5 easy games to boost your dog’s recall

There’s nothing better than calling your dog and watching them joyfully run back to you. To know they’ve not only chosen you over all those distractions, but they’re actually excited to get to you. If that sounds like a pipe dream then don’t worry, there’s one very easy way to improve your dog’s recall: play games with them.

The key to rapid recalls is to teach your dog that you’re more fun than anything else in the environment. But if you’re calling your dog and just giving them a treat then that’s pretty boring. They’re not going to choose the same dull treat every time over other dogs, squirrels and picnics. But if you turn that treat into a game, they’re gonna start to think you’re a pretty fun person to be around. And if you play a different game each time you call them, they’ll zoom back, excited to find out what game they get to play this time.

1. Catch the treat

This is a super easy game to make that boring treat so much more exciting. All you need to do is throw the treat for your dog to catch. Sounds simple, right? Well it is, once you’ve taught your dog to actually catch the treat.

Start by dropping a treat right above your dog’s mouth and saying ‘catch’ to warn them you’re about to drop it. If they don’t catch it, just let them sniff the floor to find the treat - that’s still a super fun game. Slowly increase the distance you throw the treat (making sure your dog can catch it before throwing it further). Once your dog knows how to catch, call them and then throw 2 or 3 treats for them to catch as their reward.

2. Chase the treat

This is another easy way to turn a treat into a game. But this time your dog’s going to chase a moving treat (surprise - it’s in the name). This is an excellent game for dogs who love to run after dogs, wildlife or even just a random leaf.

With your dog standing front of you, roll a treat a short distance to your left and let your dog chase it. Once they’ve eaten it, wait for them to turn around and then throw another treat to your right. And just keep throwing treats to either side for your dog to run after. Once your dog understands the game you can say their recall cue after they’ve eaten the treat to teach them to run back quickly to you whenever they hear it.

3. Catch me if you can

This is another chasing game - but your dog’s going to chase you, not a treat. This game is brilliant for dogs who forget you exist as soon as you let them off-lead. Your dog’s going to start paying a lot more attention to where you are so they can chase you once they’ve found you.

With your dog next to you, put a treat on the floor and take a few steps away while they eat it. Wait for them to look up and come find you, put another treat on the floor and walk away again. For this game the treat is both a reward for their recall and a distraction to allow you to run away. Slowly increase the distance you walk away and walk or run faster (if you can run) as your dog starts to understand the game. If you’re a lot slower than your dog (like I am), drop 3 or 4 treats so your dog spends longer eating and you’ve got longer to run away.

4. Find it

If your dog spends most of their walk with their nose to the ground then they’ll love this game. You’re gonna hide some treats in some logs, on a bench, in a pile of leaves (basically anything you can find on your walk) then call your dog for them to sniff out the treats and eat them.

You’ll need to teach your dog to find something on cue first. Start at home, put a treat in front of your dog on the floor and say ‘find it’ and encourage them to eat it. Slowly increase the distance and the difficulty of where you hide the treat. You’ll want your dog to wait until you say ‘find it’ to start hunting. If they’ve got a good stay then you can use that, or have someone else hold on to their collar or lead. Once they understand what ‘find it’ means you can call your dog when you’re out on a walk once you’ve hidden the treats and they’ll come running.

5. The great treat throw down

This is another game that’s great for dogs that love to sniff. And it’s so easy you don’t have to teach your dog anything. All you do is throw a few treats on the floor (maybe 5-10 - lots of little treats is much better than a few bigger ones) for your dog to find and eat.

The great treat throw down is perfect for when you need to put your dog back on their lead. Instead of having to chase them round trying to grab their collar or harness, they’re calmly sniffing and you can easily clip on their lead. But don’t just play when you’re putting they’re lead back on. Otherwise they’ll learn it means the end of fun and they’ll run off as soon as you throw the treats on the floor.

Written by Juniper Indigo, dog trainer in Tiverton and Exeter