I believe there are four basic skills that any good dog needs. That includes Here, Heel, Sit, and Place. This article is all about Here.
Labrador Retriever Dog Training
I believe a good recall for all dogs is a must have behavior. There are so many times that I have had to recall my dog from something potentially dangerous it is hard to count. Something I have realized over the course of training dogs is that it is easier to teach them this behavior when they are already on their way to you. I will start to put my hand out when they are running towards me, wait until their nose hits my hand, and then click and treat for a reward when they are in the finished position, sitting at heel next to me.
I will continue to use the clicker and treat on this skill far longer than others. I will also continue to up the value of the reward. I will use some kibble first, a hot dog, cooked chicken, or even steak to continue to keep the dog's drive high on this behavior. I will also use the food reward as a lure to get them into the finished position I am looking for, sitting at heel next to me. I learned this from training Paisley. I did not have a finished position for this behavior for her. That meant that as she got older she would continually run through my hand and then have to circle back to me. Since then I have taught Here with a finished position at the end.
Below is the finished position I am talking about.
This is a behavior that I like to transition to the whistle, similar to sit. I use multiple blasts of the whistle as a signal for Here at a distance. We all know that we can only holler so loud. Using a whistle helps us communicate at farther distances with our dogs. There are few things better than watching a dog hear those whistle blasts and start heading your way in a hurry.
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