Training Your Dog to Come on Command

September 24th, 2009 at 8:20am

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. Do you find yourself yelling at your doggy to come, and getting angry when he doesn’t? 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. In his mind the word “come” will now be interpreted as “you are in big 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.

It will be best to begin the training inside your house, so there a less distractions from focusing on you. Ask him to come over to you with an upbeat and cheerful sounding voice. Reward him as soon as he does-give him lots of vocal praise and some petting and a doggy treat, too. If any one else is around when you are training your dog to come, have them help you. Stand on opposing ends of a room and take turns with calling the dog to come. Once your dog consistently responds to the come command inside the house he is ready for further training outside.

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. After he comes up to you, be sure to immediately reward him with praise, some pets and a reward. Remember, only praise for good results, and don’t be angry or impatient when he doesn’t listen immediately. Once you get your dog to come on command with the short leash, you are ready to try it with a long leash.

When you are using the longer leash, the dog has more room to wander off and explore the yard. 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. Stick with this training step until he is listening and coming each time he is called. 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. Just like on leash training, as soon as he responds to your call give him his praise and reward for a job well done. However, if he is not responsive, now that he has that additional freedom of movement, you will need to go back to the leash training and work with the dog some more. In the happy event that your dog is coming every time you call, he is now ready to try off leash training outside the yard.

Now it is time to try walking with your dog off leash outside the yard and calling him over to you. This test is potentially harder for your dog to pass. 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.

I hope these tips prove useful to you. Just click here for more helpful advice for obedience training and problem solving for your dog. BehaveDoggy.com.

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