Getting your dog to Come when you Call
Do you find yourself yelling at your doggy to come, and getting angry when he doesn’t respond? Here is a great reason on why you shouldn’t do that anymore. Yelling at him repeatedly to come is actually a way to negatively reinforce the dog 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”. I watch my neighbor’s dog cringe when he gets yelled at, and as often as not, he will run away rather than come.
For the best results, you should make it fun for your dog to come when you call by using positive reinforcement techniques. The affection and praise and rewards you give your dog for good performance will teach him far better than any negative techniques. It is much easier to get your dog to come when he always has had a positive experience for coming to you.
1. So that he doesn’t get distracted when learning to come, begin the training inside your house. Call him over by saying “come” in a cheerful, happy voice. As soon as he does, give him tons of praise (don’t be afraid of overdoing it), some petting, and a treat. 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. Take the training outdoors, once your doggy has gotten the idea to come when he is called.
2. Using a leash, bring your dog outside and start working on the come command. For a dog that isn’t paying attention, just give his leash a tug and walk backwards to get him to run 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. After you have gotten your dog to listen and come while on the short leash, the next step is to try it with a longer leash.
3. Your dog will feel less controlled by you when walking on the longer leash. Because of this he may feel a little more independent and ignore you when you call him to come. 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 . If this is going well, you can now try to get him to come when he is off leash.
4. You should start this training inside an enclosed yard, so there is no chance your dog will run off and not come back when you call. Just like on leash training, as soon as he responds to your call give him his praise and reward for a job well done. If the freedom of movement has undermined his responsiveness you just have to go back a step and work on that some more. If your doggy has already gotten the idea to come every time you are ready for the hardest test yet.
5. You are now ready to try calling your dog to you even when he is cruising around outside the yard without a leash. You have done a good job training your dog to come, if he listens even among all the distractions that may be going on. Even if he sometimes isn’t perfect, keep working with your dog on this-it is an important element of obedience training. The good news is you have every day to play with and train your dog, so keep if you keep at it using these positive reinforcement tips, you will have a dog that does come on command.
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