How did you teach your dog how to come?

Did you use any tools?How did you teach your dog how to come?
dog treatsHow did you teach your dog how to come?
nope. just praise.
No. When you have dogs who know your in control, coming when called, is nothing to WORK on..
I just snap my fingers and motion for them. They pick up body language signals much faster than voice signals.
I started by making him come to me for a treat. Start with the puppy about 2 feet from you and as he gets the idea, work with longer distances. Don't repeat the command. If he doesn't move after the command, wait a few seconds or break the silence by calling his name or saying 'no' so they don't get the idea that ';come come come'; is the command. It's all about progression. Eventually, he will heed your call and you don't have to give a treat everytime, although once in a while would be nice.
What I did was sit opposite the room of my dog, and have a treat in hand. Then I would snap to get the dogs attention, point to the ground in front of me, and say ';Come';


Of course, if the dog comes you must reward it. Then it knows its doing something right. That's what the treat is needed for.


Repeat this exercise for just around five minutes a day for about two weeks or sometimes less and there you have it(:
When he was little we would just say ';common!'; and he would usually come running. We just repeated the word over and over until he learned it. When he came would would pet him and give him a cookie.
when i put his food down I say come.. (name) dinner.


Time for walks ..I say.. come (name) let's put your harness on..





always include good boy/good girl and lots of praises





I have never used food to bribe ..
I started by using her favorite treats. Once she was doing it almost all the time instantly I started using her toys. I backed it up when we were outside with her treats again. She will come directly to me no matter the distractions now. I also never call her with the ';come'; word for anything bad like going to the vets, to go to be, to scold her for being bad, etc. I use it only for getting a reward or high praise.





We even used it in an isle at Petsmart in where I called her with a dropped leash and stood at the end of the back isle of the store and called her to me as she came running past the kids, other dogs, and carts. She never even gave them a glance. I also had to use a recall when she scooted out our door after a chicken walking by and that was more challenging but she stopped turned and came right back. That one impressed me :)
I always use a long lead, have the dog stay, back up, call the dog, give a tug of the lead and reward the dog when it came. I think it is ridiculous to have them off lead and stand there begging the dog to come.
I start the recall on the six foot leash, then moves to the longe line.





I use the Koehler Method of Dog training where the recall and every other aspect of training is taught step by step.





http://www.koehlerdogtraining.com





I never BRIBE my dog for anything.





It would be really bad if I needed to recall my dog in an emergency and I did not have a pocket full of treats.
I didn't need any tools or treats to teach my husky to come on command. Being a husky his recall wasn't 100%, but I'd call it 95%. I just used praise and approval and he learned that coming when called usually got him a good scratch behind the ears. He also got plenty of exercise to reduce those urges to bolt off and run wildly around out of control to relieve excess energy :P





When I first got him if he got out he was gone for hours before he'd come back. After we established a bit of a pack relationship with each other, with me as the queen bee, he just fell into line. I only used treats in training when I thought it would be fun for him, otherwise it was almost entirely based on praise and approval. Once he learned to heel on a leash (he mostly knew how before I got him though), to sit when told, to stop ';hunting'; my cat, and to stop bolting out the door, he just started falling into place and doing what he was told if he understood the command.





Some dogs are, of course, more stubborn, though. He was admittedly a pretty easy, trainable dog. Every dog I've ever had growing up had a good recall, though.





While I've never had to use them for my own dogs, treats have helped friends train their dogs to come when called. Treats along with praise are an excellent incentive and reward to come when called. If properly done, one can wean the dog off treats entirely and still get the same results.
Motivational methods to train the command and compulsion to proof it with the use of an E collar.


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4066/4578鈥?/a>
The stage is set for the ';come'; when the pup first comes home, through playing and bonding and feeding. Don't laugh, but I find very young pups have a natural ';follow'; phase and I reinforce this with calling pups name, clapping hands, running, dragging toys behind me on a horse lunging whip, getting on the ground and playing with them, and sometimes treats.





Then on a leash as above. Graduate to a long line. Then to off leash.





I try to make myself fun, and the ';source'; of all good things';.





Note: I am careful to make sure that ';come'; is not the end of a game, nor the end of fun, nor the end of freedom. A quick come gets praise and reward and an immediate release to continue the fun stuff.
Get a 6 ft leash, Put the dog in a sit stay, walk away holding the leash. Give it a little tug and say ';fido come'; have the dog sit in front of you and give it lots of praise. Repeat often . When you don't need the leash leave it off and repeat gradually extending the distance.