Your dog comes back but circles just out of reach, which is a leash problem rather than a recall problem

You call, your dog turns, your dog runs in. Then at the last second they arc around you at arm's length, or they stop 4 feet short and wait. Your hand goes out and they are gone again.

Owners read this as a recall that half works. It is usually a recall that works fine attached to a collar grab your dog has decided against.

What your dog has actually learned

Think about what has followed the hand. The leash goes on, the sniffing stops, the field ends, and everyone gets in the car. Your dog has drawn a fair conclusion from a consistent pattern.

The swerve is not defiance and it is not your dog testing you. It is a dog keeping the good part of the afternoon going for another minute, which is what most of us would do.

Adolescence sharpens it. Around this stage dogs respond less to the cues of the person who raised them. Yours is now fast enough to hold a 4 foot gap indefinitely.

Change what the hand predicts

The repair is boring and it works: touch the collar a great many times when nothing follows. Do it indoors first, where there is nothing to lose by staying.

1. 1

   In the living room, hold a treat in one hand at your dog's nose height. As they eat it, slide the other hand under the collar and hold for one second.

2. 2

   Let go, say nothing, and walk away. Do 10 of these, twice a day, for a week.

3. 3

   Then do the same in the garden, then on the long line in a field. Same rule: touch, feed, release, walk away.

Never reach over your dog's head from above. Take the collar from underneath, at the chest, where your hand is visible the whole way in.

Stop ending the walk on a recall

1. 1

   On every walk, call your dog, hold the collar, feed 3 treats, and release them back to sniffing. Do it 5 or 6 times a walk.

2. 2

   Clip the leash on and off mid-walk, then unclip and let them go again. The leash has to stop meaning the end.

3. 3

   When the walk really is over, put the leash on 5 minutes before you leave and walk the last part of the field together.

This one change ends more circling than any recall drill, because it removes the thing your dog is avoiding.

What to do in the moment

1. 1

   Do not lunge, and do not follow. Reaching for a swerving dog teaches the swerve one more time.

2. 2

   Crouch side on, look at the ground, and scatter 5 treats between your feet. A dog with a nose down beside your shoe is a dog you can calmly take hold of.

3. 3

   Or turn and jog the other way. Most adolescent dogs will follow a person leaving before they will approach a person reaching.

How long this takes depends on how many years of hands meaning home your dog is carrying. A few weeks of collar touches for nothing is the usual shape of it.

Today's version, in one line: 10 collar touches indoors that lead to food and nothing else.