The ultimate guide to teaching your gundog an emergency recall
Collette May 
Why you need an emergency recall and how to teach your gundog to come back even if they're on a retrieve.
Every dog owner knows the importance of a reliable recall. Teaching them to come back when called, preferably the first time they’re called, and without needing to scream at the top of your lungs, is one of the first things we do with our puppies.
But what happens when your gundog is in the throes of a retrieve, so focused on the task at hand that your usual recall cue falls on deaf ears?
Well, let me introduce you to the emergency recall, a powerful tool that can help you regain control in challenging situations.
Why you need an emergency recall.
All dogs should have a good recall for safety reasons. Many trainers argue that your dog should ALWAYS come back immediately when you give your normal recall cue.
This is great in theory, but sometimes you need something more powerful to get through to your dog.
At working tests and trials, if your dog doesn’t pick in a reasonable amount of time, you will be asked to call your dog up. But when your gundog is out on a retrieve, determined to find the dummy or bird, getting them to come back empty-mouthed can be a challenge.
Some dogs will listen to the recall but think that you’re about to handle and redirect them onto the retrieve. And so they will only recall part of the way, usually at a slow pace.
For other dogs, if they're a fair distance away and really in the hunting zone, your recall whistle can easily go "unheard".
While others will have learnt that the recall whistle means "come back with the thing I sent you for", so instead of returning without the dummy or bird, they keep looking so that they can complete their job.
Then, when you do manage to get them to return to you, it's often hard to make it rewarding enough that they want to do it again in the future, especially if you're just offering a piece of cheese or a bit of praise.
A lot of our sensitive dogs don’t like getting it wrong either. They struggle with the disappointment of not finding and being called back. This means that they can go flat if they feel like they have done a bad job and it can affect the rest of the day’s training, working or competing.
What is the emergency recall?
The emergency recall is a unique whistle tune paired with a reward that your dog finds absolutely irresistible, like chasing a ball you've thrown.
It ensures that your dog will always come back and is ideally used when you need to call your dog off a retrieve, for instance, if they've been called up at a working test or trial, or if you're on a shoot and the bird's no longer there.
When paired with something they really love, it can stop the dog from feeling like they’re being punished for not finding and so it avoids them going flat during training or competing.
Teaching your gundog an emergency recall
Before you teach an emergency recall, it's crucial to teach a "get it" cue. This cue gives your dog permission to chase a ball on cue, without ruining their steadiness.
Once your dog understands the "get it" cue, you can start to pair your emergency recall whistle tune with the reward of chasing a ball. After your dog associates the whistle tune with the reward, you can test the emergency recall while out on a walk.
The goal is to have your dog rush straight back to you when they hear the cue. When they do, you can give your "get it" cue and throw the ball behind you for them to chase.
It's important to throw the ball behind you so that the pattern is to come back to you as fast as they can without wanting to slow down in anticipation of the ball being thrown in front of you.
If your dog doesn't respond as expected, don't worry. You can revisit the first stage to make sure they know what the whistle means. You can also try reducing the distance between you and your dog.
Testing the emergency recall
When you're confident that your dog understands the emergency recall, you can test it by recalling them off a retrieve.
For this exercise, the dummy should be a good distance away to give you enough time to send your dog and then give your emergency recall cue.
This isn't something you want to repeat often, as you don't want to create a sticky dog. It's just to test that they understand the emergency recall means "stop whatever you're doing and come back now", even if they haven't picked the retrieve.
If you're concerned about training this on dummies, you could pretend to hide a dummy and spread the dummy’s scent in the grass but not leave it down for your dog. You can then send them to hunt the area and recall them off, knowing they're not going to ignore you and pick the dummy anyway.
Alternatively, if your dog lacks confidence in holding an area or you've struggled to build confidence running out to blinds, you can scatter some treats in the grass and recall them away from hunting for food.
Conclusion
Teaching your gundog an emergency recall is a valuable training exercise that means you’ll always be able to get your dog back to you. And that they’ll be happy to come back without feeling like they’ve done something wrong.
Remember, the key is to make the emergency recall as rewarding as possible for your dog. While I haven’t met a keen retriever who doesn’t love to chase a ball, if your dog would prefer something else (I’ve seen someone give their dog a whole chicken breast before!) then reward them with that instead.
Etiquette tip: if you’re training in a group and plan to use your emergency recall with a thrown ball as a reward, tell people before you do it so that it doesn’t catch them off guard and they can make sure their dog is steady.
Finally, if you need to call your dog up at a working test or trial, don’t worry about not being able to reward them on this occasion. Just make sure you add a few reps to your training the following week with the reward so your dog knows that the emergency recall is still worth zooming back for.
If you're looking for more useful exercises and drills like this, why not take a look at our monthly membership? This gives you access to an extensive library of training videos, including teaching the "get it" cue, holding an area and emergency recall. More information can be found by clicking here.