Unleash your dogs freedom

The dream: our dog flies happily over the fields, is happy to be have the opportunity to just be a dog and we watch him totally relaxed and satisfied. But in order for this to be possible in a relaxed manner for everyone involved, we have to be able to rely on our dog coming back to us if this is necessary. For me, recall is the most important signal we can teach our dogs.
The reasons for this are as follows:
- Safety: A reliable recall can save lives!! It can get your dog out of potentially dangerous situations and back to you. These situations can be diverse: your dog sees another animal and runs after it, while you might be near a road. Your dog is frightened and his first impulse is to run away. Another dog approaches you and demonstrates aggressive behavior. These are just examples; you probably have a few more situations in mind yourself. Only if we can rely 100% on our recall can we be sure that we are not exposing our own dog, but also other living beings in our environment, to danger.
- Respect for other people and living beings: Not everyone likes dogs. There are even people who are very afraid of dogs. Children playing somewhere should never be harassed by a free running dog. Older people who may be unsteady on their feet could fall if they are frightened by a dog. Other animals should never have to feel frightened by our dogs. And there are also numerous factors why other dogs don't find it particularly pleasant when another dog runs into them. They may be injured or sick and fear pain; they may be old and have reduced sensory perception. This often leads to them not noticing the dog until late and becoming terribly frightened. But it could also be a dog in heat or even pregnant. It is possible that the dog is extremely afraid of others because it has already been bitten before. Let's be honest: it's absolutely irresponsible to let your dog run into other people and dogs if you don't have their prior consent. I always recommend either calling your dog over and controlling it there or putting it on a leash straight away if you see another dog nearby. Then you have already given the other person a feeling of security and can still ask whether the dogs can come into contact and possibly play together. Personally, I am much more likely to agree if I can see in advance that the other dog is trained and that the owner has the opportunity to influence it.
- Freedom: The previous two points also explain why your dog should only run freely when they have a reliable recall. But if you achieved this, your dog can freely explore its environment and you can both enjoy its freedom without having to constantly worry that he might run away or get into dangerous situations. This promotes the quality of life for both of you and gives him the opportunity to express his energy.
- A good recall signal helps to build a
strong bond and trust between your dog and you. You can rely on your dog in every situation and he will also realize that he is always safe with you. Nothing unpleasant should ever happen to him around you, so you are his safe haven. This promotes trust immensely and your dog will be happy to come back to you when he needs support in a situation.

So far so good! But how do we get such a bombastic recall?
It is very important that we first understand that our dog does not know right from the start what “here” or our whistle even means. So we have to begin to condition our recall signal (i.e. give it meaning) in very simple situations. When setting up, we should always make sure that we reward the recall and reward it in a needs-oriented way. For dogs who love food, a treat may be the most fantastic reward. A dog who is rather picky about food may turn away and think, “Next time I won’t come!” This becomes especially important when we are in real situations. If the dog who is interested in hunting is running after a rabbit, something happens in his body. Endorphins and dopamine are released. This automatically reinforces the hunting as an action itself as the dog gets into a real frenzy and that feels good at first. Now let's think about the following situation: Your dog is chasing a cat through the forest, the body is firing endorphins, the dog is feeling really great. Now you call him back, your dog pauses, would like to keep running after the cat, but decides to come back to you. You immediately put him on a leash and give him a piece of his dog food in return... And your dog, who is currently in a huge state of excitement, is now pretty much alone with all of his endorphins in his body. Do you think he'll come back next time? Was it worth coming back?
But what would happen now if he came back and instead of the normal food you had a longer tug toy with you, which you pulled out of your bag when your dog arrived and start to run energetically and drag it across the ground and play together with your dog like that for a minute? Maybe you already see what I'm getting at? Our dogs have needs and whenever we manage to respond to these needs with our rewards, we have a huge chance that the dog really felt reinforced and will show the desired behavior next time again. A recall needs a very good reward history so that our dogs are motivated to show it in any situation. This doesn't mean that from now on you have to walk around with stuffed bags forever. But especially when building up the signal, we should maintain a very high level of motivation and, so to speak, set up a bank account with our dog that we fill so much, so that he comes back happily and full of expectations at our signal. Then it works even if we don't have a great reward from time to time. It is important, however, that we recharge our recall every now and then. So call them back in simple situations and reward them heavily for coming, so that our dog's account does not become too empty and he does not lose his enthusiasm. We wouldn't go to work for free, would we? Not even me and I love my job very much!
When teaching the recall, I have three key factors in my head. On your signal I want the dog to returns to you
- Immediately,
- Joyful
- and in a straight line
You can find out how to set this up successfully in my recall course.






