Is your dog trained well enough to come the first time you call? For me, when my dog didn’t come when I called was a very frustrating experience. When your dog doesn’t come do you start yelling and repeating come over and over? Well, I am here to tell you not to do that if you want to train your dog to come on command.The reason for this is that the yelling is going to negatively reinforce your doggy not to come. Yelling the word “come” in an angry and loud voice will be like teaching him that “come” means the same as “trouble”. As a matter of fact, the yelling may even make him choose to run farther away-this is really frustrating (I know).
If you use the positive techniques of training, you make it fun for your dog to come when you call.You do this simply by giving your dog lots of praise and affection and some treats when he performs as you want. It is much easier to get your dog to come when he always has had a positive experience for coming to you.
- So that he doesn’t get distracted when learning to come, begin the training inside your house. Using a happy upbeat voice (this is important) call him to you saying “come”. Give him lots of affection, praise and a treat as soon as he come to you. You can enlist the help of someone else in the house to train the dog to come. First one of you can call and then reward your dog for listening and then the other repeats the training. Once your dog consistently responds to the come command inside the house he is ready for further training outside.
- Put your dog on his leash prior to going outside. If he is distracted and doesn’t pay attention when you call him try giving a tug on the leash, and walk backwards till he comes up to you. Now that he’s come, you can give him praise, love and a treat-all great rewards. Be sure to reward and praise him for his actions, but don’t get angry if he doesn’t immediately get the idea. Once you get your dog to come on command with the short leash, you are ready to try it with a long leash.
- Your dog will feel less controlled by you when walking on the longer leash. So, now when you call him, he may be feeling a little more independent, having more room to cruise and all, so it may tempt him to ignore your call command. For a dog that is ignoring your call to come as you are walking him, quickly change direction and start walking away-this will get his attention for sure (as the leash will remind him he needs to catch up with you) and when you call him now he will run up to you for the praise and reward you will be giving him for listening. Stay with this step of the training until he is coming every time you call him. Now you are ready for the next step-off leash recall.
- It is a good idea to begin this step inside a yard that is enclosed with a fence so the dog isn’t tempted to run off and ignore you once again. Work on the off-leash recall using the same methods as on-leash training, namely lots of praise and rewards of petting and a treat for coming when he is called. If your dog is not all that responsive, go back to the previous steps until he really has it down and try again. Hopefully, your dog is listening and now you are ready for the big test.
- You are now ready to try calling your dog to you even when he is cruising around outside the yard without a leash. Unless the doggy is already well trained to come, he probably won’t pass this tougher test. Your dog has truly learned to come on command when he listens to you amongst the distractions that are outside the yard. Even if he sometimes isn’t perfect, keep working with your dog on this-it is an important element of obedience training. You are with your dog every day, so you will have plenty of opportunities to train him the way you want things to be.
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