How is it possible to use Positive Reinforcement to train a RELIABLE recall?

This video goes over the concept of how it is possible to train come when called using Positive Reinforcement. The key is proactive training and behavior modification where you set up training sessions so the dog can succeed step by step as criteria is raised. I talk about how it’s not so much about proofing a recall with things that make your dog excited as much as taking the time to teach your dog to be calm confident and have self-control around the things that make him excited. When you achieve that you can imagine that a recall is really easy for a dog to do in that situation. I use the example of wildlife in this video but the same holds true for anything that excites your dog. I then talk about how beneficial it is to teach your dog the concept that access to the environment and what he wants to do most is contingent on listening to you so that your dog isn’t feeling punished when being recalled to you when what he was doing was more reinforcing than what you have on your person.
As you know I don't usually show "before" footage of dogs because the best plan is to never let the behavior be rehearsed again so the dog will be less likely to do it in the future. But in this case it was a unexpected reaction to prey that by chance was captured on camera. This was the first and last time Tug was in this state because I managed the environment after finding out how excited he was about prey. This footage of Tug is from my Harnessing the Hunter Video on Demand. Tug was an easy fix just by chance because of his personality and genetics but in the video on demand I go over the process of training how to teach dogs bred for hunting or who have chased prey already to listen around prey. dogmantics.com/product/harnes...
Here are links to video tutorials I mentioned in the video as well as one on proofing a recall:
Protocol: dogmantics.com/protocol-for-e...
Calm settle: • The Calm Settle - for ...
Proofing a recall: • Dog Training Recall Ga...
Teaching the dog the concept that access to what he wants is contingent on listening to you first: • Train your dog to list...
#professionaldogtraining #dogtraining #dogtrainer
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Happy Training!
- Emily Larlham (AKA Kikopup)

[@melonee9878]

I began training my Aussie using your method a few months ago, about late summer. His recall has become so reliable in just a few months that I'm able to let him off leash at a huge park and he returns to me mid-stride from over 200 feet. Last week he stopped chasing geese and came back immediately! I was kind of shocked actually. Thank you Thank you Thank you

[@kikopup]

Awe! That's wonderful :) That's all your hard work paying off! :)

[@kyerstenkerr5074]

Love this!! Train FOR the moment, not IN the moment!

[@kikopup]

Such a great way of putting it!

[@amyshaw444]

Ok, this is a game changer. You just blew my mind with this method...I now feel like training my dog recall is attainable and not this big daunting impossible task...thank you soo much!

[@kirkiecookie]

SO GLAD you made this video. you have no idea how many people are like "POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT DOESNT WORK...TRY DOING THISS WITH MY HIGH PREY DRIVE DOG" So glad to debunk this. Sure, you cant positively train that away in those specific situations (they are already being rewarded by the prey they are chasing, so your food reward wont matter) but positively reinforcing behaviors like non-reactivity you mentioned DOES work. Thanks again for debunking this!

[@freshmojito]

I have watched about a third of your entire uploads and I have yet to find a video that is anything less than amazing.

[@kikopup]

Awe thanks!

[@carlamagnus7960]

Oh lordy!!! What a day I've had! I started out, waking up and deciding that I really need to address one of my dog's prey drive and recall in any given situation (my German Shepherd loves squirrel and deer 😞). First, I've got to say I absolutely love your videos, your ethics, techniques and approach to training. Also I'm extremely grateful to you for giving the general public, inc me, access to your incredible videos, thank you! So, I looked at this video first and decided that I needed to check on a calm settle and that I could get this from all 4 of my dogs (2 Labradors, a Lurcher and a German Shepherd) This is where the fun started. I decided rightly or wrongly, to have a go with them all together in the house. The second my treat pouch was round my waist, my big 9 yr old Labrador Dexter was fixated on me, going through his repertoire trying to work out how to get that treat. Even when I sat at my laptop watching more of your videos and reading a book he was sitting in front of me waiting for that treat. (The other three got it pretty quickly and were happy just to chill) It suddenly dawned on me, this is the root of many of the issues I have with Dexter, his inability to relax around food (of any kind!) I was training all of them individually last week to take a bow. He was the only one that just couldn't focus, he got in such a tizzy about trying to get the treat he just couldn't focus on me. So.... my focus changed today! To wear my treat pouch all day around the house and every time I see him switch off, relaxed and chilling I would reward him quietly with a treat. It took 3 hours before I was able to reward him the first time! every time I saw him relax for a for a few minutes, the moment I got up or moved towards him he was leaping up and expecting a treat. I am going to persevere! I've been blind to the fact that he had so much stress around food and I can now see that this often gets in the way of my training with him. He is just too foody! I've always blessed this trait in him as it has served me well when training him, but can now see I have created a food monster!! Thank you once again for this video and pointing me in the direction of training the calm settle. I am a dog walker and pet dog trainer and use many of your videos and techniques when walking and training my clients. Emily, I really can't thank you enough!! Your training makes such a difference to us mere mortals! 🙂THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!! (I WILL be subscribing soon)

[@missylarsson3517]

Today my dog suddenly started chasing a rabbit, but when I yelled my recall signal she came back to me immediately! I was sooo proud! We celebrated with having her play with me and she got to chase a stick around me since she wanted to CHASE. I have trained recall a lot, but I thought that stimuli would be too much for her (she did START going after it) but was pleasantly surprised the reinforcement history was strong enough to break it off. Unfortunately the wildlife here is unpredictable so it is difficult to get structured training opportunities for that but the goal is for her to never go after them at all (like your dogs).

