Always make “come” a positive cue. You want your dog so conditioned to come that he is half way back to you before he even thinks about it.
- Start in the house then in the yard while close to your dog and under minimal distraction. Then move on to more and more distractions and distance from your dog. You may have to start over with step 1 when you change locations.
- Reward most of the time (with treats, toys, car rides, a ground hog hole if he likes to dig at them, something great)
- Don’t bribe or wave the treat around
- If on a leash, try not to tug on it. It could be confusing to the dog. A tug on the leash could also mean don’t do that or hold still.
- Make sure your dog is 80% successful before moving to the next step
- If at any point your dog is not complying you have probably moved too fast or asked too much in your training. Either reduce your distance, eliminate some distractions, or use better rewards.
1. Say your dogs name and immediately pop a treat in his mouth. (10x’s a day for the first few days). He doesn’t have to be doing anything in particular, he’s just getting a treat because you said his name.
2. When your dog is walking or running toward you say his name and give him several treats, then tell him to go play and shush him away. (If dog looks hesitant, or like he’s about to run off in another direction, start running in the direction you want him to run while, clapping your hands and calling him)
3. When dog is slightly distracted and you are close by, call him. If he comes, big reward; sandwich bag full of chicken, steak, sweet potato, can be mixed with some kibble. (yes, give him the entire bag!) Then send him off to play. Do this 2x a day about 2 or 3 hours apart for 2 days. ( If dog does not come, don’t worry, just wait 5 minutes and try again.)
4. When dog is slightly distracted and you are farther away call him. Once a day use the sandwich bag treats from step 3 for 2 or 3 days. (If your dog looks at you but doesn’t move, start running in the direction you want him to run.)
5. Go to a more distracting area but stay close and try. (Use a long line for safety.) You can go back to dispensing treats 1-5 at a time but every once in a while use the sandwich bag treats for the next month or two until your dog is really good at it. Remember to send him to go play after you treat.
6. Now you ask for a hand touch, sit or gently grab the collar give a treat and release, “go play”. Why? A couple of reasons: a) your dog will get to you and wait instead of running past you; and the collar grab gets your dog used to being handled by people – the collar grab is also a good thing to practice in case you need to call your dog out of a dangerous situation.
Debi