5 Fool Proof Ways To Perfect Shih Tzu Recall
Does your Shih Tzu come when called or is he always going and sniffing something else instead? Perhaps your dog runs the other way or you have to chase him around before you can go home from the park. Fear not for we have the answer, take a look at our 5 fool proof ways to ensure your Shih Tzu recalls perfectly!
1 Be Interesting
Why would your Shih Tzu want to come back to you when you are the least interesting thing in the area? If there are other dogs to play with, ducks to chase or even interesting things to sniff and you put no effort in to be interesting too, then your dog is unlikely to feel inspired to come running when you call.
2 Be Motivating
A good part of being interesting is to be motivating. By properly motivating your Shih Tzu you will automatically become more interesting. A toy, treat or even a highly rewarding voice with lots of fuss will keep your Shih Tzu interested enough to race towards you when you call.
3 Be Aware
Being aware of what is going on around you is a huge aspect when teaching recall to your Shih Tzu. The most important part of successful dog training is that you always set your dog up to succeed. So, by calling your Shih Tzu back when he is looking for his next activity is far more likely to succeed than calling him back when he has found something wonderfully interesting to sniff.
Watch your dog’s body language. The moment he looks at a loose end wave your motivation in the air and call him back at that exact point.
4 Be Rewarding
Always reward your Shih Tzu with something that he really likes when he comes back to you. You might not feel like it particularly if he took a while but think about it, your dog came back so you must make it worth his while or next time he will take even longer to come running when you call.
Take some time to work out which rewards your Shih Tzu likes best of all and use them for recall, so that he comes back first time and every time. This may be treats, a squeaky toy or just a big cuddle.
Another aspect of this is to make sure that you do not always clip the lead on and go home every time you recall your Shih Tzu. If you do this, he will soon learn that being called means the end of a walk and think twice about whether he wants to come back at all.
5 Allow Sufficient Exercise
Sufficient exercise means that you ensure your Shih Tzu is well walked. At least walked enough to meet his physical and mental needs. Your dog needs to sniff, play, run and meet other dogs every single day for up to an hour. If your Shih Tzu is going home unsatisfied by his walk he often won’t want to go home at all.
We hope these 5 ways to ensure perfect Shih Tzu recall help, do let us know how you get on, thanks for reading!
