Document the percentage of dogs in the playgroup that come to you when called.  You will call each dog to you individually using your come or recall cue.  A successful recall is when a dog that is at least 6 feet away from you responds to your cue within 3 seconds and comes close enough to you that you can pet the dog easily. 

Staff teams working very large groups of dogs need to subdivide the dogs and assign each person an equal number of dogs to recall.  (For example 3 staff are supervising 43 dogs in one play area.  From your list of dogs assign staff 1 – the first 15 dogs, staff 2 – the next 14 dogs and staff 3 – the last 14 dogs on the list).

To challenge advanced staff members get your staff together and create a list of your dogs that are “hard” to recall prior to starting the competition.  Advanced staff members will need to have success recalling a “hard” dog as part of their competition.  Be sure to work as a team and create your list prior to starting the competition and have all staff agree on the list of “hard” dogs.

Calculate your recall percentage:

Number of dogs with a successful recall divided by total number of dogs in playgroup (or total assigned to staff member from the group).

Example: 

Joe had 12 dogs in his playgroup and successfully recalled 9; his recall percentage is 75%.

Facilities starting with A-C – Enter your scores here

Facilities starting with D-L – Enter your scores here

Facilities starting with M-R – Enter your scores here

Facilities starting with S-Z – Enter your scores here

Event Goals: Dog Recall

• Novice: New employees or owners/ operators still in training to be off-leash dog playgroup attendants.
• Intermediate: Employees or owner/ operators that have completed training at a center and have one year or less experience leading dog playgroups.
• Advanced: Employees or owner/ operators that have one or more years of experience leading playgroups.

Competition Guidelines

• All dog management tools used during the competition events must be positive (e.g., body blocking, praise, verbal cues). Positive methods preclude the use of prong collars, choke collars, electronic shock collars, muzzles, and physical manipulation to handle dogs in off-leash play. Dog body language during the events should be green with minimal stress signals.
• No food or treat lures or rewards can be used
• Dog playgroups must be “as is” (e.g., you cannot put the hard dogs on a rest period during the event)
• The Dog Guru Community Honor Code is followed by honestly and accurately reporting starting benchmarks and event scores for individual performances
• Submit each individual’s starting benchmark and best event score during the competition week by the reporting deadline
• Late or no entry of results for an event will disqualify the center from the competition
• Take photos and share through social media and with The Dog Gurus
• Use #DaycareGames when you tweet on your success