[@thepawvoydoghotel9740]

This is how I trained leon Berger about 14 years ago to stop chasing herds of deer! Fab advice as per norm. Thank you for the video and getting such great content out there!❤

[@tropicaltuna]

Thanks for this video! Our puppy is overexcited by everything outside, and any training we've "mastered" (strong quotes there) in the house goes out the window in competition with a squirrel, leaf, child, smell, butterfly... you get the picture. These concepts will help us out a lot!

[@sweetsnejinka9411]

Wonderful video. Thank u kikio

[@LindsayHaven]

That was very neat to watch your dogs standing around while all those animals ran around the yard. I may just have to pick up that DVD. :)

[@paulat5409]

Ah that is a huge piece of the puzzle that people miss. - teaching your dog to be calm around the things that they would otherwise chase. Such a great video :)

[@kikopup]

I hope it helps someone. :)

[@marietheresreinke2828]

Great! I love your concept videos as much as the step by step guides! Thank you very very much for all the great content you produce!

[@stephanieeusebi5271]

Absolutely amazing!! ♥️

[@kkaylaamarie]

Thanks for the great video Emily!

[@ANNAPAN]

This is a truly talented dog trainer. Regular dog owners, especially those who don't even take the time to study, are not able to handle this situation.

[@FullyAdamatic]

Excited to find your channel. We're on board!

[@cherylcollett7133]

valuable information as always

[@PanosLa]

Yes! That was a great one. You know that feeling that know that you have some kind of a problem that you have to work on, but at the same time you don't know exactly what is the problem, because is abstract...? yeah, well that was a eureka moment, that video helped! 😊. Great as always!!

[@kikopup]

Oh great! I actually think about you just before I start filming every video, as I am putting my mic on I think, I must make time to learn about my sound quality! :) I will. Its just life is always so busy.

[@PanosLa]

@@kikopup I just hope I didn't make you obsess about it. They already sound great. It's minute details you need to watch for, so you can have the "perfect" sound. 😊

[@kikopup]

​@@PanosLa My plan is to do it :)

[@danijeladaniela5964]

Great video, thank You💚

[@psychospexss]

You’re videos are the best

[@fannitrainedstars]

Yeees, soo amazing and inspiring and useful, I always admire your videos Emily, thank you sooo much!!😍 I have been training my dogs with positive reinforcement since I was 14 years old, and it is soo much fun for all of us, your videos are very helpful, I love to watch them!! 🥰🥰😍❤️

[@joshuapengson8194]

Thank you, excellent video!

[@carlmagnusbroberg5325]

Sweden! Welcome back! You're great!

[@louisamae8897]

Really like the dessert metaphor haha. You're such a great teacher!

[@kikopup]

I myself would not even get up to try the cereal the first time...

[@louisamae8897]

@@kikopup Agreed haha

[@lisetterossman377]

This is AMAZING. I don't even know how to tell you how awesome this video is. Now that it is fall, Lucy is seeing squirrels for the first time (she never noticed or cared about them when she was smaller). This came at the perfect time. I will be using this every day. Thank you for everything that you do, Emily.

[@kikopup]

I have no idea why they have to wag their tails so much when they see dogs... Haha

[@dreadsndogs4406]

Love it👌 every dog person should know about the premack principle👍😁

[@itlitlitl6]

You are awesome and so kind that you shares your knowledge and experience

[@nolanerunner1]

Great advice You always break it down so well! Thank u

[@kikopup]

Thanks!

[@crystakaczmarek9173]

love the dessert analogy.. It makes so much sense!

[@wolfiri6442]

This is probably one of my favorite videos of yours (they'll all great though!) It really nails the idea of training for behaviour, not just commands/cues. A calm, attentive dog will be much easier to work with rather than trying to train an overaroused dog with a hundred boring repetitions of recall. Conditioning and rewarding for calmness/attention, while it seems simple, makes SUCH a big difference and my training has improved drastically after I learned this from you! Thanks again!

[@kikopup]

Nicely summed up :)

[@kkakakkaka6617]

THANK YOU MY GOD I have a high drive pug and other trainers tips don’t work AT ALL he understands come here but once he gets excited he doesn’t want to listen to it anymore

[@DF-te2vm]

Just frikin fantastic

[@kikopup]

Thanks!

[@bretyoung1869]

You are amazing !! My Scottish Terriers whole life is hunting and chasing. Happy New Year 💟💐

[@mihalronen8457]

Fantastically helpful. Thank you, Emily. Boy, I have a lot of work to do to have my pup give me attention when visitors come by - one of his most exciting events of any day.

[@kikopup]

One thing you can do is meet the visitors outside go for a walk together, then come in, then after the dogs are bored of them, if the visitors are willing, you can practice them knocking and then coming in and greeting, when the dogs are not excited by it. I know its a lot to ask of visitors. Another thing you can do if the dogs are great at separation training, is to have the dogs put away in a room, you announce you have visitors and then the dogs can hear them and calm down and then come out in 5-10 mins. You need to know your dog though, as some dogs this will make them more stressed while for others the opposite.

[@charityblackwell2331]

Fantastic advice :)

[@kikopup]

Thanks so much for the comment!

[@murwill1]

Thank you

[@tedjack9184]

You don't see this every day: A terrier being calm around rabits and squirrel. Counter conditioning works! We have learned a lot from your VOD "Harnessing the Hunter'. A detailed guide to get your dog calm around wildlife.

[@kikopup]

Thanks Ted :)

[@Sunshine_7x]

My terrier is always trying to eat my mom's chickens. I can't believe yours just walks by them😂😂 Very good training 👏🏽👏🏽

[@fannitrainedstars]

Yeees, thank you sooo much for this. I use postive reinforcement to train my dogs, it is an amazing training method. I sometimes use a Long Lead Leash as well. ♥️😍

[@kikopup]

I plan to make a video on using a long lead one day when I have time, as well as give the 101 cautions to avoid getting hurt by them :)

[@fannitrainedstars]

@@kikopup That would be great, thank you for all your hard work and help Emily!! 😍🤗

[@MrDirkles]

That is amazing. MY sprocker spaniel goes mad when the ice age film comes on the tv but she also goes mad for blowing leaves.

