Pets
Teaching "Come"
Before beginning to teach your puppy to come, there is some important background information that you must understand thoroughly. Please read this section very carefully before beginning to teach "come".Everybody dreams of owning a dog who comes reliably every time he's called. Yet few people own such dogs. Instead, many dogs often refuse to come, or, worse yet, run away when called. What goes wrong? The first and most devastating thing most people do to ruin "come" is calling their puppy to them to punish him for something. Perhaps he grabbed some forbidden thing and ran away with it ... maybe he chewed up something valuable, or ran out the door, destroyed an object, or soiled in the house. The owner calls the pup over, and the pup obeys. When he gets to his owner he receives some sort of punishment for what he did. You think you're changing his behavior, but what does he think? In your puppy's mind, he is being punished for coming, because that is what he just did. If you call your puppy for punishment even a few times he will begin to fear coming, because he connects coming to you with punishment. What you will start to see is this: you call him, be begins to come, then stops, cocks his head and looks at you and then runs away. The unknowing owner sets this negative pattern, and by the time the pup is an adult the damage is severe and it is an established behavior pattern.
Never call your puppy to you to punish him. Period.
Secondly, do not try to call your puppy to you if you are planning something he may well see as unpleasant, such as giving him a pill, putting him in his crate, giving him a bath, etc. Of course, this depends on the individual puppy -- many pups love baths and crates! But, if your puppy does not like something, then do not call him -- go and get him. If you call him, the result will be the same as described above.
The third thing to avoid is calling your puppy if he has not been trained to respond to "come", or in situations that are beyond his ability. Remember, dogs are not born knowing what "sit", "come" and "down" mean.
Once you have begun working on "come", do not use it in difficult situations that are beyond his ability. When we teach children to add, we begin with 2+2 -- very simple. We would not expect a child who has had two or three weeks of addition to be able to add columns of three or four digit numbers. Is that because he does not know how to add? No, he does know how to add, but only very simple numbers. Similarly, when your puppy begins to learn "come", he can only be expected to respond to it in simple, controlled situations. It would not be fair to call him in difficult situations beyond his ability. For example, suppose you have been teaching your pup to "come" for two or three weeks. He can and will come to you on command anywhere in your house or yard. He is, therefore, learning what "come" means. Now, you take him to a park for some fun, and you are playing ball with him off leash. Everything is fine until he spots a squirrel at the other end of the park. Off he goes, 50 m.p.h. after the squirrel. And there you are, wondering how to get him back. Then you remember all your hard work on "come" for the last few weeks, so you call him, since, of course, he now knows what "come" means. And, of course, he does not come -- in fact, he does not even slow down. Why? Is it because he does not understand "come"? No, he does understand "come", but at that early stage in his training this particular situation is much too difficult for him. He is off leash and running full speed toward a very tempting distraction. So, you should only use a command if you know your puppy is capable of obeying it and you are capable of enforcing it.
If you call your puppy or he comes to you on his own for any reason, you should always praise him! Make coming to you the most wonderful thing in his life. Take every opportunity to reinforce coming. Build an absolute trust between you and your pup that if he comes to you he has nothing to worry about, it will always be a positive experience. Then, rather than fearfully coming, he will enjoy it and do it reliably for the reward that is always there. Praise for coming does not mean a muttered "good boy." It means sincere, enthusiastic, animated praise that will bring your puppy bounding to you whenever you call.
In the meantime, accidents happen to all of us, and there your puppy is, out loose. If "come" is not usable yet, there are a number of "tricks" you can try to get your pup back without ruining "come". The old standby is "Do you want a cookie?" If this will bring him back from the middle of the road then use it! But, make sure you have a big smile on your face and his favorite cookie waiting for him along with lots of praise! It is incredible how many people will tempt their puppy back with a cookie and then when the puppy comes they punish him for "running away"! What you have just done is punish the puppy for the last action he performed -- coming!
Also, don't lie. If you need to bribe him to come to you with a treat because of a dangerous situation, make sure you give it. If you do not, he will quickly learn to distrust you. Along these lines, is offering to play with a favorite toy (which you show to him excitedly) or offering to take him for a ride in the car (as you open the door). If either works, again make sure you are full of smiles and praise and that you come through with whatever you promised. Some people find success if they completely ignore the puppy and quietly become engrossed in the most interesting thing they have ever seen (like a blade of grass or a leaf). Puppies often they will come wandering over to see what is so interesting. Other people get their puppy to start chasing them, run around in play for a while, and then run right into the house. Often the puppy is right behind them.
No matter what method you are trying, stay calm. Most people panic when their dog is out loose, and begin running after the pup yelling and screaming. Most humans cannot outrun a dog, especially a frightened dog. He's more likely to run away from you, faster and faster, farther and farther. Stay calm and under control, and your pup will move slower and stay closer.
The key is to set your puppy up for success each and every time and teach him that coming to you is the best decision he can make.
Recall Games
Play "come" games. With a little imagination you can reinforce "come", exercise, and feed your puppy all at the same time.
Here are just a few examples to get you started:
- Round Robin Recalls. Have the entire family sit on the floor in a large circle. Take turns calling your puppy to "come" and then reward him with small handfuls of food or a favorite toy for his compliance.
- Into Flight. Have two people call the puppy to "come" up and down a flight of stairs and reward him with small handfuls of food or a toy for his compliance. It is useful to teach the signals, "up the steps" and "down the steps" in conjunction with this recall game.
- Hallway Haven. To ensure success, use a long hallway as a tunnel. One person will stand at one end while the other person stands at the other end. The puppy has no option but to run back and forth and he cannot veer off. Again, reward for compliance.
- Hide and Seek. Station two or more people in difference rooms of the house and call your puppy to "come" back and forth, rewarding him each and every time with either food or a fun game.
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Teaching "Wait" >>
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PETsMART Accredited Training Instructors, in addition to their previous experience, receive a minimum of 120 hours of training in a curriculum which includes: Canine Behavior, Learning Theory ("How Dogs Learn"), Problem-Solving, Classroom Management, Equipment, Handling Skills and more. Where possible, hands-on training is completed in partnership with local shelters, using shelter dogs to demonstrate training methods, behavior assessment and handling skills. This enables us to accredit our instructors while contributing to the community, as we help to make these dogs even more adoptable.
Suzanne Hetts Ph.D. is certified as an applied animal behaviorist and co-owner of Animal Behavior Associates, Inc., in Denver, CO.
Terry Ryan is the well-known author of training books such as The Toolbox for Remodeling Your Problem Dog and The Bark Stops Here.
Pia Silvani is the Director of Pet Training and Behavior at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in Madison, N.J.
Mary Lee Nitschke, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology at Linfield College, an Animal Behavior Therapist and the Director of Training for Animal School in Portland, OR.
Trish King is the Director of the Animal Behavior and Training Department at the Marin Humane Society in Marin County, CA.
Pamela J. Reid, Ph.D. is a certified applied animal behaviorist and assistant professor at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, where she teaches veterinary students courses in Applied Ethology and the Principles of Learning.
Information and advice contained on this site is for your consideration only. Please consult your veterinarian for specific advice concerning the care and treatment of your pet.
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