Emergency Recall

A week or so back I read an article (sorry, don't have the link, it really wasn't a good article anyway LOL) where the woman who wrote it saw a dog run out into a crowded parade, and how she couldn't believe that the owner didn't have an "emergency recall" on her dog. So I have a few questions for you all about emergency recall (I'll post my answers later).

1. Have you taught a formal emergency recall for your dog(s)? Why or why not?

2. Do you have any words that you think could be used as an informal emergency recall for your dogs (ex: asking if they want to go for a ride)?

3. What is the difference, in your opinion, between a regular recall and an emergency recall?

3. If you found yourself in an "emergency" situation (ex: your dog ran across a busy street), what other obedience would be useful in that sort of situation in addition to a recall/emergency recall?

I have, somewhat. Haven't practiced it in the past few months, so I'm not sure how strong it still is.

"Frodo, you wanna treat??!?!!"

I think w/ an emergency recall the recall is used in situations where the dog cannot fail (ETA: by this I mean when practicing the e-recall). You KNOW the dog is going to come to you (again, in practice), so the dog doesn't start to think it is okay to not listen immediately. Whenever it is practiced the dog gets OMG lots of the best thing ever in the world when he/she gets to you. Every time. For me an emergency recall isn't like any other command, it's something that when the dog hears the word they move toward you without even thinking about it, like how most people stop at red lights.

Down/Stay!
If a dog runs across a busy street the LAST thing I would want them to do is to run back across it to get back to me. I'd rather tell them to down/stay and walk to them.

1. i don't have an emergency recall. come means come and i don't see a reason to add something else in that needs to be practiced. i guess emergency recalls were designed with the assumption that "come" has been poisoned?

i do have a "come in my general direction so i can keep a closer eye on you" command when i just want them closer but do not need them immediately at hand. this has helped me use come only when i want them to come directly to me.

2. COOKIE!!!!!

3. see above about poisoned cues.

4. drop and stay. i've done a lot of work with moving downs and down on recalls for obedience with both luce and steve, which is a wonderful great fun game. out of that grew the ability to drop both of them at a pretty great distance in a fair number of contexts. i didn't train it with the intention of it being a lifesaver, but it certainly could be.

No, not really. IMO a good leash/collar is more reliable in these situations than a recall.

"Want a cookie?!?!" I do use that very occasionally.

A regular recall is used in everyday situations when you want your dog to come to you. For example, in the house, in the yard, in agility class, etc. Basically, the dog is in a relatively safe situation and if he happens to ignore you, no one will die. You can train a good, solid recall using good reinforcers - "life" reinforcers, such as the dog getting to do something fun, work particularly well for a regular recall - and ultimately putting it on variable reinforcement.

An emergency recall should be used very sparingly, only in life-or-death situations when you have no other options. It can be much stronger than a regular recall, because you can use classical conditioning to teach it.... when the dog hears the recall word, he's not thinking about what to do, he's just doing it. You can teach this pretty much the same way you teach the dog what a clicker means - starting with the dog right in front of you, give the cue, and then follow it immediately with a VERY GOOD reinforcer. You should use the best treats the dog has ever had, to really build the association. After a few tries, the dog should immediately perk up when he hears the emergency recall cue, and then you can start adding distance and then distractions. Once you've taught the emergency recall, it's important to practice it, but still only when you have the best treats you can use.

You SHOULD only need the emergency recall once or twice in the lifetime of the dog - if you're using it more often then maybe you should the regular recall more, or invest in a better collar/leash - but those situations will be so vital that you will need your dog to think he's getting an AWESOME treat when he comes to you.

I taught Luna "Stop." She doesn't have to be in any particular position, she just needs to stop moving; then I can go and get her. I'm not really sure how I taught it in the first place - I think maybe my tone of voice scared her and she froze - but I do practice it a lot where I cue her to stop and then go and reinforce her for it. It's extremely useful; like I said, I haven't needed her to know an emergency recall, but I've used the stop in many similar situations.

Come. Basic recall that is fail-proofed. No need for a special command for "emergency".

Down/stay would be useful if the dog runs across a busy street and I want them to sit tight while I collect them.

Nope. I never really felt a need for it or fully understood the idea of it - they already know a recall, which has been proofed against a large number of things and can be considered as reliable as possible. If I'm not sure about them coming back, I keep them on leash.

Words? No. But generally if I turn away and start to leave they'll be on their way back to me fast.

I have no idea. Supposedly an emergency recall is heavily rewarded every single time the word is used. I'm not sure though how that helps when the chasing of whatever they're running after is self-rewarding ~ more so than the cookies I might be carrying.

I do a lot to teach emergency stops.
IME it's easier to get a running dog to stop than to ask him to turn away from what he's chasing and come away from it. I also think emergency stops are safer if the dog crosses a road, you might not want to be calling him back to you and asking him to dodge cars again.

I have tried so hard for two years to put any sort of recall on Argon and failed miserably. When he gets out, he is gone, and there is no amount of calilng, treating, bribing, or bargaining that will get him back.

He does know not to bust the door, but other then that, we apply the double restraint system in public.