[@kikopup]

I let my dogs howl like crazy when they hear men on the radio singing in high pitched voices

[@leedsbutler3567]

Foster and I really appreciate you.

[@catanddog2091]

Another brilliant video and resource - the guidance you give is so practical and achieveable. You've always got the dog's welfare at heart. Thank you Kikopup!

[@joycesobey5686]

I can't wait for to see the video on how you did this

[@kikopup]

I do have a video on demand called harnessing the hunter on my website, but I will at some point do a video on the protocol for youtube :)

[@Lucamitm]

@@kikopup did you upload this video ? Any videos that could help with a scent oriented dog that forgets I’m there if the scent is too good. Thanks

[@1316Salva]

I'm so waiting for that video on the over excitement protocol ^_^

[@kikopup]

I was just about to make one and then I got the puppy Epic... who had separation anxiety... So my plans to get a team together to do some hours of training and filming went down the drain... My protocol is here but there is no video of it yet. dogmantics.com/protocol-for-emotional-and-behavioral-modification/

[@samoyedbodza4274]

Thank you Emily!! Every dog owner should see this! I have a question: This obviously does not go well with herding behaviour. How well do you think species-specificity can be achieved, say, if I want my dog to herd sheep and not chase wild goats and deers? Would it be all-or-nothing? (And since it is the first time for me commenting, thanks so much for everything you do! You really made a difference for my pup and me!)

[@kikopup]

I would build the cue "leave it" (this video goes over using leave it away from dogs and people but the same applies to prey) kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJu8l36BZpyNeNU But you can teach dogs the difference, and you certainly wouldnt want a dog so over aroused when herding that they couldnt listen and move away from the sheep and come back to you so using +R to have impulse control around other animals would be beneficial to your herding training.

[@2020mira]

Great video Emily. Will this method help for dogs that distracted by other dogs as well?

[@recycledMilk]

i grew up with a Jack Russel and the thought that a terrier would be so calm around rabbits is crazy to me! we are planning to bring home a sighthound puppy next year so this concept is super intresting and i hope we'll be able to use it to make off leash walkies possible!

[@jeanrenelatraille6421]

Hi Emily. First thanks for your videos, I am a big fan of your channel. I have to say that I am really struggling to apply some of the concepts you are presenting here to my own situation. I think it is fantastic that you were able to train your dogs to not chase rabbits or squirrels but it seems to me that this is related to the fact that you have a lot of opportunities to train your dogs to ignore these distractions. There are two animals that I have not been able to teach my dog not to chase and they are deers and bears. I have deers or bears in my yard about once a month. My dog is not always outside when this happens, so I do not even get 12 opportunities a year to try to train her around these distractions. Ultimately, for deer, I would just like her to ignore them and for bear, I would like her to bark but not to chase them. She has already crossed the street twice because she was chasing a deer. For the bear, I am usually not concerned because they just run away but recently there is a really young bear that keeps coming into my yard and I am afraid my dog will end up in a fight with the mom. I now go outside to inspect the surrounding making sure I cannot see a bear before I let her out, which is quite ironic because I got the dog to protect my kids from the bears in the first place. Now I have to protect my dog from the bear. Anyhow, do you have any suggestions for me? Thanks in advance.

[@kikopup]

Yeah I agree, with a large predator coming in your yard... I would just try to make your yard less appealing... remove food and water and entertainment. I actually was upset all the squirrels and rabbits were in my yard as I thought it would lure in the bob cats coyotes and mountain lions to see my yard as a place to find prey. So I am really considering getting fake grass in the back. You could work with other scenarios like with horses and livestock if you were really interested in tackling the problem. But no doubt if you were sitting in your own back yard and you saw a bear enter... youd freak out. So most dogs would also freak out too. My dogs dont bark when peopel come in the front of my house but when someone thought to come in the back of my yard in the night, well the did bark to say "this is not right". You could also create a smaller safer area, Like an enclosed porch for the kids and dog to be let out into. I actually might do something like that myself, as every toilet break I have to be out there with my dogs so they dont turn into snacks

[@NicoleDime1]

Just recently found your channel and absolutely love your videos! They are so insightful. 😄 I don't have dogs at the moment, but I actually gonna try to use some of your training methods with my cats! My cats are handfuls and I think training my cats will be a real benefit for them and me. 😸

[@kikopup]

Oh thats great!

[@LolaLolaHulaHula]

Thanks so much for this video and PDF, would love to see more videos on this! My dog gets very over aroused by different smells and I'm just wondering if you could approach that in a similar way? I'm worried she will never have a good recall because she gets obsessive about following scents!

[@kikopup]

As you can imagine, its an important video to make, and so I always put it of "ill do it when I have more time" then years go by.... So I should just do it and not put so much importance on it as I can always remake it.

[@fraliak]

Wow, I just discovered this channel and it is awesome! I'm working on getting my 2 year old pitt/GSD mix to pay attention to me and not chase wildlife outside. It's tricky because I adopted her earlier this year and she was never walked before, so she's so overwhelmed and overstimulated by the world! Just wondering, will you be releasing any videos for download in the future? I was going to purchase the harnessing the hunter video, but I would rather buy a download if that's an option. Thanks again! I'll definitely be checking out your other videos on youtube.

[@kikopup]

Im afraid its not downloadable because it was made by a company that didnt give me the right to offer downloads. :(

[@fraliak]

@@kikopup no worries! I bought it anyway and it’s great!

