[yorkietalkjilly]

Oh, Megansmomma, you are absolutely right if you are referring to daily regular training but we are talking about charging a name for recall training - one of the most critical things you EVER want your dog to learn so I would like to disagree with you just a little bit on the name-charging issue. That and the "stop", "stay" commands have got to be taught with the greatest reward known to dogdom attached to them. I'll just give you my quick "take" on it and ya'll can take it or leave it regarding recall and "stop", "stay".

Recall training as OP posted seems to be something we do occasionally when our dog stops responding in a critical manner to its name being called and that instance of training is what I was addressing. This is appa ently a dog that knows its name but has stopped responding. To me this instance has got to be addrssed as a critcal issue.

It usually is only done every so often and is rare training and a high-value meat treat is hard to beat with a dog. The dog may get a whole half a hotdog in that training session and you won't need to repeat that high-value charging session for weeks or months - so it should not really hurt the dog's health. A charging session such as I described related to name ignoring is not something you even need to do every day or every week. It would be like us having an ice cream sundae once every few months - not great for us but like a half a hotdog every so often, it shouldn't damage actual health.

Now if you are training daily at something, I would do as Megansmomma says and
use a healthy treat. I use Tibbe's own kibble for treats - those are his regular training "paychecks" and bless his heart he works his heart out for them. But when I am training recall to his name, I charge his name with a high value treat of loud-smelling meat. Liver would probably smell louder but I never have any of that on hand.

I have personally attempted charging Tibbe's name with green beens(a veggie fav or his) but it is not nearly as dear to him as hotdog! He responds but not like his life depends on it. So if your dog responds wonderfully and like he is going to break his neck to get to a veggie treat, use that but if it is not really, really dear to him, I would change to a high-smelling meat treat for name charging. My son who is a dog trainer uses only meat treats for name-charge treats as he says it is so critical for the dog to attach only the highest value smell and satisfaction sensation with that name. You can of course praise and kiss and love him when he comes but the good old loudsmelling,just-cooked chicken or just microwaved hotdog will truly drive your dog nuts to get to it when you call his name. You really want that dog to come running for all he's worth when he hears that name called and most doggies run hardest for some type of hot meat. Then, for your regular training, use the more healthy type treats and lots of patience and praise, love and positive reinforcement and your baby will work well.

Name charging, though, to me - and to my son who does this for his living - remains something sooooo important that you need to get right on that as one day your dog's life could depend on whether or not he comes when you call. Also teach the command "Stop" or "Stay" and charge it with a very high value treat - your dog's life could one day depend on how well it follows that command.

I hope things go well and before long your baby comes runing to beat the bell when that name is called!