1. Have you taught a formal emergency recall for your dog(s)? Why or why not?
Yes I have. It's really come in handy once when he got out of my friend's yard and ran after a rabbit. I feel it's important for a dog to have a good solid recall in general... but the emergency recall can be a HUGE life saver so that's why I teach it

2. Do you have any words that you think could be used as an informal emergency recall for your dogs (ex: asking if they want to go for a ride)?
Yup... want a cookie is our informal one

3. What is the difference, in your opinion, between a regular recall and an emergency recall?
Not sure really... with Bamm his emergency recall is HEAVILY rewarded and taught so that he understands that when I use the emergency recall word he needs to stop whatever he is doing no matter WHAT and come right away without a moment's hesitation. We havent practiced in a little bit though

3. If you found yourself in an "emergency" situation (ex: your dog ran across a busy street), what other obedience would be useful in that sort of situation in addition to a recall/emergency recall?
Yelling STOP and LAY DOWN usually are pretty effective

No but having said that, they know 'OFF!!!', which means stop whatever your doing and get your arse back to me no matter what.

For a situation where I don't want them to come to me, a 'STOP!', works great, means don't move until I give more information or I come to you.

Nope no emergency recall here. If I am calling you, you come and you come quick. That's the rule in my house. And it got us full points on our recall in the PDC.

"Buh-byes!" means car ride, with an open door. Had to use that once when Teeny was young and scooted out the door on my mother. After 3 loops around the neighbor's house she heard me and saw the car door open and booked it into the car!

I agree with Elegy on this one. I think the idea of an emergency recall came about because so so SO many people "poison" their recall word. If you teach it right the first time, there should be no need for a second word.

I think some sort of stop in motion is key, along with a good strong "leave it" if they are chasing something. Neither of the bulldogs have a distance stop in motion, and we really need to proof leave it. Things to work on!!

Oh I have TOTALLY poisoned Frodo's recall, lol. I will fully admit to that, and for the past few months I have not used the word at all. I do plan on re-teaching it (new word and all). My trainer has the Really Reliable Recall DVDs, which I may borrow to get me started.

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/t36494/

No emergency recall here. I have enough trouble getting Juno to obey a basic "come" command; if I'm going to put my energy into teaching a rock solid recall, I'm only going to need one word. If I can get her to a point where I can call her away from other dogs, then I'll be able to call her off anything!

Juno does not have the association with the words "want a treat??" I see people bribing their dogs that way ALL the time at the dog park, lol. And even if she did have that association, n most situations I don't think she'd care enough!

I do agree that the concept of an "emergency" recall is because it's so easy to poison the recall cue. So if you have another recall word that you don't use in every day situations, you're not as likely to screw it up. Fido may not respond reliably when you tell him to come, but if he turns on a dime when you yell "pickle!", then I guess you are better off only using that word when it's really needed.

It's not just about poisoned recalls. It's that even the best trained dogs with a superb recall can, at one time let nature get the best of them. The emergency recall is just an added safe guard, a little extra punch because it is not used often, it's very unique and compliance is always followed by an incredibly, one-of-a-kind, over-the-moon, high value reinforcer. It does not replace a very good recall that is cued on a more regular basis. It's like taking a car with a 4 cylinder engine and popping in a V-8 at those times where the 4 cyl. might not work very reliably. (like animals with a high predation tendency) That one time where the dog decides to chase the cat across the road, even when he has always, always come before.

"Leave it" is my emergency recall.... it is a command that I never allow them to ignore or fail and I always reward it heavily. I've called them off of a cat that literally ran inches in front of them when they were recalling. Their recall is very good, but chase instinct over-rode that. The second I said "leave IT" they stopped dead in their tracks.

It's also good for keeping them away from suspicious food on the ground, wild animals, marking, etc, etc.

I haven't, and I've never understood why you wouldn't just teach the normal recall until it's reliable. I've read the 'emergency recall' training protocol, and you could easily apply that to training a normal recall. Why have a command that's only 'sort of' a command, but really, Dog, this is the *real* one you're actually supposed to listen to...

Nope. I do have a formal and informal recall, but it's more of an obedience trial vs. casual at-home thing. Sienna's formal recall is "front" and it's competition obedience style, i.e. come directly to me and sit in front of me. If I just want to get her in the vicinity, or in the house from the yard, I tell her "come on!" or call her name.

I think the regular recall should be so reliable that there's no need for redundancy.

Good question. Though if my dog was on the other side of a busy street, I wouldn't want her trying to come to me (and cross the street) at all. The formal obedience "drop" exercise is great for this. The dog should down from a hand signal or command from far away even if it's running towards you. I think this one, if reliable, could save the dog from say running across the street to you. I think this is a great argument for teaching a reliable 'stay' as well!

If the dog will sit & stay from a distance, you could also use that. "Wait" is a good one, too. For Sienna that means "stay where you are" until I release her or go to her. I can even give an example of it working - we walk on a local path that's also a cycling path. She's usually offleash, because the path isn't near any roads, and Sienna is a velcro dog, and has learned that when she hears a bike, to heel until it's gone/I say ok. One time, though, she was on the other side of the path from me, and some bikes came up. She started to come to me, but that would have put her directly in the path of the bikes, so I yelled, "wait!" and she stopped and stayed put. Bikes went by, everyone was safe. Good girl!