[@Elllo19]

Hi I just discovered your videos and love the ! Could you do more separation anxiety videos? My 2 year old dogs, get highly stressed when I'm not at home. How do I teach them independence in an apartment living? No crate training

[@kikopup]

Ok :) What I like to do is teach a new place to be left and build it from scratch, like in a bed room etc at first (first in a pen then loose if appropriate). And start by teaching a settle leaving and coming back with music and gradually increasing the time, but that you are always home when they are in there, so they don't know if your home or not and its just about relaxing on their beds when they go in there. I have this video you probably saw already kzbin.info/www/bejne/foi3and_bM2AnNE

[@emmabakehouse8424]

Thanks so much for the video they are great. We have a 7. month old cavapoo who is deciding not to listen/getting very aroused by environment. We've watched this video, and the dog training recall game, the video on dog paying attention to us first. Should we work on them at the same time or one before others? He was good at coming to "come", but very hit and miss now. Lastly we don't use a clicker only the word "yes" to mark. Should we add a clicker, is it beneficial at this stage? thanks again

[@1316Salva]

Right now, for general over excitement outside (prey, dogs, places to go, etc), do you recommend you harnessing the hunter vod or the leash walking connected?

[@katieb8278]

Great video, as usual! Such an innovative approach. I know I will never be able to offer food that can compete with my hound's prey drive, and this may be the key! However, I don't want to train away her arousal completely. I want her to chase squirrels out of the yard, but not to lose control when we see a deer on a walk. Can I have it both ways?

[@eriknissen4004]

Did you ever do a video on your protocol? I need this for my Aussie. If not, where do you have the lessons?

[@marizionm9520]

Hey kilo, me and my wife are so greatful for all the amazing videos and how we have learned that positive training is the way to go, we will get a cavalries King Charles spaniel in a couple of months and have been studying of all the correct behaviors and training. But we are terrified about crate training (or in this case puppy play pen with a crate and potty grass) we were wondering if you have any videos about how that setup should be and how to deal with a puppy that whines for attention eventhough in the play pen with toys. Because cavaliers are super emotional and require attention, but we don’t want to give excess of attention to creste a fearful dog. If you could help us or have a video about that would be great. And we don’t know until when should we keep him confined, and when we should introduce him to one roommate then the whole house

[@kikopup]

This video explains about separation training kzbin.info/www/bejne/foi3and_bM2AnNE Attention isn't what creates the issue. What is really important is teaching the dog to be comfortable and relaxed when alone. One doesnt affect the other. I do however suggest that its great if breeders work on it with the puppies before they come to their new homes. But most breeders dont do that. 8 week old puppies sleep a lot, and I suggest from day one that you use these times to put the puppy in the pen on a bed, and sit in the pen with the pup until they fall asleep then sneak out and leave the door open or be within ear shot to be there when the puppy wakes up to let them out. It would be a great video topic.

[@blazedones]

This is actually beyond complicated what you just broke down. But thank you because it makes perfect sense to me for some reason. My dog is very dog reactive/bike reactive. So, im assuming all i need to do is take him by areas (but far enough away so he sees the stimuli but far enough away to not cause over reaction. Also, im assuming, using food or toy at first; that i would have to move farther back if there is a reaction that I cannot correct with the toy or food. If wanting to only use positive methods (using the withholding of the food for duration i would assume but this is pos punishment to achieve reinforcement). But as success increases outside with higher stimuli getting closer and closer as a high rate of success of listening is achieved. Then eventually should be able to train or recall the dog around what ever stimulus was affecting them previously. Hopefully my simplified version is good. But I think I get it

[@analarana007]

Hi Emily, first of all, I want to thank you all the knowledge you share. I have a specific question about which of your videos to purchase in order to solve a problem at home. I have a mixed breed dog. Her mom is a Yorkshire. He is two years old. I also have cats. He has always chased them, and the cats didn’t really care too much about it. They weren’t happy with that, but they where not fearful. He spent the lockdown away from home, in a house in the country with other dogs. The problem is that one of the cats became very comfortable without the dog, and when he came back, he got very scared, He can’t stand being around the dog, and the fact that he keeps chasing him, doesn’t help. I want my dog to be calmer in general, but also to be able to be in the same room with the cats, and just ignore them. I have the hope that this way, It might be posible for the cat to be less scared of him. Which of your videos do you think would help me most? Thank you in advance

[@annettedallnielsen2516]

Would this work on a very sniffy Toller? He dosen't pull alot but he is always distacted by a scent and is wanting to stop and snif or pull mildly towards the scent and his recall is pretty great as long as there isen't a exciting scent near by 🤦‍♀️

[@joannaycwang2706]

Thank you Emily for another great video! My question is: before our puppy can be relaxed to most of the stimuli like yours do, how should we respond during this time for unpredictable situations and not accidently reinforce it? For example, our 1 year old Aussie is very reactive when dogs walk pass by our fence or when she hears strange sound from outside, she will bark like crazy or try to chase the dog by the fence. Most of the time when i noticed it's already too late cause she has better hearing than me and I would immediately recall her back (sometimes fail) or ask her to do something else to distract her like "touch" to stop her from keep barking. A puppy trainer we worked with once told us any attention/acknowledgement to the dogs can be a reinforcer to unwanted behaviors. So i wonder what's the best actions a dog owner should do at the moment when their dogs are triggered by a stimuli? If you have any suggestions we will be really appreciated. thank you so much! ( adding to the note that we have been practicing relax and desensitizing since she was a puppy and are still working on different situations and items, especially she just turned one and seemed to enter her fearful stage :) )

[@kikopup]

This video shows the same dog Wish as a puppy- you can see shes excited by movement and what I do kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnSxlKRtgL50hMU this article dogmantics.com/solving-barking-at-noises/ and no,when dogs are scared and barking or aroused and barking attention will not reinforce it. If the dog barked AT you for pets then it would. Its like if you jumped at the toaster and then you ate the toast, it wont make you more likely to jump when the toaster goes off.

