lotsadox
02-25-2009, 08:16 PM
I've been working my way thru the When Pigs Fly training book that Courtney suggested. It's just fantastic. I've been working with my dogs and it's amazing how well it works.
Anyway, last night I read the section on Recall. It made so much sense that I thought I'd post it here in case it helps others. She is talking about why Pigs Fly dogs (her name for hard to train dogs) don't come when called. She says,
Getting a Pigs Fly dog to come when called, especially with distractions, is one of the most challenging things you will ever do. When you call a Sheltie, he will generally snap to attention and zoom into you as fast as his cute little legs will carry him. When you call your dog, what happens? He runs a complex risk-benefit analysis which involves taking an extensive inventory of all the known interesting things multiplied by the promising possibilities he can explore if he remains at liberty, versus the fact that you would be very happy, or at least not too angry, if he came to you. Hmm. Wonder how that equation is going to work out?
A lot of people want to know why their dog won’t come when called. To me it is much more mystifying why some breeds of dogs generally DO come when called. On one side of the balance sheet is the lure of everything interesting , fun and good in the world, and on the other side is “You”. What does You mean to your dog? Biddable dogs seem to be born with an abnormally high opinion of You. It is just not natural to want to give up liberty and all the fun that goes with it at the drop of a hat, simply for the chance to be near a human. There has to have been some very strong genetic selection for this trait. Your Pigs Fly dog is not equipped with the “come when called” gene. Until we isolate that gene and learn how to splice it onto the “Come? Whaddayoucrazy?” gene, we will have to rely on training and conditioning to build up the value of You to your dog.
Biddable dogs are ones that are easy to train BTW.
I had a real lightbulb moment about this. I always knew that for a good recall you had to make it so the dog wanted to come to you, but wasn't always able to do this. Now I see why. Now, I realize that just getting a treat may not be enough to make it more attractive to come than to run around the yard. I've started working with Scooter by calling him to me and then making a big fuss over him and playing with him, giving him treats and roughing him up (which he loves). It seems to be really working. He had a fair recall before and it seems to be getting stronger now.
She goes on for several pages with pictures about how to accomplish the recall. Too much to post here, but the whole idea that You has to be better than "out there" made it easier to work with Scooter.
I hope this helps some of you as much as it did me.
Anyway, last night I read the section on Recall. It made so much sense that I thought I'd post it here in case it helps others. She is talking about why Pigs Fly dogs (her name for hard to train dogs) don't come when called. She says,
Getting a Pigs Fly dog to come when called, especially with distractions, is one of the most challenging things you will ever do. When you call a Sheltie, he will generally snap to attention and zoom into you as fast as his cute little legs will carry him. When you call your dog, what happens? He runs a complex risk-benefit analysis which involves taking an extensive inventory of all the known interesting things multiplied by the promising possibilities he can explore if he remains at liberty, versus the fact that you would be very happy, or at least not too angry, if he came to you. Hmm. Wonder how that equation is going to work out?
A lot of people want to know why their dog won’t come when called. To me it is much more mystifying why some breeds of dogs generally DO come when called. On one side of the balance sheet is the lure of everything interesting , fun and good in the world, and on the other side is “You”. What does You mean to your dog? Biddable dogs seem to be born with an abnormally high opinion of You. It is just not natural to want to give up liberty and all the fun that goes with it at the drop of a hat, simply for the chance to be near a human. There has to have been some very strong genetic selection for this trait. Your Pigs Fly dog is not equipped with the “come when called” gene. Until we isolate that gene and learn how to splice it onto the “Come? Whaddayoucrazy?” gene, we will have to rely on training and conditioning to build up the value of You to your dog.
Biddable dogs are ones that are easy to train BTW.
I had a real lightbulb moment about this. I always knew that for a good recall you had to make it so the dog wanted to come to you, but wasn't always able to do this. Now I see why. Now, I realize that just getting a treat may not be enough to make it more attractive to come than to run around the yard. I've started working with Scooter by calling him to me and then making a big fuss over him and playing with him, giving him treats and roughing him up (which he loves). It seems to be really working. He had a fair recall before and it seems to be getting stronger now.
She goes on for several pages with pictures about how to accomplish the recall. Too much to post here, but the whole idea that You has to be better than "out there" made it easier to work with Scooter.
I hope this helps some of you as much as it did me.