I feel like my recall is rapidly declining

[matthewlynn]

Hi there! I have a younger dog, a female Jack Russell terrier who’s 7 months old. The first thing I started doing with her was teaching her to come to a command and everytime I reward her bountifully. She gets praise and some form of treat 95% of the time. She’s been doing wonderfully and has always come pretty quick.

Lately I feel like she has decided it’s no longer worth returning if there’s something better that she has her sights on.

How can I continue to improve recall?
I’m not just letting her loose anywhere and then fumbling around like an idiot to get her back but I do have a busy household and sometimes she’ll dive out the front door near the busy road (another thing I’m actively working on) but if/when this happens she needs to know to come…

Any tips for really strengthening recall or should I just keep praising her when she comes (I never call her when she’s in trouble) and always making it a big deal and hope it’s just adolescence? I’d love any tips or tricks I might’ve missed!

 

[lionofgod90]

@matthewlynn I'll go in the opposite direction as the other suggestion and recommend a refresher with ultra high value treats. Big chunks of steak, or maybe even a whole hamburger off the McDonald's dollar menu.

 

[onceawaretwiceempowered]

@lionofgod90 I’m still using treats at 20 months. I don’t feel adolescence is the stage to stop using treats.

 

[sally1b2b]

@lionofgod90 I've had some success with a similar approach. I try to do pretty highly preferred treats for most recalls and then probably once per day something really high value. The dog knows she will always get something, but never knows when she will get am extra special surprise. Varying the special treat I think helps even more. When just doing recall practice I'll run away from my dog and she will chase me. This also seemed to make it more fun and engaging.

7 months is a tough age in general. I'd really try to address the door issue with the humans of your household. The dog really shouldn't have the opportunity to escape like that at all.

 

[donjackitasy]

@matthewlynn Right now, pup is getting a treat often enough to take it for granted. (95%)

Try rewarding him with a treat less and less. Try giving a treat only 50% of the time. Always praise. Reduce the treat frequency further.

Because there's no guarantee that he'll get a treat enough to take it for granted, he'll anticipate the treat reward more.

I would, however, change to another high-value treat since he's taking the current one for granted.

It's a form of variable interval operant conditioning in which you vary when you give the reward to the dog to reinforce the desired behavior.

 

[matthewlynn]

@donjackitasy Alright I’ll try reducing the treat consistency - treat type changes every so often already

 

[onceawaretwiceempowered]

@matthewlynn I didn’t work on recall much in the 7-10 months period. I didn’t want to shoot myself in the foot. If I did, it was only when I was pretty sure he’d listen. Just a time where they naturally won’t listen much.

Have two different recalls though. One official, one casual. The casual one I’ve used when I didn’t care much if he didn’t listen. That one is getting pretty solid now at 20 months somehow. At least when he’s barking in the garden.

You’re at the challenge stage of your pup’s development now. So don’t expect too much of your pup for a few months. Don’t let him get away with stuff, but perhaps don’t demand too much atm.

 

[matthewlynn]

@onceawaretwiceempowered Gotcha, I figured it might partially be the “rebellious” phase, I also have the two recalls a more casual one and one I want to be used more seriously. Thanks for the reassurance!

 

[glitteredvixen06]

@matthewlynn I just did a professional board and train with my dog. My dog received all of her food for the day by hand (i.e being rewarded for commands). That way you get a lot of repetitions in and the dog is hungry and motivated. Since your dog seems uninterested without treats, she needs more practice. Use her food (so you don’t overfeed with treats) and practice a lot of short-distance commands.

Here’s how:
Have her sit. When you say “come” and she starts coming your way, say “YES!” and offer her a big handful of food. Say “yes!” the second she starts to come to you (not when she gets there) so that she gets excited to come to you and get a big reward. Be very consistent and practice every day.

Over time (about a month or so) you can start to fade out the treats.