[@carolinehowitt588]

Emily This makes so much sense. Do you have any advice for a dog obsessed with food? I don't know how to work with this issue. Perhaps i have inadvertently caused it 🙄

[@kikopup]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoObZGSHZ8upY7c I do have a video on that. Some dogs its in their personality, so youd need to be doing brush up training regarding excitement over food.

[@carolinehowitt588]

@@kikopup Thanks so much for responding Emily. I will have a look at your video. Really appreciate it.

[@glennrea971]

It totally makes sense, but we have a high prey drive 2.5 year old rescue husky (she had puppies at 11 months, so grew up way too fast without training). Sometimes she just decides to ignore us. We have been using positive reinforcement for the last year and a half. Could you please tell us on average approximately how many total hours of training this way are required to train a reliable recall for a dog like ours when she wants a rabbit, squirrel, cat, etc? This would help with lunging on walks as well I think. Thanks very much!

[@elizazanuso519]

Do you do zoom consults? I need help with my dog. She chases Lizards, which in Aus also means shed chase a snake.

[@GavnerWinterLuver]

Is there any way you can train to be calm around stimuli without the mat? My dog has a place command that has him laying down and calm but it’s a karunda bed so not practical to carry around lol

[@theamziss]

I unintentionally completely desensitized my high prey drive greyhound to cats outside withouth using any rewards or corrections. When he first came to us after we adopted him he'd freeze and/or lounge whenever he saw a cat and would be completely fixated. I would in the beginning try to pull him away, but he'd resist a lot and I'd have to drag him which didn't seem healthy to do. Ofcourse no treat, toy or praise could snap him out of it. I ended up just letting him look at the cat for...forever. After about 30 minutes to an hour he'd usually eventually decide to stop staring at the cat or would sniff a bush and that's when I took the opportunity to take him along. Sometimes after a few steps, he'd look back and do the same, but I'd just wait it out again. I'd do this every walk. Throughout the period of a few months I noticed it'd take him less and less time to decide to stop fixating on the cat. Sometimes I'd even let him go after the cat (on a leash) and have him take a look from the cat closer by or have him sniff where the cat was. In the beginning he was super eager to do this, but after a while you could tell that cats simply became a boring thing to him. He'd see them multiple times everyday for months and months, while being allowed to look at them forever. Now, 2 years later, he has almost 0 interest in cats and seems to actually avoid them. He really just wants to continue his walk whenever he sees one. No corrections and no rewards were used. I can recall him perfectly around cats, not because I thought him recall around cats, but because he is just not interested in them. Of course recall would not have worked the first day I got him. I did not expect his preydrive for cats to diminish like this, but by allowing him to fixate on cats so often for such long periods I actually unexpectedly ended up with a dog that has no interest in them. Currently his preydrive is still high towards rabbits, but I assume that's simply because we see them a lot less often and because rabbits tend to run away as soon as you spot them. When we go to a petshop and I let him stare/fixate on the pet rabbit behind the glass, he will after 10 minutes get bored and do something else. We also have budgies in our room. When we first got him he'd jump up at the cage and or would stare at them all the time. Sometimes he'd get bored, but whenever they made a noise he'd fixate on them again. We did not let him jump the cage, but we'd allow him to fixate on the birds all day long. You can imagine now, years later, the birds are like air to him. So are all other birds outside.

[@kikopup]

That's awesome! The reward was to walk toward the cat, and then when to repeat it again and again the reward starts to loose value and then the scales tip and the dog is starting to prefer sniffing around and coninuing on the walk.

[@theamziss]

@@kikopup Thankyou! Allowing him to look at the cat and go towards it/sniff where it was does seem like a reward now that you mention it. Interesting :)

[@kat200214]

What a great video! It's very clear how much work you put into teaching your dogs to ignore (or be indifferent) about other animals roaming around. I do have a question about the last part of the video though. When you say that we can use the environment as a reward, I'm not really sure how to work that. My dog is a very intelligent husky mix that will quickly learn if the value of the reward is not to his standard for something, and not "obey" the next time. If he is sniffing something super interesting and I call him off of it, only to release him back, won't he find it useless? I'm not trying to be rude, just trying to understand! My dog often finds outside much more rewarding than high value treats and toys. Even when he's pretty calm outside, he will take a treat, but I'm sure that running after another dog, or sniffing a smelly piece of garbage is much more rewarding for him. I just can't help but think he'll think "Why would I go to you if I was sniffing this in the first place, only to be sent back?". Often when I've tried that it "ruined his fun".

[@kikopup]

Here is a video about teaching a recall from sniffing or eating using the method of letting them get to do it again- kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3inXn-wmMt8b9k Yes if you reinforce your dog for being with you they might stop wanting to do the ting they were doing, so its important if you see you have an amazing recall and attention to work on "go sniff" and "go play" more. Its like Yin and Yang. For anyone reading this, this doesnt teach a "default leave it" from stuff in the environment to do that you need to do this leave it game kzbin.info/www/bejne/hn3YfKGoi76gh9U

[@kat200214]

@@kikopup Thank you!

[@kat200214]

@@kikopup My dog is used to smelling when he wants on walks. Is it possible to train "go sniff" while still letting him sniff when he wants at times?

[@philospher77]

Hi! I am interested in this idea, but what if I actually do want my terrier to do some pest control and chase rabbits/squirrels out of areas, on command? Can I teach him that there are times that he is allowed to run and bark at them? I will say that he seems to find chasing them more fun than catching them. Never eats critters that he has killed, and seems very disappointed when they just lay there.

