teaching a dog + come command
The owner's ability to teach the Come command has much to do with their relationship with the dog. If the dog respects you as the leader, he will know that you are to be obeyed if he wants good things. As you strengthen your relationship with your dog and establish yourself as a strong and fair leader. Your dog will have more confidence in you and therefore in himself. The following steps will show you how teaching the come command should be done:
- Begin with your dog on a leash and with some distractions around. There must be something which the dog wants but which you are not giving to him. Now wait for him to turn and look at you, then click and treat.
- Do this over and over until the dog remains looking at you.
- Add another distraction or go somewhere a little more stimulating and repeat.
- If after thirty seconds your dog has not turned back to look at you then you need to lessen the distraction or back away from it.
- When your dog is consistently looking back at you and with the leash still on him. run backwards away from your dog and as you click put a food reward at your feet to encourage him to come to you.
- When your dog gets good at this wait until he is coming to you before you click.
- Just before your dog reaches the treat verbally label this action as Come.
- Bring in more distractions or get closer to the one you are currently using and increase the length of the leash.
- Remember that if at anytime your dog does not look back for more than thirty seconds that the distraction is too great and you need to practice some more with less outside interference.
To teach any command like Come it vitally important that you make sure you dog can succeed. One way to do this is by controlling the environment in which you are practicing and also controlling his behavior. Never let your dog off the leash until you are fully confident that he will not run away. As you repeatedly practice you can length the leash and then repeat all the steps again. Once you have a good length on the leash and your dog readily turns away from things that he wants (a crucial part of teaching Come) and responds reliantly responds to your command. Then you can practice dropping the leash and letting your dog drag it. Never practice Come with your dog in an open area until you have thoroughly taught him in a enclosed area to avoid accidents. If your dog does run off then just put the leash back on and review. The effort, which you must put into this process, might seem overwhelming but it is necessary to ensure that your dog will know how to respond correctly under any circumstances. Never let your dog off his leash in a dangerous situation where he could cause damage to himself or others.
