“My dog won’t come when called!”
It’s something we hear all the time. Dogs, like kids, seem to have selective hearing at the most important times.
According to the pros at The Online Dog Trainer the problem is that we are usually looking at the problem from the wrong angle. Whether you have an old dog or you are training a puppy, we can fix that! Read on and we’ll have your dog running toward you like Lassie toward Timmy.
Why Your Dog Won’t Come When Called
It’s really pretty simple. There are two parts to the problem. The first part is that your dog may have never been trained to come in the first place.
Sure, we all get our dogs to respond to their names eventually, but did you actually train them to come? A lot of times it just gets overlooked.
You want your dog to come running when you call. To do that, you just need to spend a little time training your dog to come. It’s easy and we’ll show you how to do it here in this article.
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The second part has to do with when you call your dog. Think about the times when you call your dog.
If you’re like most people, you call your dog the most when he’s doing something he shouldn’t be doing. Or maybe you call when you want to put a leash on him and take him somewhere.
Whatever the scenario, chances are pretty good that your dog associates you calling him with something bad or unpleasant happening to him.
Would you want to coming running in every time if that’s how you saw it? Probably not!
You should never punish your dog after he comes when called. In fact, you want your dog to be rewarded for coming to you.
Also, don’t call your dog just to yell at him. You are doing the exact opposite of what you are trying to accomplish.
How To Train Your Dog to Come
What do we want?
We want our dogs to come running to us as fast as they can when we call their names.
How do we do that?
We pick what we want to say when we call our dog to come, like “Here Rover!” or “Rover Come!” or something even more exciting.
Once we pick our command, we need to make it the best command in the world for your dog. We want your dog to associate that command with the best rewards and results in their doggy world!
When they here you call, their ears should perk up and they should have only one thing on their minds!
Here are 3 easy steps to follow when training your dog to come:
- CALL your dog using the command you chose;
- REWARD your dog when he or she comes to you within 2 seconds; and then
- RELEASE your dog immediately.
It’s important that you focus on the reward. Remember to do it quickly because dogs need that instant reinforcement.
We also want your dog to really relish the reward when they come when called. Small treats always work for training, but don’t underestimate the power of praise and affection.
When you do use treats, use small nutritious treats like Zuke’s Mini Naturals. They are small and keep their shape in your pocket. They also only have 3.5 calories apiece.
It also helps to get a pouch to keep them in like the one below so you don’t have to carry them around in your pockets.
Dogs are social animals that really want our praise and attention. Most people don’t realize that this is very powerful tool in training your dog. It can be even more powerful if you are selective in giving it out to your dog.
Sound a little weird? Don’t worry, it’s not. You don’t have to be aloof and distant. Just start easy. Start by ignoring your dog when it is doing something wrong. If you are consistent, you will soon realize how powerful this is.
Save really big shows of affection and praise for rewards. This might sound unnatural at first, but you will find that it works. Once your dog is more responsive, you will soon find that you have a much better relationship with your dog.
Bonus Tip
One way to help change the way you call your dog is to change the way you think about it.
Start thinking of your dog coming to you as more of a check in. A time to say hi and give some affection.
Stop thinking of yelling your dog’s name only when he’s doing something wrong. If you change that, chances are excellent he will respond better when you do need to correct him.
Free Dog Training PDF
If you want to learn more about being a better pet parent to your dog, check out these FREE Everyday Training Tools PDF.
Also, you can watch these tips on action on video. Doggy Dan is our go to source for video training. We can get you a special FREE TRIAL here. He is far and away the best online video trainer out there. Check it out and remember that all doggies are Good Doggies!
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