[@kikopup]

Yes you could. For some dogs its super easy, to be on and off other find it more challenging

[@yujiahuo5983]

Can you tell me more about a reasonable timeline for training calmness around highly arousing environments? How long does it take? I have a high drive herding mutt who is 10 months old, so part of the difficulty is due to her age, but I have been working on calmness and counter conditioning with her for many months already. It has been extremely hard to avoid reactions since there is always a risk anytime we leave the house, even just in our backyard. She is improving for sure, but very slowly and I don't know if we're on track and doing well or if we're falling behind.

[@kikopup]

It really depends on the dogs genes personality and how long the dog has been rehearsing the behavior. The key is to manage the environment as much as you can to prevent the rehearsal of the undesirable behavior as you set up training sessions to work on it.

[@MortonDana]

This is really interesting! I'm currently working with a family member's 14 month old GSP with really strong prey drive. Once he sees a bird he basically stops listening entirely, but his owner plans to hunt with him. We definitely still want him to be as interested in birds, but just to listen to us as well (we wouldn't want him to completely ignore birds if he was supposed to be hunting). Would the method in your "harnessing the hunter" video work with him? So many hunters use e collars and we do NOT want to do that!

[@Aedony]

Really interesting. It would solve countless issues for me and my dog, if I could figure out a way to make rabbits boring for her. Or any wildlife. She is a pointer from a hunting lineage and I can almost nowhere let her off leash (even though she needs the possible fun that comes with it badly) anywhere because she will rather go for a hunt. ... I could play ball with her or frisbee or .. ride the bike, all the nice things dogs without a super strong prey drive can enjoy off leash. It's a real struggle to keep her attention or keep her calm to allow her to pay attention. Please make that video.

[@kikopup]

I have a video on demand on that topic, dogmantics.com/product/harnessing-the-hunter-vod/ But I have yet to make more youtube videos on that. In the video on demand it really depends on the dog as to how fast they progress. And some dogs your goal might be to just ignore prey when on a leash or long line, not actually be loose.

[@dalehauer706]

I like this method but if i live in the suburbs wouldnt i have to go and practice this at dog parks, forests for wildlife, busy areas for places with lots of stimulation? I feel like this would work to an extent but if you ran into somthing you didnt train for your dog could still take off.

[@kikopup]

It really depends on the dog. Like if you had a beagle and only worked on birds in your yard and then your dog got hot on the trail of a rabbit for the first time yes. But if you worked on 3 of your dogs hardest distractions and played proofing games where the dog gets the concept of turning away from something they want then it wouldnt be a problem. Another thing to keep in mind is arousal, if a dog is too aroused even the distractions that are easy to come away from can be hard. The same with fear, if you have a dog thats suddenly scared of something.

[@megnissenclare8758]

Hi, can this strategy work on sighthounds? People often say you can’t let them off leash because their prey drive is too high!

[@kikopup]

I use my exs sighthounds that I lived with in the video on demand Harnessing the Hunter. It really depends on the dogs, some are easier than others some are harder.

[@beckygermain5465]

So, to be clear after teaching my 10 month old pup to settle first in non-reactive environments I gradually add distractions from a distance. The distractions should be those things that stimulated him to chase. I'm trying to get my head around the set- up for training this with rabbits, squirrels and birds. You said you used chickens and pet rabbits. I don't have ready access to any. Suggestions? How would you do this with wild critters since their occurrence is so unpredictable? I really need this with my pup so I can hike again with friends. Oh, and what if he's around other dogs that chase after I think we've got it? Thanks

[@imzadi83fanvids7]

Do you have access to a pet store that has those animals? Could you get some used blanket or a bedding from a farm rescue that has those critters scents on it you can at least use to practice with him turning away and recalling from the scent. Also I would do the work with the other dogs individually and add in another dog slowly. For example if your friends normally bring multiple dogs have them bring one and work on the training during a walk in a calmer environment (with your dog on a long line). When you start hiking in more stimulating environments or with more dogs (don't up both criteria at once) is there a place you can hike that's requires dogs on-leash? That would be good practice.

[@beckygermain5465]

@@imzadi83fanvids7 Pet stores are a great idea. I'll try that. Thanks for breaking down the distraction elements of hiking with other dogs. I've been keeping him on a long line with just me, so looks like a next step would be to add in one other dog. Sometimes it's too easy to get stuck looking at the problem rather than seeing a solution... Thank you for your training videos and scripts and I appreciate all your work and your feedback.

[@kikopup]

@@imzadi83fanvids7 great advice :)

[@kikopup]

It really depends on your situation, for me in California and when in sweden I found parking lots or barren areas, near grass areas where rabbits gather to eat the grass. So you can be further away or closer. Obviously you have to abort the training if you see someone coming and the rabbits are going to move... you could move behind your car in the parking lot etc.

[@beckygermain5465]

@@kikopup Thanks. Here in Alaska the squirrels are an easier set-up, as I can do classical conditioning just sitting on my porch when I hear them or he sees them. The rabbits are a lot more elusive, so the scent on something might work better. I also just purchased a rabbit skin tug toy I thought I might try to use somehow. But I don't want it to get him more excited about rabbits.

[@TmHudsonArt]

Not sure if you ever noticed with premack which you described towards the end but I find when doing sessions of premack, the dogs start to just want to hang around me and wait for me to say something else and start to actually ignore the fun stuff they would have gotten to do as a reward...it's as if I became more rewarding than what i was trying to reward them with if you get me...

[@rebeccajones7762]

Okay so this is very inspiring and I’m really interested but.... I have a rescue racing greyhound who has been trained to chase small furry things. He’s 4 and stopped racing almost a year ago but his prey drive is strong. Is there any hope of overriding that?

