The Recall Trap: Is Your Dog’s Favourite Game Switching Their Ears Off?

Picture this: You’re out for a lovely stroll around Draycote Water or at GEC, Lower Hillmorton Road. You wave a tennis ball, run in the opposite direction, and watch your dog come charging back to you like a furry torpedo.

It feels like an absolute win and you feel great!

Your dog is listening to you!

If you have a dog that lives for the chase, it is incredibly tempting to use a ball or toy every single time you call them. It gets the job done, and frankly, it saves you from having to do the walk of shame across the park to retrieve them.

But during our recent Recall Workshop, we hit on a massive lightbulb moment that surprised a lot of owners: relying too heavily on the chase game might actually be the exact reason your dog’s ears suddenly stop working.

We are all about building confident, sociable, and easy-to-manage dogs—and the training part should be fun! But there is a hidden catch when it comes to high-speed games.

The Adrenaline Problem Here is what happens behind the scenes: The more your dog chases, the higher their arousal levels go. Eventually, that adrenaline hits the roof, and their brain simply cannot process anything else.

Their ears effectively "turn off." They are no longer listening to your voice or checking in with you; they are just blindly chasing a moving object. If you have ever noticed your dog's recall working beautifully for the first ten minutes of a walk, only for them to develop total selective hearing later on (unless you happen to have that magical ball in your hand!), this adrenaline spike is exactly why.

The Pro Tip: Keep Them Guessing You do not need to banish the tennis ball to the back of the cupboard, but you do need to manage the excitement.

• Don't rely on the chase for every recall. Pick and choose your moments.

• Mix up the rewards. Sometimes reward them with a calm, tasty treat, a brilliant chin scratch, or simply the cue to "go play" again.

• Keep the arousal in check. If you use the high-speed chase every time, you inadvertently train them to only return when there is a thrilling, high-stakes game involved.

By keeping them guessing, you keep their arousal levels manageable—and most importantly, you keep those ears switched on!

Struggling with a dog that only listens when they feel like it?

If your dog's recall is hit-and-miss, or they tune you out the second you unclip the lead on your Rugby dog walk, I can help.

With over 11 years of 5-star experience, my 1-to-1 dog coaching sessions are friendly, relaxed, and tailored to give you real-world results.

Email me HERE to book your 1-to-1 session and let's turn your dog walks back into a joy!