Is your dog trained well enough to come the first time you call? For me, when my dog didn’t come when I called  was a very frustrating experience. If your dog doesn’t come when you call do you start  getting mad and yelling with an angry voice? If you are yelling at a dog that won’t come, I’ll give you a great reason to stop doing that.The reason for this is that the yelling is going to negatively reinforce your doggy not to come.  He’ll be thinking the word “come” means “you are in big trouble”. As a matter of fact, the yelling may even make him choose to run farther away-this is really frustrating (I know).

For the best results, use positive reinforcement techniques to make it fun for your dog to come when you call.You do this simply by giving your dog lots of praise and affection and some treats when he performs as you want.  It is much easier to get your dog to come when he always has had a positive experience for coming to you.

• You should start this training in the house, so there are few distractions to deter your dog from paying attention to you. Ask him to come over to you with an upbeat and cheerful sounding voice. Give him lots of affection, praise and a treat as soon as he come to you. If there is someone else at home, they can also join in and help with training your dog to come on command. First one of you can call and then reward your dog for listening and then the other repeats the training. Once your dog consistently responds to the come command  inside the house he is ready for further training outside.

• Put your dog on his leash prior to going outside. For a dog that isn’t paying attention, just give his leash a tug and walk backwards to get him to run up to you. Now that he’s come, you can give him praise, love and a treat-all great rewards. Remember, only praise for good results, and don’t be angry or impatient when he doesn’t listen immediately. After you have gotten your dog to listen and come while on the short leash, the next step is to try it with a longer leash.

• When you are using the longer leash, the dog has more room to wander off and explore the yard. Because of this he may feel a little more independent and ignore you when you call him to come. If your dog isn’t paying attention, reverse direction so he’ll be forced to turn with you, and then call him with your upbeat voice and when he comes repeat the positive reinforcement of treats and praise. Stick with this training step until he is listening and coming each time he is called. Now you are ready for the next step-off leash recall.

• You should start this training inside an enclosed yard, so there is no chance your dog will run off and not come back when you call. Start the off leash training just as you would the previous steps-call him and if he comes over immediately give him his praise and a reward. However, if he is not responsive, now that he has that additional freedom of movement, you will need to go back to the leash training and work with the dog some more. If your doggy has already gotten the idea to come every time you are ready for the hardest test yet.

• You are ready to try calling your dog while he is off leash and outside your yard. This test is potentially harder for your dog to pass. If your dog will come to you when you call even when free of the leash and while  around the various distractions that are present, you have successfully trained your dog to come on command. Even if he sometimes isn’t perfect, keep working with your dog on this-it is an important element of obedience training. Besides, you are spending time your your pet daily, so you have lots of time to work on his training.

Hopefully you will have found these tips useful. Just click here for more helpful advice for obedience training and problem solving for your dog. BehaveDoggy.com.

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