[@thedoglifecoach5984]

100% depends on the dog.

[@kikopup]

It really depends on the dog as the other poster mentioned. But really anytime we can reduce the arousal and frustration its in the dogs best interest, as they most likely arent allowed to chase anything small and furry all the time. I dont have any public videos on youtube yet, but I have a video I made through a production company on it and the dogs I used were my exs rescue sight hounds dogmantics.com/product/harnessing-the-hunter-vod/ one who had a history of running loose and chasing prey.

[@farahziabutt9640]

Hello dear Emily I need your help/advise about my little pup Haru. He is 12 weeks old and had his vaccination, so he can walk outside now. He loves the grass but don't want to walk on the street. So What can I do to help him walk on hard surfeses outside? Thank you in advance! Btw I learn so much by watching your videos and every one I met with a dog I recommend your channel 😁 Can you help me with my struggle please? ❤❤❤

[@kikopup]

Will he walk on hard surfaces inside? you could set up obstacle courses of different surfaces in your house or yard to practice being brave going over different surfaces for clicks and treats. You can also try bringing high value treats with you and just marking for 1 paw on the hard surface at first. You can also try a longer leash so you can move further away from your puppy as sometimes if you are right next to them, they dont understand the concept of moving with you.

[@farahziabutt9640]

@@kikopup Ok i will try with high value treats on the street and see if he will walk. I have an appartement with balkony. Haru knows and does go potty or pee over there. So i think i should train him to go outside every hour or 2?

[@baylamakarov8701]

My dog is ecollar conditioned and but I prefer to have him recall to me with excitement for our interaction rather than escaping or avoiding the e collar pressure

[@kikopup]

That makes sense.

[@dobermanservicedogmilly3760]

Sure try this for a Doberman with a high working g drive with this method

[@bardo677]

In one video i was trying how Doris found jumping rewarding, it was a habit she came with. And shes good at it, so we used jumping for a ball a reward. Not interesting enough for KZbin apparently

[@dariarylkova5720]

What would the plan be to teach a dog a recall away from squirrels, if you were going to allow them to hunt squirrels? Does the calmness around critters generalize- eg would you need to train a separate recall away from skunks or if the dog has enough experience being "calm" around squirrels and rabbits, would that calmness likely generalize to skunks?

[@kikopup]

It really depends on how fast a dog generalizes to "all" critters. For some dogs if it were to move differently that would attract attention no doubt. sometimes I let my dogs chase prey where its not going to stress out the prey, to use it as a reinforcer but with clients I dont do this, I just use looking at the prey as a reinforcer in the beginning and then get them to ignore it later. kzbin.info/www/bejne/onvMkqONjrR7iKM If you do hunting you just need to proof the recall, starting easy and working hard in small approximations, calling away from an animal that isnt moving at a distance with the dog on a leash at first etc. Then if you hunt you can use chasing as the reinforcer once they learn the concept that chasing is contingent on coming back.

[@dariarylkova5720]

@@kikopup unfortunately skunks don't move out of the way :-)

[@michabrzozowski1486]

I've been teaching the dog calm settle in a park and he's good at staying down, but stares quite intensely at other dogs walking by, is this fine or should I move further away so that he's completely bored?

[@kikopup]

Yeah I would try from further away, also try an environment where there’s a flow of stuff in the distance not just 1 person or dog going by becuase most dogs especially herding dogs will just stare at that dog because there nothing more interesting

[@l26wang]

You mentioned not rehearsing the undesirable behaviour. I'm not sure how I can control that in my situation. Does the age of the dog come into it? My 14 month old poodle/shepherd mix is very small animal reactive. We live in an area with a lot of squirrels, this time of year they are busy running about collecting acorns. My dog sees at least 4-5 on our morning walks on leash, each time he goes nuts, jumping up flipping 360s nipping at the leash. There are maple trees in our backyard and when he goes out to do his business, there is often squirrels around. He'll spend a good part of the day looking out the back door and if he sees squirrels, he'll jump about 2 meters screeching and scratching wanting to go get'em. Luckily he's never actually caught anything. How can I stop him rehearsing the bad behaviour given all the variables I can't control?

[@zariacaprio1491]

I totally feel this! My dog's biggest problem in the house is stealing food. I'm trying to limit the behavior as much as possible but with 6 kids constantly leaving food around it feels impossible.

[@kikopup]

Sometimes you can never manage something completely, and it is a big pain and change in your life to have to do it. One way to manage is to block the view so the dog cant see the squirrels from inside the house and put on white noise if the squirrels make noise. You could then go outside first to chase the squirrels away before letting the dog out. On walks you could drive to a mall parking lot and walk there. If you were to start working with being calm around wild life, you could go somewhere like a park with a parking lot where you can move away from where they are and block the dogs vision with the car etc. You could also work on a cue like "leave it" and use that for situations where the dog is a little to close for comfort. In this video you can see the yorkieswant to bark at dogs outside kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJu8l36BZpyNeNU When a dog is on a leash or behind a barrier seeing and reacting to something it can just get worse and worse. So I would actually put all the effort in now that you can to start working on it. Its not going to be a quick fix when a dog gets that aroused. It will take at least 12 training sessions to start to see a difference, just like fitness training, youre not going to just do 2 days of fitness training and see and feel any result, it takes at least 12 sessions of doing something for change to happen. The same works with the brain when working on something like a dog having an extreme reaction to a stimulus.

