How to Teach a Dog to Come When Called
Teaching a dog to come with called is very important.. If a collar or run breaks, or your dog gets away from you a dog must learn to respond to your voice and return to you. It’s especially important if the dog gets into a dangerous situation and you need to warn the dog of impending danger.
Imagine if you were a dog and you were hanging out with your friends, and this human comes and keeps calling on you, like he always does; to ruin the fun.
Why would you want to go to him? Every minute of delay means another minute of having fun. You have learned that the
most rewarding thing to do is to not listen to the calls of your owner.
This is the real problem. It is all about attitude and no matter how much this person will yell at you, it won’t entice you to come.
Making the time you spend with your dog as fun or rewarding as playtime with other dogs is the key to making your dog come when called.
You need to connect the Come command with pleasant activities, such as treats, playtime, or affection.. Not unpleasant activities, such as baths, nail clipping, or discipline.
Training your dog with treats is a great way to start. Most dogs are very motivated by food rewards, it is very common in the training of all sort of animals, even bears and lions. Before you start training you should ensure that your dog is motivated by the food.
Take a bit of food and wave it infront of the dog around the dog’s regular meal time. If there is no interest it is better to take the training some other time.
If you got the dog’s attention, give the dog a few pieces of food to start with. What you do next is to back up a few steps while holding the food in your hand. Then you say “come here”. When the dog comes to you, praise him and give him a few pieces of food.
Repeat this but not too much so that the dog becomes bored or receives his whole meal in the form of treats. This exercise should be done often until you find that the dog comes regularly. You can use the same technique to
teach the dog other tricks and commands.
You can also try this exercise with a long leash. If the dog doesn’t respond to your voice commands you can gently pull them towards you so they can see and smell the treat better.
Another trick is to get them to follow you. Call the Dog’s name to get their attention, then say come, and walk quickly backwards holding a treat.. If the dog thinks you’re having fun they will follow you and try to catch you.
