The "Come" Command

[Glenda & Lizzy Lu]

We have been working with our 8 month old Luzzy Lu (F1 Goldendoodle) on the come command. Started out in the house and then progressed to the back yard using a long cord and motzrella cheese for this command only. In short sessions of 15 min she does beautifully. We are already able to drop the cord and walk away without her moving until she sees the hand gesture and hears the come command. She still does not come to us unless she is training! Does this command just take months of reinforcement or are we doing something wrong? Biggest problem is when she grabs something out of the house and takes off out the dog door...she refuses to obey the come command and it turns into catch me if you can! Things she loves to grab...the TV remote and my reading glasses! She starts to chew them if we don't get them quickly!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

My opinion is that the "come" command is the hardest of all to teach.  In the situation you mention I would also work on the "Drop It" command.  That way if you can get her to do that you are one step ahead.  One of the secrets to the Come command is you never ever use it unless you have the ability to make them follow through.  In other words don't stand at the back door and say come unless you an enforce it.  You can practice drop it in the house by exchanging whatever she has for a yummy treat.  I think practice practice practice is the answer.

[Glenda & Lizzy Lu]

Think we have made a big mistake by chasing her....she does think it is a game. Will concentrate on the drop it command. Thanks so much.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with this.  I think there are two separate commands, and I would never use "come" unless I had the ability to follow through.  I think for situations where they grab something they shouldn't have you would want to use "drop it".  The training for drop it is a little different than the recall, and I would always practice it in the house.  We actually taught it with "fetch" because it was self-rewarding.  If he dropped what he hat (toy or ball) I immediately threw it....which was reward enough.  You can also use a treat as a reward for dropping the object...kind of like an "exchange".  While I would never chase a dog because that shows excitement, I don't feel there is anything wrong with calmly tracking them until they give up and drop what they have.  When they see you walking confidently at them it often will be intimidating and they'll just give up.  Good luck.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Pippa loves to pick up stuff to take outside with her. She is just now really getting the "drop it" command. She finally seems to understand that if she drops whatever, she gets a good treat. Whatever you do, DONT chase her because that is just a fun game and it will take her longer to get the "drop it". I know thats hard to do. Pippa has chewed up some good stuff!

[Glenda & Lizzy Lu]

I can see that we should have mastered the drop it cammand much sooner. Gonna work on that starting now. Thanks for the help.

[Kate, Mel, Tenley & Harper]

Rather than come, Tenley knows "touch it". So he knows that whenever he sees a closed fist, he is to touch his nose to that fist. One reason I really like this is because you can do it literally everywhere and it's very easy to train around distractions. When we're walking down the street and I see him showing a little more interest in something or drifting generally in that direction, I just say, "Tenley, touch it!" and show him my fist and it redirects his attention back to me. It is so, so easy to practice hundreds and thousands of times because you can do it while you're doing anything, increasing distractions, etc. By practicing it even when they're on leash, it helps reinforce the idea and you can do it for off leash recall in no time. It's a really effective universal command.

As for her ignoring you and running out of the house, that is the perfect time not to use any sort of command you want her to obey (except maybe "stop!", which is another one I always make sure to teach). If she stole something and ran out of the house and you call her to come to you and she does, what's going to happen? The party is going to end. Who would want that?! Not her! If it were me, I would follow her outside (calmly, not chasing her or paying any attention to what she's doing), ignore her behavior, and attempt to distract her with something else. For example, if she stole a shoe and ran outside I would completely ignore it and would follow her out there, not engaging her, pick up a tennis ball or a frisbee or something, and try to engage her in the game of fetch. Then, the "fun" activity of being chased when she steals a shoe isn't so fun anymore, because mom's not going to play. You know your dog well enough to know what will distract her and get her to do something with you. 

[Laura and Angus]

I just want to say that I can SO relate to everything you said here...Angus is definitely in his adolescent defiant stage - he knows the come command, but at this point seems to need treats to actually come to us. Ugh. We're going to keep working on it as well. We also use a very special treat for training sessions (e.g. turkey or little pieces of hot dog) to make sure he is motivated :)  "Drop it" has also been a monumental in our house. Angus will still grab things (e.g. socks, the remote, paper, shoes...etc.), but he typically drops whatever it is immediately at this point. Stick with it!

[Christy&Riley]

We struggled with this command too. Riley knew it..she just didn't always want to do it. Our trainer told us to give the command once and if she doesn't respond, say no. It is amazing how well that works with all commands. Often I say no and she stands there really still as if she is invisible. But a few seconds later she will concede and obey.