[@kikopup]

​@@zariacaprio1491 Oh gosh... That is a tricky one. I do have a counter surfing video, but I feel like its kind of hard to ask a dog to leave food lying around in his own home if its on the floor for example. I know my own dogs arent foodies but I did have a beagle before and wow she would get stressed by the smell of food being out. I suggest perhaps focus on training the kids games of where to put their food, perhaps create a place like a basket ball net they toss in their trash and a station where they keep unfinnished snacks like a "secret food drawer"... But still I can imagine... it will take some time to change kid behavior too.

[@TheSfoil]

I have a husky with a very high prey drive who was hunting and scavenging her food until she was two. It'd be get if she ignored prey animals, but I'm not sure this would work with her.

[@kikopup]

I do have a video on demand where I use two rescue hunting dogs in the video dogmantics.com/product/harnessing-the-hunter-vod/

[@TeslaNick2]

That should work to your advantage. Once she realises you are an abundant source of high value resources, she'll be busting her *ss to work for you.

[@skatemore33]

What do you do if you have adult dogs with whom you've done many of the "don't do this" things due to bad advice from other trainers?

[@kikopup]

It's no big deal. Just focus on a training plan for the future. For some dogs there are certain things that are harder to train than others. All dogs have issues, some dogs the issues take more time. As you saw even I made a mistake assuming my little dog was going to be a super chill easy dog. What I shouldnt have done was film him, I should have scooped him up and changed the picture as fast as I could to prevent him rehearsing being in that state for any longer, rather than film him for "proof" when people tell me I have easy dogs because I am a trainer. We have to let go of the past, and move on and understand we will also make mistakes in the future. The thing to be proud of is modifying your training plan when you make mistakes.

[@TeslaNick2]

Don't feel bad about it. You are only as good as the information you are given.

[@zariacaprio1491]

@@TeslaNick2 wow I love that shep/collie on your screen name! Also I see your comments on so many videos I watch, are you a trainer or just a great owner? Edit: lol I just realized it's the kikopup logo, are you a member or something? I've never seen that with other channels.

[@skatemore33]

@@kikopup Thank you so much.

[@TeslaNick2]

@@zariacaprio1491 The little icon is because I'm a patreon patron.

[@stowesuz]

What do your dogs really like to do most? A serious question: How much time, what percent of your dogs’ day is free play, and what does free play look like?

[@kayeherriott8783]

I would prefer a demonstration

[@calltoarms7847]

Wouldn't this be counter productive for say, a hunting dog, ratting dog, or other dogs whose job it is to catch prey? How would you go about training a recall without altering their prey drive?

[@DynastyTrickDogs]

interesting

[@DaveDEF82]

But how to do it with a dog that is not supposed to be calm in all those circumstances for example because it is a working hunting dog?

[@kikopup]

Well the wonderful thing if you are doing that is you can reinforce the dog with letting him hunt. And you can make hunting contingent on listening to you.

[@DaveDEF82]

@@kikopup Thank you so much for taking the time to answer!

[@countryliving4890]

I have a lab he’s big 7 mos old how do I hold him

[@kikopup]

Id work on leash walking skills in your house and yard using distractions that make him want to pull toward, so you are safe and can work on the pulling issues where he can concentrate and take food, I suggest playing this game kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3yqaWx9i7R9n68&vl=en

[@celsinho6311]

You show your dogs in this video, but I would like to learn how to help a dog that runs after animals without using aversives. Please post a video of before and after a dog you helped.

[@kikopup]

My video on demand features sighthounds you could buy that and watch it if you want. It has the before and after in it but I dont like showing other dogs "before" in my channel its pointless as you can make any dog look "bad" if you want to.

[@manicksgaming6949]

what other stuff i can use besides clicker

[@kikopup]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/g2elXoRqYtOkhMk How to train without a clicker

[@littleblackboxxx]

Great concept, but it isn’t practical for wildlife that isn’t consistently present in the environment. I live in the woods, but deer, fox and wild turkey aren’t hanging around regularly enough to set up training scenarios for desensitization. These animals also flee the moment they notice people / dogs, even at great distances. Random, sudden encounters with wildlife like this is exceedingly difficult to train for with a highly prey driven dog.

[@TeslaNick2]

You'd be surprised how far you can go, but I'd have to agree, you ain't stopping a GSP chasing a fleeing deer, regardless of method of training. Fortunately those dogs are few and far between.

[@puudathemeow5593]

How do you get a Norwegian Elkhound with idiotically high prey drive to come when called? Cats, other dogs and humans are no problem but she gets way too wound up when hunting elk and just hyperfocuses and ignores recalls. I don't think it's going to be too easy to find elk close enough to counter condition her on them and the owner want her to be a functional hunting dog, which she is absolutely not at the moment but a dog ignoring elk would probably not be any better. How should one start working on this?

[@lorenanava642]

Omg! My dog sounds exactly like Tug! I call it his ultrasonic whine.

[@kombinatsiya6000]

I wonder if you can train your dogs to catch and release the rabbits and squirrels without harming them?

[@kikopup]

I would worry the dog might get bitten up and that the rabbit might break their back trying to escape which can happen when they kick around. There are some great traps where you can relocate them. Here in California you have to re release them no more than 1 mile from your home to prevent the spread of disease.

[@Makingtrax]

But how do you do this with a hyper collie who is triggered by so many different things: cars, people, cyclists, wildlife of all kinds, doors shutting, garden machinery, electric whisks, even rustling tin foil makes him bark and zone out?

[@ara5004]

baby steps

[@Wolffeathers21]

I get so frustrated when I see your dogs behaving PERFECTLY. I feel like I'll never get there. My puppy doesn't care about food or toys or praise because he gets bored of stuff so quickly :(

[@kikopup]

The key is building the behaviors in training sessions inside your house with proofing games so that the dog isnt distracted while learning and you are the most reinforcing thing there. kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3inXn-wmMt8b9k Have you tried this recall proofing game inside?