Apon thinking here, I will share what I tell my clients. To be honest, recalls are my favorite thing to teach! They are so fun!
The first thing I do with my clients who are having attention problems, which no recall is an attention problem usually, is to make a list of things that interest your dog. Everything from kibble, popcorn, hotdogs, and liver to deer poop, getting in the garbage, sniffing the ground and sniffing other dogs, to chasing squirrels, rabbits, cats, to tug and ball, to belly rubs, to laying down on the couch. List at least 20 things. They do not all have to be things you approve of, in fact list the things you have problems with the dog wanting to do! Make at least half things you find acceptable. It is OK if your dog isn't super interested in some of them, that will tell you something too. A little of everything.
I then have them rate these.
Mildly interested means that you can easily call them off that activity. My dogs will all come off the couch where they were getting petted to play ball, eat, or go outside. (Unlike Sis's Wally, who lying on the couch I bet would rate Highly interested!
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Moderately interested means that it definately keeps thier attention for many distractions. Kibble is a moderate interest for my dogs. It will keep them focused over being around strange people, but it will not help for squirrels.
Highly interested means that there are few if anything which will call the dog off this activity once engaged. Chasing squirrels, frisbee, cooked liver are a few of these things for my dogs. For Tallulah it is her basketball tug toy, and me running away from her.
Now when you have the list complete, you have three tools here.
One, you can see what drives your dog is strong and weak in. A dog which has all food and attention from people in the high, and all toys in the mild, is a high food and pack dog with low play drive. Dogs like mine tend towards high prey and play drive, low pack drive. They are moderately food driven. There are infinite combinations, every dog is different. This can help you pick a sport appropriate to your dog.
Two, you know what things you need to train for. I had to spend a lot of time teaching distractions of the live furry kind. A high people drive dog will have to spend more time learning to cope with self control around people.
Three, you have the tools you need to teach this. Take what is on your high drive list, and make it the reward. If you cannot allow sqirrel chasing, then make a flirt pole with a tail or rabbit fur on it. If your dog loves sniffing, start tracking, and make the track the reward for attention. Or if you have a very high pack dog, make praise and petting the reward.
This was a real eye opener when I first did this exercise. It has really helped me focus my training, and it helped me break away from agility with Jack(back in 2001) and into frisbee and flyball, which he ADORES. It allowed us to build a relationship based on who he was, not who I wanted him to be, and in turn he has been willing to do things like agility and freestyle with me, that he is not as passionate about. It really is a handy thing to have around. You may also find you can build drive in some things and diminish interest in others through training and personal involvement.
If you find this helpful, I can go on the the next step. Just let me know.