100% Recall

[Bjelkier]

Pretty simple.

Do you believe it is possible for a dog to have a 100% recall?

And are some breeds impossible to teach a 100% recall?

[Staranais]

Depends what you mean by 100%.

I think you can get a 100% recall under any reasonable circumstances. You just need to find what most motivates the dog, and then persuade the dog that the best way of accessing that motivator is by obeying you.

[Bjelkier]

Depends what you mean by 100%.

I think you can get a 100% recall under any reasonable circumstances. You just need to find what most motivates the dog, and then persuade the dog that the best way of accessing that motivator is by obeying you.

What do you mean by reasonable?

[Staranais]

Depends what you mean by 100%.

I think you can get a 100% recall under any reasonable circumstances. You just need to find what most motivates the dog, and then persuade the dog that the best way of accessing that motivator is by obeying you.

What do you mean by reasonable?

Well if you set my dog on fire, for example, then I'd think it quite reasonable if she didn't recall.

Anything that puts an animal in severe pain, or extreme fright, I think the survival instinct kicks in and it's not reasonable to expect them to obey commands 100%.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

my dog has shown 100% recall. if i am in the house and she is outside and i call her. she rockets in to see me. she got out one day and was on the street and when i called her she rocketed back to me.

i think she has shown 100% recall (she has never not come to me) but i would never say she had 100% recall because one day she might find something more interesting or more important than me, its just that i havent found what it is yet.

[tlc]

I think I can honestly say in reasonable circumstances 2 of mine have 100% recall. And by that I mean in everyday situations like off leash walks with distractions by other dogs, horses, birds, people. My white girl recalls on a dime literally as soon as I call her if she gets a long way away she spins on the spot and is right back to me. I guess that's what I call 100 % recall. However if I threw her ball and she was flat out chasing it and I called her back then she may not?? But to me that's not a normal thing to do, I wouldn't call her back if she was running to chase the ball.

edited to say: in a later post I down graded my 100% to 98%

Edited May 3, 2010 by tlc

[Staranais]

I think I can honestly say in reasonable circumstances 2 of mine have 100% recall. And by that I mean in everyday situations like off leash walks with distractions by other dogs, horses, birds, people. My white girl recalls on a dime literally as soon as I call her if she gets a long way away she spins on the spot and is right back to me. I guess that's what I call 100 % recall. However if I threw her ball and she was flat out chasing it and I called her back then she may not?? But to me that's not a normal thing to do, I wouldn't call her back if she was running to chase the ball.

I'd call recalling off a ball to be a "reasonable" request, though - it's similar to calling a dog off a prey item like a bunny or a rabbit - so I'd say a dog that couldn't recall off a ball didn't have 100% recall.

JMO for the purposes of discussion, not having a go at you.

[corvus]

I think the limiting factor is the dog's ability to hear you under distraction. Erik is way more easily distracted than Kivi, but he is far more likely to hear a recall. If he hears it he comes. Kivi is fine around everyday distractions. He will recall away from other dogs and he'll break off a chasing game to recall, but last week for example he discovered there is a yard at the back of the dog park with two dogs in it that wanted to kill him. He was very confused and aroused as he stood there trying to decide how to react to these dogs trying to dig out of their yard to get to him, and he didn't hear the first two recalls. He heard the third one and came.

The other thing is that I think more independent breeds never quite get a reflexive recall. There are times when Kivi just thinks "hold on, maybe I don't want to recall" whereas Erik comes without hesitation. I'm beginning to think that much of it is an awareness issue. Erik is hyper aware of his surroundings whereas Kivi usually has his head in the clouds.

I wouldn't say either of them has 100% recall as they are animals after all with their own agenda and will. You never know what they might quite suddenly and unexpectedly decide to do. Kivi's is up around 95% and Erik's would be around 98%. Occasionally Erik starts coming and then stops to see if Kivi is behind him. He gets all anxious if he discovers Kivi isn't coming as well, and will go back for him sometimes.

[tlc]

I think I can honestly say in reasonable circumstances 2 of mine have 100% recall. And by that I mean in everyday situations like off leash walks with distractions by other dogs, horses, birds, people. My white girl recalls on a dime literally as soon as I call her if she gets a long way away she spins on the spot and is right back to me. I guess that's what I call 100 % recall. However if I threw her ball and she was flat out chasing it and I called her back then she may not?? But to me that's not a normal thing to do, I wouldn't call her back if she was running to chase the ball.

