FF275 Coming Together: Reliable Recalls for Real Life
There’s nothing better than seeing your dog joyfully running full speed toward you just because you called their name... Except maybe when they do it at a busy dog park — or when they turn away from a deer mid-hike to choose you instead.
Course Details
Of course, the reverse is also true. Few things feel worse than calling your dog and watching them continue at full speed in the opposite direction.
Whether you’re just getting started teaching a recall or want to rebuild and strengthen one that isn’t as reliable as you’d like, this class is for you.
Over six weeks, we’ll teach a real-life recall from the ground up, focusing on helping dogs want to come to us and choose to stay engaged once they arrive. This is not a formal obedience recall. The emphasis is on relationship, reliability, and practical skills that translate directly to everyday life. We’ll build a strong reinforcement history for coming together, create clarity around what happens after your dog reaches you, and gradually introduce real-world distractions.
This class will give you a clear, step-by-step approach to teaching a recall you can trust.
Note: This class is not designed to rehab dogs who chase cars or extreme cases of chasing prey — for that, I recommend Tracy McLennan’s class. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to Melissa directly.
Teaching Approach:
This class will take a step by step approach. Each step will have written instructions with a corresponding video of each step. Videos tend to be short, with the occasional video that is a bit longer demonstrating one piece at a time.
Lectures are released weekly, at the beginning of each — then students work at their own pace. Feedback will mostly be written, however for gold students I will occasionally do a screen recording if I think the student might benefit from feedback on timing.
Syllabus
This is the first time this class has run, so lecture order and syllabus is likely to evolve as the class runs based on student skills and needs.
Week 1: Beginning of a Good Recall - Make it Fun!
- Rewards vs. Distractions: Evaluating what matters to your dog
- Foundations for a Great Recall
- Choosing a Final Behavior
- Games: Collar grabs, buffet feeding, no fail recalls, the get it game, the chase game
Week 2: Building Drive to Come
- The $100 Bet
- Games: Restrained Recalls, Hide & Seek, Choose to Check In, Focus Games
Week 3: The Importance of Choice
- The Importance of Choice
- Games: Bowl game, dead/inaccessible toy, recall off a person (if available), recall of a closed container
Week 4: Adding Distractions
- Moving things - oh my!
- Flirt pole recalls
- Foundations - Recall off another dog (if available)
- Chase game outside (added distraction)
Week 5: Taking It Into the Real World
- Choosing Your Next Location
- Acclimation & Focus Games Out and About: How do they compare to your baseline?
- Chase Game + Get It Game Out & About
Week 6: Proofing & Continuing to Build the Skill
- Work up to calling off treats
- New locations and new places (sniff spots, public areas, etc)
- Continuing to Build Your Skills
Prerequisites & Supplies
Instructor
Melissa Breau
Faculty
Melissa (she/her) is FDSA's resident marketing geek. She teaches several marketing classes here at FDSA, including: Marketing for Pet Professionals and Building a Wordpress Website. In addition to her marketing classes, Melissa teaches FDSA's Treibball Classes and workshops. (Click here for full bio and to view Melissa's upcoming courses)...