Tips on Teaching "Come"?

[Sam&Bella]

Hello!

Bella can do all the basic "tricks", Sit, Stay, Lay Down, Up. But when we say "come" she either totally ignores us, or comes charging, and passes us! We have taught it to her before but with treats. That is the ONLY time she listens to come. Does anyone have any tips on how to teach come without treats?

Thanks!

--Sam

[Marybeth & Yankee]

Our obedience instructor had us sit our dog, walk n front to end of leash and then move backward as fast as we could pulling our dog into us with leash and calling their name and "come"! She also stressed never to use their name unless it was to call them to "come"! Yankee did great with this. They also had us work on having him sit-stay and then walking a ways from him and then calling "Yankee come" excitedly, the instructor said by using an excited, animated voice it makes it into a game for them and the dogs are happy to receive the love and praise when they get to their owner.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

A reliable recall is one of the more difficult commands in obedience training to a achieve...especially consistently IMO.  Here are some things that have worked for me...

-It is really key that all of your training has taught your dog that YOU are their leader.  If they have learned to respect you they will be motivated to come when you call them...trust is so important.

-My favorite tool for recall training is a long line.  I used one for months before I ever let my dogs go unleashed and had full confidence in their recall.

-I started out with a long line....walking without saying a word....letting them wander away from me....calmly calling "Murphy COME"...and then stopping and waiting for them to come to me.  I would not repeat the command....just wait.  They will figure it out and when they do come to you praise and treat.  You have to do this over and over.

-When they got good at that it was time to teach them among distractions.  Go to a park where there are people and maybe other dogs.  Bring a long line and a "tie out stake" that goes into the ground where the long line can attach.  Let them just wander but use your recall words every now and then and when they come to you....treat and reward.  Wait for distractions to show up and do it them....start with small ones and work your way up to more "tempting" ones.  For this "in the park recall lesson" I always try to have a really high value treat.

-As far as recall in the house I would never use a formal recall command unless I was prepared to follow through.  That means I have treats in my pocket and If they don't come I can go and "track them down".  When we were doing this training, running away from me was never an option.  They learned that I would follow them (not chase them) calmly until I got to them.

[Missy]

oh, this is a challenging command.  and it is a command that will be used in MANY different situations! which makes training more challenging. 

I learned to never use the word unless I was prepared to retrieve pup. I also learned to never say it more than once. If dog did not 'come', then I said 'sit' and went to dog to then walk him to the original 'come' spot. 

my favorite book: https://www.amazon.com/Puppy-Primer-Patricia-B-McConnell/dp/1891767...

Other things I learned in this book, that I think help with this "come" command.  

Teaching the pup to look to you for direction.  I would sit outside on the porch with pup, and any time he just looked to me (no commands), he would get a small treat. Of course, you have to be creative to hide the treats! this only works for one or two treats, but I repeated this almost every day! Once I started developing his habits to look at me, I would do this during rush hour or times when other people would be out.  Then reinforce as we got older: I would walk away from him in the yard, and if he came to find me, he got a treat. Then, I would just do laps around the house, trying to outrun him and hide. I think creating a desire for him to look to me for direction really helps with his 'come' command. 

Granted, we do not use 'come' as a common command.  Just like 'high reward' treats are a rarity, so is the 'come' command.

I love this book also because it teaches humans to use hand signals.  The first 12 months were intense training with pup (all from your own home), but we are 3 years old and to be able to have your dog across a field and give him a hand signal is pretty awesome. (instead of crazy screaming lady!) lol 

And to add: while it took a good year to get a good 'come' response, we still do 'class time' to reinforce our commands. 

You can do this. No matter your method, consistency is key! and follow through.

[Sam&Bella]

Thank you everybody for all the help! I will be sure to get a long line and try fun learning games too :)