I'd call recalling off a ball to be a "reasonable" request, though - it's similar to calling a dog off a prey item like a bunny or a rabbit - so I'd say a dog that couldn't recall off a ball didn't have 100% recall.

JMO for the purposes of discussion, not having a go at you.

Any of my other 3 would recall off a ball chase easily but Tully is obsessed with the ball and I'm not even sure she would hear me. I will have to put it to the test next time I'm at the park with the ball thrower!!

[RallyValley]

Today I recalled Lincoln off chasing roos! No luck with Toby.

[WillowGirl]

I think the limiting factor is the dog's ability to hear you under distraction. Erik is way more easily distracted than Kivi, but he is far more likely to hear a recall. If he hears it he comes. Kivi is fine around everyday distractions. He will recall away from other dogs and he'll break off a chasing game to recall, but last week for example he discovered there is a yard at the back of the dog park with two dogs in it that wanted to kill him. He was very confused and aroused as he stood there trying to decide how to react to these dogs trying to dig out of their yard to get to him, and he didn't hear the first two recalls. He heard the third one and came.

The other thing is that I think more independent breeds never quite get a reflexive recall. There are times when Kivi just thinks "hold on, maybe I don't want to recall" whereas Erik comes without hesitation. I'm beginning to think that much of it is an awareness issue. Erik is hyper aware of his surroundings whereas Kivi usually has his head in the clouds.

I wouldn't say either of them has 100% recall as they are animals after all with their own agenda and will. You never know what they might quite suddenly and unexpectedly decide to do. Kivi's is up around 95% and Erik's would be around 98%. Occasionally Erik starts coming and then stops to see if Kivi is behind him. He gets all anxious if he discovers Kivi isn't coming as well, and will go back for him sometimes.

I know we are talking about dogs here but I think you have just described my 2 year old twins!!!!!!!! I have almost 100% recall with one, not so much with the other!!!!!!!

My Dogue on the other hand.......about 99.5%, I'm happy with that.

[Ons]

100% recall with my coolie, always has been. Even the other day when he was off the lead on a walking track and horses rode nearby which got his interest he came immediately when called.

as for the goldens well they are a different story consequently they stay on the lead on the walking track.

[Simply Grand]

I think it is unrealistic to think that any sentient being - including dogs - would respond how we expect 100% of the time. If humans are anything to go by, we don't respond how WE expect sometimes, let alone how others expect. In many cases we could say our dog has very reliable recall, or that under normal circumstances they will always recall, but there can always be unforseen circumstances. I don't think you could ever say 100% recall, you'd just be lucky if you never came across that 1 unpredictable situation.

[Bindii]

I think it is unrealistic to think that any sentient being - including dogs - would respond how we expect 100% of the time. If humans are anything to go by, we don't respond how WE expect sometimes, let alone how others expect. In many cases we could say our dog has very reliable recall, or that under normal circumstances they will always recall, but there can always be unforseen circumstances. I don't think you could ever say 100% recall, you'd just be lucky if you never came across that 1 unpredictable situation.

For what it's worth (and apparently that's not a lot) I think this was very well put.

[Jaxx'sBuddy]

I think it is unrealistic to think that any sentient being - including dogs - would respond how we expect 100% of the time. If humans are anything to go by, we don't respond how WE expect sometimes, let alone how others expect. In many cases we could say our dog has very reliable recall, or that under normal circumstances they will always recall, but there can always be unforseen circumstances. I don't think you could ever say 100% recall, you'd just be lucky if you never came across that 1 unpredictable situation.

and for me this is what makes dogs such fun. if they were that predictable then they would be like those robot dogs you can buy...no fun at all.

[tlc]

With my lot I have had the best and worst of both worlds, my oldest has crap recall but working on it all the time is fun and he is getting better and better all the time even though he is nearly 4.

My next youngest is head strong and has good recall especailly if there is a perilous situation she will just run to me automatically which is great but when she decides to do her own thing it is like she is deaf but I mention food and she comes running

With my younger two I'm not sure If I have become a better trainer over time and using methods that work better but thier recall is really great. But I think I will definatley do a few off the cuff tests with them over the next few weeks just to see how good thier recall really is. What I am refering to is basic every day situations, like we go to off lead parks and off lead walks all the time so recall is really important to me and by the same token I never go anywhere that I would need to rely on recalling them away from a road etc as has been stated in other posts basically there can always be unforseen circumstances and you just never know.

I had a very close call with Cooper when he was much younger and I have always been very wary ever since. Reminded me of another DOLers story a while back, I think it was Bindii with Hugo and Fletcher (I apologise if I have got that wrong) chasing a rabbit I think it was??

