Question: Recently, my dog and I were at the dog park and I called her to me. Though she eventually came, along the way she visited with and slammed into other dogs and even ran in the other direction first. Should I have given her treats when she finally did turn up? If I leashed her at that point, did she think she was being punished for coming to me?
Response: Though it feels weird to reward a dog who takes so long to respond, I definitely recommend doing so. It wasn’t the recall you were looking for, but she did eventually leave whatever was so interesting and come to you. If you don’t make her glad she did, she will be even less likely to do so the next time. Whenever possible, reinforce her with treats or toys, then release her to go play again so she doesn’t associate coming to you with losing her freedom.
via Whisker Therapy