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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
When not coordinating trainers for MAGDRL (Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League), Tressa Everts has been saving dog owners from their dogs for thirteen years.
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7/15/2004
One of the most common complaints I hear from owners is that their pet won't come
when called. Most of the time, I find that without being aware of it, people are
punishing their dogs for coming to them.
When you call your dog to you, you need to make sure that there is a great payoff for
them! I'll offer some examples of negative reinforcement so you can see what I mean.
- Your dog is outside chasing a squirrel. You call the dog inside because he's getting muddy. You wipe him down and send him to his bed to dry off.
- You're getting ready to leave the house; you call the dog to you and put him in his crate.
- You find a mess that your dog obviously made; you call the dog to you and then yell at him for getting in the garbage.
Think of these things from the dog's point of view. Now let's go back to each and
determine how we can make it a good experience for your dog.
- The dog is all ready a mess, you call him to you, give him a treat when he comes and
then say "go get that squirrel!", repeat several times. What is the dog learning?
He's learning that when you call him, he gets a treat AND he gets to chase the squirrel!
What could be better? After doing these two or three times, call him to you and say
"let's go inside". "Let's go inside" is the cue that the game is over,
it's not the recall. Once he's inside the end result is the same except you've practiced
your recall and rewarded the dog for doing right.
- Rather than calling your dog and putting him in his crate, find a great toy to play
with! Play fetch a few times, and then give him the command "crate" and throw the toy
and some treats into the crate. If you don't have time to play this game, go get your
dog and bring him to his crate and then reward him for being compliant by giving him good
treats.
- Clean up the garbage can and reprimand yourself for not cleaning it out.
By the time you find it your dog will have forgotten all about getting into it.
If you call him to you and punish him he will think you're a nutcase.
It's very important that your dog k
nows without a doubt that coming to you is better than
anything else he could possibly be doing. If you call your dog and he doesn't
come go and get him. Trust me, he has heard you and has made the decision to ignore you.
Do not repeat your recall word. It reinforces that he doesn't have to listen.
If he has all ready learned that he doesn't have to come when you call him - change your
word.
I suggest that my clients have two distinct recall words. The first, being a casual word
meaning "come hang out closer to me", and the second one that is only used in emergency
situations. Let me explain the difference.
For this exercise I'm going to say that "here" is my casual word and "now" is my
emergency word.
Scenario 1
A. You're walking along the beach off leash and your dog has gotten a little too far
away from you - this is the time to use "here". You want the dog to come to you but
he can do it at his leisure.
B. You're walking along the same beach off leash and you see the police are there
giving leash law tickets. You see the policeman before he sees you.
This is a perfect time for "now". You want your dog to come immediately and sit in
front of you so you can get the leash on him and not get the ticket!
Scenario 2.
A. You're leaving the house and want to take the dog with you = "here"
B. You're leaving the house because it's on fire = "now"
I know these are sort of dramatic uses of the words, but if you keep them in mind when
calling your dog you'll begin to appreciate the difference.
Make practicing your recall fun! Call him to you and run away from him.
Once he catches you tell him what a great dog he is, give him a food reward and then
send him back to play. The benefit to the dog is tripled here - he gets to play
the chase game with you, he gets a piece of hot dog, AND he gets to go back and play.
Why would he not come? Practice this in every single situation you can think of.
Yes, you will feel silly running from your dog at PetSmart, but you're dog will have a
really reliable recall and that's what it's all about
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