What are your thoughts on training timeline.  I see some that say let it be a pup, some say start now.  Give us some Age timelines that you follow.  What are your goals, know name by....know come by...know heel....can find birds....gun broke and so on until you can take the dog out and hunt over it.

Ericc - Not sure how Pixie does it, but I have two recalls. One I use in the obedience ring (come) and it means come and sit in front of me.  The other I use everywhere else (here) and it means drop whatever you are doing and get back to me fast and check in.  They do not have to sit on the here command, but come back to me.  I then release them to go back to whatever they were doing.  Both of these commands are recalls, but the end result is different.

I would like to teach Otto these two recalls. Would you share with me how you trained these concepts, or recommend a resource that gives good instructions? Thanks, NanVA.

I taught the formal obedience "come" first. Your dog needs to know sit and stay prior to teaching the recall.  For the formal "come", I put my dog on a six foot leash and have them sit in heel position.  I give them the stay command and walk out a short distance holding the leash.  I then turn and face the dog and say come.  If they do no come, give the leash a gentle pop an praise when they start to come toward you. When they come run back a few steps to encourage them as you reel in your leash.  Bring them to the front of you and help them sit.  Repeat until they know what you want.  Put them on a check cord and repeat from a further distance.  Once they are reliable on leash in a quiet area, I move to an area with more distractions, but still on leash.  Finally, when they are reliable on leash with distractions, I move back to an area with no distractions and work with the come command off leash.  Using the same methods starting from a shorter distance and increasing, then adding distractions. This process should not be rushed and it varies from dog to dog as to how fast you progress.  if the dog is catching on progress, if the dog seems confused or doesn't respond correctly back up. Repeat 100s of times for a reliable recall.  This sometimes takes a long time to perfect.

For the informal recall, I use the word "Here." This means come back and check in with me.  After the dog starts to understand come, I start training "here." I usually do it in a totally different environment like on a walk and I use a flexi leash.  I will let the dog wander on the flexi and then periodically say here.  If the dog comes, praise.  If not, give a little pop with the leash and praise.  Very quickly they will catch on to this command. This command only gets tough when they are off leash.  For some dogs you may need to use an ecollar to get to a reliable recall every time.  The reliable drop what you are doing and come every time recall is the hardest, but most important command to teach. It often takes 100s of reps and may not be achieved until the dog is 2 years old or so (depends on the dog).  However, it can save a dogs life. 

The use of an ecollar has been covered in several threads on the forum already.  If you have other questions, just ask.