07/15/2026
Article written by me (Shannon) ☺️ for the Boykin Spaniel Society. Volume 50 No. 3 Summer 2026 (page 20). Building a Reliable Recall.
Building a Reliable Recall
One of the most important commands a dog will ever learn is “here” or “come.” A reliable recall is not built through force, fear, or endless repetition alone — it is built through relationship, engagement, trust, and consistency. Your dog should believe that coming to you is the best decision they can make every single time you call them.
Too many people sit back on the porch, in a chair, or on the couch and repeatedly call their puppy without truly engaging with them. Then they become frustrated when the puppy ignores them or loses interest. Puppies are naturally curious and full of energy. If you want their attention, you have to become more exciting than the environment around them. Move with them. Interact with them. Play games. Praise them. Make yourself the center of their world. Your puppy should grow up believing that being near you is fun, rewarding, and safe.
People also need to stop being in such a hurry when it comes to training a dog they are going to spend the rest of their lives with. Everyone wants fast results. Everyone wants the perfectly trained dog in a matter of weeks. But real training does not happen overnight, and reliable dogs are not rushed into maturity. Building a solid dog takes time, patience, repetition, and consistency.
The truth is, training never really stops. Dogs are always learning, whether we realize it or not. Every interaction teaches them something. Every time you reward behavior, ignore behavior, correct behavior, or allow behavior, your dog is learning. Just like people, dogs continue learning throughout their entire lives. The habits, confidence, and relationship you build early on will shape the dog you live with for years to come.
Personally, I do not even introduce a leash to a puppy until they are around six months old. That may surprise some people, but there is a purpose behind it. Those first six months are spent laying the foundation for recall and building a puppy that genuinely wants to come when called. During that time, I focus heavily on engagement and connection. I want the puppy checking in with me naturally. I want them learning that choosing me is always rewarding.
That does not mean there is no structure. It means the structure is built through relationship first. I spend those early months teaching the puppy that “come” is never something negative. It does not mean punishment, pressure, or the end of fun. It means excitement, praise, interaction, and reward.
When I do begin introducing the leash, it is not used as punishment or as a way to drag a puppy around. A leash should reinforce what has already been taught, not replace the teaching process itself. I may walk the puppy in a few circles on leash, then immediately let them back off leash — only allowing them a few feet of freedom before happily calling them back in and slipping the leash on again. The entire process becomes a game.
That game matters. Many dogs stop wanting to come because every recall means the fun ends. They get called in only to be kenneled, corrected, or separated from what they enjoy. Over time, they begin avoiding the command altogether. Instead, recall should feel rewarding. Your dog should think, “Something good happens when I go to my person.”
A truly reliable recall is not built through fear of punishment. It is built through trust, repetition, and relationship. It is created over months and years of consistency, not in a weekend training session. The leash is simply a tool to support communication — it should never become the foundation of obedience itself.
When people slow down, stop rushing the process, and focus on building a meaningful relationship first, they often end up with something far greater than a trained dog. They end up with a dog that genuinely wants to be with them, listens because of trust instead of fear, and chooses them even when the world around them is full of distractions.
