My 2 year od will not come

[Ann & Reggie]

My dog will never come to me, but will not leave me either. He does not want to be outside without me and follows me in from the yard, even when I do not want him to. Yet, if he knows I want to go in the car ( which he loves) and he is off leash, he will keep running from me. I just had the worst experience so need guidance: We were taking our usual walk with him on leash. When we got to the car he sat and I unleashed him before he was in the car ( first time I did that without my hand on his collar). He ran all over the parking lot. If I turned away he followed but would not get close enough fo rme to grab him. I even tried starting the car and moving it away. He watched and sat at a short distance but when I  got out of the car to get him the same thing happened. I tried telling him to sit ( he did) and saying I had a treat, but the minute I got close he ran. This perisited for 15 minutes and finally he came for a treat. I was about to give up and call for help. Any ideas???? This is a game as I know he will never leave me, but dangerous and frustrating. Thanks

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree. It may be a game, but so is Russian Roulette. Until your dog is 100% solid with his recall, no matter what, you must never allow him off-leash anywhere other than a fenced area. I don't let my dog get in or out of the car without holding his leash in my own garage if the garage door is open. And my dog is 6 years old and wouldn't leave my side on a bet; it's just not a bet I'm willing to make.

[Michael Gurley]

This is the same as Sunny. If the garage door is open, she is on her leash or else she runs out the door and all around the neighborhood, where she may get hit by a car (although she has not crossed the road... yet.)

[Ann & Reggie]

I never let him off leash expcept in mhy backyard. He goes from my house to the car on leash and back in the car with leash on until he is safe inside. This was a quick error on my part.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The photo is very very small, but in this one, he appears to be standing in a parking area without a leash. Maybe I just can't see it.

[Ann & Reggie]

He is in my driveway ( Inv Fence) right after his first shave. Mobile Groomer was there too.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Is this something new? Did he obey the "come" command when he was younger? If not then it just sounds like he has never LEARNED what the come command actually means. Perhaps you need to start from square one with training the "come" command starting indoors in a controlled environment and then moving outdoors on an increasingly longer lead. And practice, practice, practice!! LOL!

Definitely continue to keep him leashed but I know that accidents happen, perhaps you might drop it and then off he would go again!! So training is the key!

This really is quite scary and dangerous!! You must have been frantic!! I hope you never end up in that situation again for both of your sakes!!

[Ann & Reggie]

Thanks..yes, training is a must. We were in teh parking lot of a nursing home which makes it worse as somoe one could have come out and who knows what would happen....

[Camilla and Darwin]

There are lots of discussions here on the come command, and I recommend you look through them. They are very helpful. Other than that, just try to NEVER have him off leash in an area that isn't fenced. I know you probably know that already. Also, we kept high level treats with us at all times when teaching Darwin come. It didn't take him long to realize that if he came he would get cheese. That sounds like a scary situation!

[BG and Gavin]

How timely. I was at the salon today and a woman told be of a similar incident with her 3 year old Bishon at the dog park. So the dog was in a safe area, but would not come when she wanted to leave. This went on for an hour and a half. She said she was in tears and she was freezing. She faked leaving several times by going to the car. The dog ran to the fence crying but would take off again when she re-entered.

So she is back at no off leash anywhere. Even at the dog park, she has kept him on a long line and did training there (after training at home was more solid) using dried liver as reward. She still is working hard at this. Gavin needs work on this too. It's really hard. I just keep remembering, every time you call them and they don't come and you can't make them is a giant step backward. For that reason I don't say "come" if I can't enforce and I go get him at the dog park (I don't want come to mean the fun is over and we have to leave). Another thing I do is when he is running towards me I say "come" so he associates the two. Kinda like I said "get busy" while he was peeing to teach him what that meant.

Good luck!

[Ann & Reggie]

good advice..thank

[Adina P]

It takes a lot of work to train a dog to ALWAYS come when called, definitely not something that dogs learn casually or without tremendous effort in training. Until the dog has been trained to always come when called, that dog should remain on leash for safety.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Cooper does this too - when she isnt ready to stop playing. I have bought a dog whistle, and she responds well to that - if I call ``Cooper come`` and whistle, and shake the treats, she comes - but I have only tried this at home in our yard, and in the park with no distractions (eg other dogs).