Your dog responding to your call for her to come to your needs to be reinforced throughout a dog’s life and should be started as early
as possible. Teach your dog to come, he/she will not know what "come" means unless you have trained him or her.
To teach the "come" command, put your dog on a lead, standing in front of you. Put a reward under his nose and move quickly away
from your dog while saying the "come" command, in almost all cases, he will follow you. When you stop, put your hand on your dog’s
collar as you give him the food reward. This will ensure that he does not snatch the reward and runoff, but also gives him a positive
association with having his collar held.
Repeat the exercise until your dog understands. As your dog is coming in your direction, give your dog plenty of praise and
encouragement. If he does runoff due to distraction, use your "leave" command and then reiterate your "come" command.
Be as enthusiastic as possible, your dog will not want to come back to you if you have an aggressive sounding call! Add a
hand signal by opening your arms, as your dog may not always be able to hear from you.
Change your rewards from a pat and a ‘good boy’ to his favorite dog biscuit, depending on his response. Don't forget that your dog's name is only used to get his
attention, and it is not the "come" command. Don't use the "come" command for anything that your dog may perceive as
negative, as this will reduce his likelihood of responding to your call. Make sure you teach your dog where there are not lots
of distractions.
Initially, put your dog on a long lead. Until you are confident of your dog’s response, keep him on the lead on all walks and take
off the lead when there are not many distractions. Give your dog practice by calling him back many times during your walk, not
just at the end when its time to go.
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