Be sure to use a command for the recall that is not used in orderinary conversation. I wish I had analyzed how much I use "come" in ordinary conversation, especially for encouragement ("come on, let's go") before starting to train Hysson. That's why he always regarded "come" as an optional command. On the other hand, "heel" worked 100% of the time, and that's what I ended up using.

Even our obedience school instructor messed up. She used "OK" to tell her dog he was released from a stay. She put her dog on a down/stay in the middle of the classroom and then announed to the class, "OK, today we are going to learn..." Of course her dog got up and walked over to her!

Next dog (I'm looking), I'll use something else for those two commands.

Hand signals are very helpful if you're in a noisy area, such as close to a stream. Teach the verbal commands first; then combine them with hand signals, and finally use just the signals. Be sure you have the dog's attention first, though.