Does your dog have 100% recall?

[Puppypuppypuppy]

My 14 month old has developed a bit more confidence and selective deafness so is back on a long line for now in situations where I know he's likely to ignore me. But I read on here all the time that dogs should not be off lead in a public place unless they have 100 % recall. This feels a way off for me at the moment. But does any dog really have 100%? (and any tips on how you got there welcome!)

100 per cent so far. Will come to a whistle even if he's set off after a rabbit.

@LivingLaVidaBabyShower roll in dead slugs! 🤣🤢

Nope - ours is about 90% unless he sees a squirrel, deer or fox. Keep him on the lead if we're near sheep or cattle, but of course it's hard to predict when you'll see a deer.

My rescue is 10 months old, we’ve had her 4 months, she has nearly no recall whatsoever. I am paying for training to address this and really hoping it works! Absolutely everything and anyone distracts her despite using high value treats at the moment.

Greyhound’s recall is very good with other dogs, especially if you call him at the right time. Don’t bother recalling with squirrels or rabbits- they always go up a tree or somewhere he can’t be bothered to chase before he gets to them.

I wouldn’t let him off lead on a pavement or near livestock.

Yes, trained to the whistle. He has had 100% recall since he was four months old. It's worth doing, as is stopping to the whistle.

How can I improve his recall and get him to recall to a whistle?

@cheeseisthebest

How can I improve his recall and get him to recall to a whistle?

We did it from the day he got home at 8 weeks. As he approached his food bowl we gave a blow of the whistle and called his name. So he associated moving towards us and food with the whistle. And trained recall in the garden and then elsewhere from there. It was astonishingly easy. But he is a food driven retriever!

I think it depends on the breed and lots if training ( the earlier the better).
I don't believe there is such a dog with 100% recall.
My current dog has excellent recall, a year ago I would have said 99.9% (not all mine did so I can't claim I have magic training powers at all).
But we had 1 incident when he got spooked and became a completely different dog, he simply could not hear me or register my command, he was completely in a different zone/state and absolutely nothing would stop him or divert him apart from divine influence.
Therefore I wouldn't trust any dog's recall 100% of the time. If they go in fight or flight response, in extreme situations, no dog would respond to recall. And you simply cannot predict what is going to happen at all times.
This is where the owner comes in. You simply have to keep an eye on them in certain environments and be ready to recall before the event, if possible.

Thank you. We practise loads in the house and he's good. Need to practise outside more. He's a shih tzu so stubborn!

Mine finds other dogs so amazing he doesnt recall when he has found another one to play with. We have to spot other dogs before him and get him on lead. We pick quiet places that we can see all around. But he ends up on the lead a lot as not everywhere is suitable to let him off at all. He is nearly a year.

Without other dogs he recalls brilliantly. Even from squirrels etc.

I've had springers with excellent recall. Always improved when the bird is in the mouth and not in front of them.

Bassett bound. Never off leash, unless in an enclosed area. Some recall if no interesting smells, but feigns complere deafness if smells are more interesting. I wouldn't trust her at all. We have tried training (she's an elderly girl now), and it goes swimmingly...when she wants it to, to lull you into a false sense of security.

I have a basset hound! She can be off lead, but I was as stubborn as her and wanted to have an off lead dog. I completely agree about feigning deafness. I can be at home telling her to sit, I’ll get completely ignored till I get out a treat, at which point she can suddenly hear me and will sit. I find the same thing works with recall, showing her I have food and am more interesting helps, but I know when to be more vigilant.

99% with one and 90% with the other-both Shetland Sheepdogs and I either whistle or use their name lightly.Treats always in hand
My older girl is less as she is constantly hungry due to medical condition so if she finds something dead and disgusting she’ll try and eat it 🤮 always tries to run off with it plus she has doggy dementia so she goes back on lead if I see her suddenly ‘smell’ something 😂

No dog can be perfect with 100% recall all the time. Mine is generally good ie comes when called at beach or park etc. However if she saw something like a cat then all bets would be off.

Nope. 75% on a good day.
She's great on boring walks... off lead she loves to run around but will happily stop dead if I shout WAIT! Even with other dogs approaching (she's a bit of a rude greeter so gets popped back on her lead if I see an unknown dog)
If she sees a squirrel, rabbit, hare or deer... forget it. High prey drive and intelligence plus selective hearing....

She's no killer though, no terrier instinct so if we are in woods , miles from anyone, she gets a mad dash, then returns a few minutes later . Never near people or roads tho. We worked very hard with her but she is an independent thinker and I accept that in public she will never be a free range dog!

@Stellaris22 That's fab. :) Mine is incredibly food driven, as they are, but I could never guarantee it. Not worth the risk maybe I didn't try hard enough/well enough. You've done great job. It's worked out fine anyway though. The garden is huge for her to run around (joys of living rurally and buying a house that was falling down and no-one else was stupid enough to buy lol), so walks are on lead.

She's been the best dog in all other ways. She won't be here next year and it will break my heart. Loyal loving dogs. I'll have another. :)

If I have treats in my pocket & he’s seen me put them there, we have no recall because he is glued to my leg, starting at the pocket for the entire walk 🤣 if I have no treats in my pocket he is 100% on first recall, but then when he realises there’s no treats in pocket today, I’d say he is 70%. He always looks back at me when I call though before zooming off. He’s a bugger but I love him! X

I think if I had had bits of sausage I could get him to do the dog walk as if it were a crufts show. Problem is he doesn’t burn off much energy just slowly walking backwards staring at my pocket & no wees get done as he is too distracted 🤣

Mine has no recall and is never off the lead unless we're in an escape proof place. I have a 50ft longline for beach walks and such.

99%. He used to be terrible to be honest. Total nightmare but then he got neutered and it was a real game changer. I was really surprised as I had read it can help but didn’t really have high hopes but now he’s brilliant. However, he’s a bit of a grumpy sod now so I have to manage that!

No dog has 190% recall.

100%!

I have a terrier, so no not 100% !

She is however very good, not least because I will treat randomly for returning, not just when she's having to come away from something interesting. I'm also pretty attuned to her body language, so I can tell when she's beginning to move 'with intent' rather than just wandering away a bit, and can usually understand what the intent is (usually a dog friend, so I call her back, reward then tell her she can 'go play' - often she looks back spontaneously now to check if she can go over, so what she's learned is to 'ask')

I found that having treats in a box that rattles is a helpful thing.

If she's ever been a PITA then she goes back in long lead until she has got back to listening/checking in, and then dropped long lead so she can demonstrate that she really is.