The 'come' command
When you set out to teach your pet to come, there are a few secrets, tips and tricks that I'll share with you, to get fast success!
I have adapted these free techniques from the outstanding ‘Secrets to Dog Training‘ by Daniel Stephens. You can go to it here if you wish to read more now.
“Come dog”
Firstly, and possibly the most crucial, is that you should never call your dog over if you are going to do something that he might class as ‘negative’ to him.. Some prime things include leashing him, washing him (if he doesnt like that!), telling him off, locking him up, smacking him etc..
Dont call over and discipline your dog for things such as running off, when he comes over. Your dog will think he’s being punished for doing as his master says.If the dog already knows bad associations when you call come, such as thinking it means 'run asap!' or if he has started to ignore it, you might have to try a new command that means 'come' but sounds different.
Forget your old come command and teach this exercise using a new, clear word. 'Here' 'Oi' or 'Hey' are popular alternatives, but its your choise to use any one that suits you.
Ideally, your dog should hear this new command, stop whatever hes doing and sit in front of you! For ease of teaching, treat this exercise as two seperate steps.
The two seperate exercises should be taught seperatly till the dog has them both mastered, then they should be bought together.
“Come sit in front of me”
Start with putting your dog on a short ish leash. Get the attention of your pet and position the treat at nose level. Now walk back 3 or 4 steps with the treat held up.
When your dog is in front of you, stop and raise the treat up a little, so the dog is motioned to sit and wait.
Command him to sit, and when he sits to your satisfaction, give him the treat by lowing it to his mouth. Dont reward him if he jumps to get it!
Next, try the whole thing again while keeping your ground instead of moving back. Now try to phase out guiding with food or treats and change to simply reinforcing a correct 'come, sit' command. This gets your dog to learn to accept praise as a reward.
You can read part two of this article, for free, as my website (that has hundreds of other free dog training tips) here, at dog commands.