What happened with me was Cooper decided to take off while we were walking in the park to cross a busy road to visit one of my friends He just stuck his nose up in the air took one sniff and then just took off running like a maniac through the park across a busy road with me running flat out behind him screaming at the top of my lungs for him to come back.... arghhhh there was no way he was coming back and I just thought I was going to be sick the stress of watching him cross that road and there was nothing I could do. Anyway when I got to him standing at the gate of my friends house I was so relieved I cried but I just wanted to strangle him. Anyway I think that incident was probly what made me more vigilant with other 3. If I see people walking dogs without a lead around the street I shudder, I just think what happens if something catches thier eye across the street what hope would the owner have of calling them back?? Anyway after saying all that I guess I don't really think that any dog could be 100% reliable in thier recall. Id like to change my original post to 98% not 100%

Threads like this certainly put your brain to work to make you think about things!!

[Bindii]

I had a very close call with Cooper when he was much younger and I have always been very wary ever since. Reminded me of another DOLers story a while back, I think it was Bindii with Hugo and Fletcher (I apologise if I have got that wrong) chasing a rabbit I think it was??

What happened with me was Cooper decided to take off while we were walking in the park to cross a busy road to visit one of my friends He just stuck his nose up in the air took one sniff and then just took off running like a maniac through the park across a busy road with me running flat out behind him screaming at the top of my lungs for him to come back.... arghhhh there was no way he was coming back and I just thought I was going to be sick the stress of watching him cross that road and there was nothing I could do. Anyway when I got to him standing at the gate of my friends house I was so relieved I cried but I just wanted to strangle him. Anyway I think that incident was probly what made me more vigilant with other 3. If I see people walking dogs without a lead around the street I shudder, I just think what happens if something catches thier eye across the street what hope would the owner have of calling them back?? Anyway after saying all that I guess I don't really think that any dog could be 100% reliable in thier recall. Id like to change my original post to 98% not 100%

Threads like this certainly put your brain to work to make you think about things!!

Yep, it was me and it was my silly boy Fletcher that took off after a rabbit.

Scariest moment of my life.

Sorry to hear you had a similar situation with Cooper - certainly opens your eyes. Dogs are dogs, after all.

[tez]

I think it depends on what sort of dog you have. Jane is not a dog I would trust to recall even though it was something I concentrated on since she was a wee pup. She is hyper-stimulated by movement...even if it is 300 metres away. While at dog training a few weeks ago, she was attending really well and then suddenly stopped and turned 'off' completely. When I looked around at what had distracted her ( and none of the other dogs had even noticed it), it was a small plastic bag blowing along the ground perhaps 200 metres away.

We have a lovely small 'mountain' which we walk up and around often. It is surrounded by dairy farms and as we climb, the cows are often just small dots below us. However if one of those tiny cows move away from the main herd she will be totally distracted by it. Thank God for long leads...30 feet of freedom but some control!

[all that glitters]

I honestly think saying "100%" is just not realistic. People may have dogs with incredible recall and they gloat about their dogs having 100% recall and knowing their dogs like the back of their hands etc, but seriously how are they to forsee the future, to forsee ANYTHING in the future that may one day make their dog stop and decide NOT to recall? Be it fright, distraction, animal, person, noise, scent...

To say your dog has 100% recall is like saying you can see into the future. Cos what's to say tomorrow something will happen when they are offlead and they won't recall??

It's just not realistic in my opinion.

Fair enough your dogs may have great, fantastic, amazing recall, thats great! I think that's cool as, I really do. But to say 100% just doesn't work with me. I think those with great recall have done a great job at training, don't get me wrong! You can say your dogs have 99.99% recall, I'm happy with that. Just not 100%

[tlc]

Your right Tez, the long line definatley give you piece of mind that you still have that level of control! You will probly find with Jane over time as she gets older all the things that stimulate her now will fade and she will even out and you will be able to rely on her recalling a lot better. But like Cooper even after nearly 4 years he still will test the boundries and I am always on the look out for possible scenarios that he will buck the system too but like I said he is getting better and better all the time and seems to know now if he doesn't come when I want him to its like he knows he has done the wrong thing. I can't quite explain what I mean but it's like he can't help himself and when he does come back its like oh mum I really tried to be good but I just couldn't help it

Bindii I really related to your story when your thread appeared and I knew exactly what you were going through, the pure and utter helplessness was just beyond anything, such a horriible feeling. Certainly opened my eyes to things that can happen. Thankfully our fur babes lived and made us more vigilant to boot!!