Teaching your dog to come when called
My daughter has a 4-year-old dog that will not consistently come when called. In our yard, he comes to me. When out with other dogs in the green space, it seems like he deliberately runs away. At the dog park, he will not come until he has played for a few minutes. How can I get him to come reliably?
It is not surprising that many dogs choose play over coming when called. We make similar decisions. We grumble if disturbed during a good hockey game or favourite television show. Children show obvious dejection and dawdle when asked to leave a party. We all want to prolong the fun.
Dogs are no different. During play, there is a cost to coming when called: The fun stops. If we are not careful, the word “come” can start to mean it’s time to leave. That is not positive for social creatures.
Treats might not trump play but there are ways to get past this.
If the dog has learned that “come,” means run, choose a new word like “here” and start over. Make every effort to ensure this word leads to positive experiences. Use special treats, fun, games and anything else that is good in your dog’s world. Be generous to a fault at this stage.
Next, drill various distractions in controlled environments. Too many people jump from easy recalls to the dog park without intermediary steps. That is like going from kindergarten to university. The leap in skill level is too great. Many dogs cannot come away from a piece of food. It is no wonder they will not come when called when playing with another dog.
One clever drill is to put food in a bowl, then place a colander over the bowl and tape the two pieces together. The dog will be able to see and smell the food but not reach it. Practise calling your dog away from this tempting distraction. Use a leash or long line to prevent the dog from grabbing the bowl and dashing off. If the dog is at the right grade level, they might hesitate, but they should listen.
Finally, if you cannot beat them, join them. Use activities that your dog loves as a reward. If a dog likes sniffing trees for pee-mail, call them away from a tree. Reward them with a treat and then send them back to sniff some more. The dog learns that “here” is not the end of their fun, but an opportunity to earn more free time. Carry this lesson up through to the dog park. Use more free play as a reward for coming away from other dogs during play.
Do give a little bit of leeway. Sometimes our dogs feel trapped by other dogs in their space. They might need a moment to diffuse a situation before obeying.
Our dog confuses sit with down. When we say sit, he bounces between sitting and lying down. How do we get him to be more accurate?
Part of training a dog to understand a command involves drilling for clarity. This means that sit means sit and down means down. The term used by trainers is stimulus control.
Play training games. Ask them to perform skills they know. Only reward responses that are correct the first time. Do not reward incorrect responses.
This teaches dogs to focus more carefully on the words and to associate them with the correct actions. Make sure to teach stay as well. Some dogs take silence as an indication they were wrong. Stay helps them learn to hold position firmly when correct. Yvette Van Veen is an animal behaviour consultant. Write her at advice@awesomedogs.ca