just one of many that might involve heel and 231 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: steadiness and hand signals and a whole slew of behaviors 232 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: that are taught individually but eventually daisy chained into a 233 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 1: desirable skill. But for now, you want to teach your 234 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: dog to come to you every time you want him 235 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,199 Speaker 1: to come to you, regardless of what's going on around. 236 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: This is something that takes a lot of reinforcement and 237 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:54,679 Speaker 1: is often the point in which people buy an E 238 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,679 Speaker 1: caller out of frustration. Now, E callers can be an 239 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: excellent tool for enforcing commands like recall, but they won't 240 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,960 Speaker 1: allow you to not train it correctly in the first place. 241 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,720 Speaker 1: You can't correct a dog that doesn't fully understand what 242 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:13,080 Speaker 1: it's doing wrong. A dog that knows its recall command 243 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: and really demonstrates that knowledge over time is a dog 244 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: that might be ready for E call or reinforcement. But 245 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: that's a whole other topic for a different podcast. A 246 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: better way to look at It is the way a 247 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: lot of folks in my generation and younger look at 248 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,719 Speaker 1: retirement planning and social security. No one really knows if 249 00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: social security will be there for any of the generations 250 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,679 Speaker 1: coming up, so planning on full benefits now might just 251 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,719 Speaker 1: be a mistake. We don't know. What we do know 252 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 1: is that it's better to save automatically into different retirement 253 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: vehicles to reach your goals without the safety net of 254 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,559 Speaker 1: social Security. If it's there in some form, that's gravy. 255 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: If not, well, that sucks in a lot of ways, 256 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: but you will be ready either way with the recall command. 257 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: You want it solid in your dog, not just for you, 258 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: but for your wife, your kids, for the dog walker, 259 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 1: for whoever. This takes time and allows you to read 260 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: your dog's behavior and tell when distractions will be there 261 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: and what they might do to your dog's willingness to 262 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,800 Speaker 1: get his ass back to you. A simple way to 263 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:18,080 Speaker 1: reinforce this, at least with a lot of high drive dogs, 264 00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: is to not let them get away with not coming 265 00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:24,440 Speaker 1: to you during training sessions. A well bred dog is 266 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: going to want to train. It's going to be fun 267 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: for them, it's going to be one of their favorite things. 268 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: But if your dog decides sniffing a fence post for 269 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: two minutes during the middle of a session is something 270 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: he can get away with, and that training session don't 271 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: reward him. Even the dimmest of dogs will usually figure 272 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: out that they are in control of whether the fund 273 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 1: keeps happening, and that will mean they can choose a 274 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:49,040 Speaker 1: positive behavior and keep it going, or choose a negative 275 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,600 Speaker 1: behavior and end the session. Young dogs get this around 276 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: quite a bit, but older dogs usually don't. It's also 277 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: important to bring this home on a different level. If 278 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: you go out to see or hunt or whatever, you 279 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: will encounter something potentially dangerous to your dog at some point. 280 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:08,840 Speaker 1: Traffic is a big one, but so are porcupines and 281 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 1: fences and farmyards with big, mean dogs and a lot 282 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: of other stuff good enough when it comes to recall 283 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:17,720 Speaker 1: might not be so, and it might result in a 284 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: bad injury out in the field. The ability to always 285 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: get your dog back to you is not only something 286 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: that makes dog ownership so much better and hunting more 287 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: effective and enjoyable, but it's also a huge safety net 288 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:33,840 Speaker 1: that you know out there in a world where your 289 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: dog might not even have a clue that there's something 290 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: dangerous around the corner. It's on you to keep them safe. 291 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:42,120 Speaker 1: You know, when you're out in the cat till slew 292 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 1: and your dog watches a deer runaway and decides that 293 00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: he still has just enough wolf DNA to try to 294 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: catch it all while the whole thing heads on a 295 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: course for the two lane highway that borders the property. 296 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,800 Speaker 1: You really want control there and there's no way around it. 297 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: And if you have a dog that won't listen to you, 298 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: you know how frustrating and scary that lack of specific 299 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,760 Speaker 1: control can be. It's not just that the dog loves 300 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: to chase turkeys for some reason, which is bad enough, 301 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: but it's that those turkeys could lead her into traffic, 302 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: or to run headlong into a barbere of fence or whatever. 303 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 1: It's no bueno. And the prevention starts with little pups 304 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: long before ever setting foot in the field. If you're 305 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:22,920 Speaker 1: working with one now, or have one on order, or 306 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: maybe you're just struggling through an independent minded two year old, 307 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: pay attention to how effective your recall command is. If 308 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: it isn't locked down pretty tightly, you got to work 309 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: on it, train for it in a way that will 310 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: allow your dog the chance to make the right decisions 311 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: for you and for him. And come back next week 312 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: because I'm going to talk about energy, how to manage it, 313 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: and dogs, how we present our own energy to them 314 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: when we're training, you know, the whole dang thing. My friends. 315 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 1: That's it for this week. I'm Tony Peterson. This has 316 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,600 Speaker 1: been the Houndation's podcast. As always, Thank you so much 317 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: for listening. We truly appreciate your support here at meat Eater. 318 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,800 Speaker 1: If you have not gotten enough I don't know, hunting content, 319 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:07,679 Speaker 1: dog content, whatever this week, head on over to the 320 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:13,760 Speaker 1: Mediator dot com. We are always dropping new hunting films, articles, recipes, 321 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: tons of different podcasts out there. We've got Bear Grease, 322 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,360 Speaker 1: We've got God's Country, We've got met Eater Radio. If 323 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 1: you have a long commute, or if you're driving somewhere 324 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: maybe to South Dakota to hunt some roosters or whatever, 325 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: and you need to kill some time and be educated 326 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,719 Speaker 1: and entertained at the same time, at Mediator podcast network 327 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,639 Speaker 1: has a lot going on. Go over to the Mediator 328 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:36,639 Speaker 1: dot com and check it out, and again, thank you 329 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: so much for your support.