Field Guide · Glossary
Recall
Skills and cuesA dog returning to their handler when called, away from whatever else they were doing.
How it works
It is the skill with the highest safety value and the one most easily damaged. What weakens it is the recall cue reliably predicting something the dog does not want: the end of a walk, a bath, the leash going on. What strengthens it is the cue predicting something better than whatever the dog left, paid every single time in the early stages. It is trained on a long line for a long while, because a recall the dog can ignore without consequence is a recall being practiced as optional.
What it looks like
A dog on a fifteen-foot line is called away from a hedge and paid with several pieces of chicken, then released straight back to the hedge. The return costs the dog nothing and gains them something, which is what makes them faster next time.
Commonly confused with
- Engagement
- Engagement is a dog being generally available to their handler. A recall is one specific cue asking for a return from a distance, and a dog with poor engagement rarely has a reliable one.
Related terms
Gear that helps
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15ft training long line
What makes a decompression walk possible: freedom to sniff and move with a safety net still in your hand. We reach for one constantly in recall and reactive work.
High-value freeze-dried training treats
The paycheck. For reactive work the reward has to beat the trigger, so we keep these tiny, soft, and genuinely exciting, not everyday biscuits.
Treat pouch (clip-on)
You can't reward fast enough digging in a pocket. A pouch you open one-handed changes your timing, and this one has a magnetic close plus a built-in clicker.
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