not coming when called.

[Ronnie & Emma]

hi guys i just want some tips on what i can do ..or what i am doing incorrectly

so my emma is pretty good with the come command inside the house. but, when she is outside she gets sooo distracted. she loves eating grass and exploring the scents around te backyard. so this is what happens...i bring her out for potty in the morning she's usually good . she comes back in.
later on the day..you bring her out . she does not really play much ..she jsut sits or lies on teh grass and just eat the grass. when she's focused again, i 'll tell her to come and get the toy in my hand.. she does. by the time, it is time to go back inside.. she does not go back in with me. she just lies on the grass and chill. i tried exaggerating my actions to have her come inside. i tried to pick her up and bring her inside for her to know it is time to go inside. i tried using treats to lure her inside.
but i find these actions..are doing the job for her. she' snot actually coming when called.

thanks

[Lynne B]

you might practice her recalls on a long lead (15'-20') Call her and if she doesn't come to you - 'reel her in'. My trainer told me that if you call the dog and it doesn't come- you have to just go get the dog, grab his collar and take him where you want him to go. She said if the dog learns that 'come' is optional, then they will only come when it's convenient for them. One trick that I have used with Beck who gets very distracted is to run away from him if he doesn't come when called, dogs seem to be 'hard wired' to pursue things that are running away from them =)

[Adina P]

Until she's finished training (meaning she's shown herself to be super reliable around multiple distractions) if you want to ensure that she always comes when called she needs to be on a long light leash when she is outside. But she also needs to be supervised so her leash doesn't get tangled. That way if you call her and she does NOT come...you can grab the leash and 'help' her get it right so she knows that regardless of whether she feels like coming...she will always have to come. You still will want to praise her and reward her when she arrives, but you may have to help her get it right for a while. Every time a dog does not obey a command it knows very well...it sets you back in training some. So you need to go back a few steps and reward and require her to do it.

[Lona and Bogart]

Thank you, great idea. I blogged tonight about my Bogart pulling the leash out of my hand and refusing to come, in an unsafe area. I have tried letting him drag the leash, but he's so quick I can't get it, I see now that I've got to get a longer leash and just keep trying.

[Minga & Malu & Costa]

Do you have any training books? Essentially they say what Adina said, which is you would go back to the games you played to get her to come as a puppy. You are supposed to only give the command "come" when you are sure they will do it.

How to behave so your dog behaves by Sophia Yin -- my FAVORITE book! I refer to it all the time :)

[Ronnie & Emma]

thanks ! you guys are great ! a friend of mine mentioned about hte long training lead . i thought i would go with the leash ..but it turns out it was too short and it kept on chewing on it.

i'll give it a try.
no i have not bought training books...i got a dog tricks and training workbook. the book turned out to be too advanced for her at this time. so maybe i 'll return it and get a training book instead.
i'll keep an eye on it - how to behave so your dog behaves. i wonder if chapters has it .

[Lona and Bogart]

Thank you, I will buy it tomorrow!

[Sandra Griffith]

Everyone here gives such great advice!! I would add that it is best not to ask her to come when you want her for something that she is not terribly fond of (such as going to the vet, cutting nails, etc.). For these situations go and get her instead so that "come" always means something good will happen (treats, play, love, etc.). In this same vein, I like to call a dog when outside or engaged in something fun (such as playing with another dog or just having a good case of the zoomies), treat and then release them back to what they were having fun with. I do this on a regular basis. This helps avoid the "come means good times are coming to an end" syndrome.

Lastly, figure out what are low, medium, and high distractions are for her. Start working on calling her in low distraction environments and work your way up, letting her progress and success determine how fast to progress. If you find that she is having trouble working at the distraction level that she is in, go back to her "point of success" (the distraction level where she was reliably able to work) and work your way up more slowly.

It sounds as though you are doing a great job with her. What a lucky little girl she is to have such a dedicated person in her life!

[Ronnie & Emma]

thanks sandra :)

so i just bought the lead ..and tried it on her. she keeps biting on it. so i gave her her nylabone to chew on instead and said No when she stsarted chewing on the lead. when i asked her to come in ..i just reeled her in and then i used positive reinforcemtants..i told her good girl !!

[Ronnie & Emma]

so emma still sometiems just sits there and starts chewing on grass/ or the training lead. i direct her to come to me with the lead. reeling it ..but she doesnt budge. ends up im dragging her . i dont really like that. so i brought in the treats- her dog food. she tends to follow me around even without saying come. i praise her everytime she comes. out of the 5 or 6times i will give her no treats for half the times. i dont know if that is appropriate or not.

another thing..when she knwos i have treats. she tends to get really excited . starts giving me her 'paws up' everytime. then she starts jumping. i ignore her ..till she cools down. then i try again.

am i doing this correctly?

[Sandra Griffith]

I would treat her every time until she is coming every time fairly reliably. A variable schedule of reinforcement (think of a slot machine: you don't know when the jackpot will come so you keep trying) is very good in the long run, but when you are training in a higher distraction environment and she is not terribly reliable yet I would treat every time until she appears to be "getting it".
When you do put her on a variable schedule of reinforcement make sure that you are not making it too much of a pattern- these doods are smart & can figure out that they will only get a treat every other time. Also, do not have the treats visible. You don't want her coming because she sees treats, but rather because you have called her. You may hold the treats hidden in your hand, behind your back, etc, Also, randomly call her to you throughout the day in as many differently locations as possible. Dogs do not generalize well so a come in the kitchen may not mean that they know "come" in the backyard. Vary the other circumstances as well (wearing a hat, wearing sunglasses, lying down, sitting, standing, crouching). Another thing...the harder the tasks, the higher value the treat should be (hot dogs are usually like gold) and conversely, the easier the task the lower value the treat can be. Make the treats small (I usually get as many as 80 treats out of one hot dog).

As to the jumping, treat delivery can help to solve this problem. It is best to train for only one criterion at a time (if you are working on "come", don't correct for jumping up as this is confusing to the dog). When she comes try immediately tossing the treat on the ground right in front of you so that she is bending down to get it rather than jumping up to get it out of your hand. After she has eaten her treat (remember the treat is small so this only takes a nono-second) you may turn your back if she then jumps up as you are no longer doing a "come". If she is slow to start coming to you do as Lynne suggested and run away from her as you are calling her (you can keep holding on to your long line as you are running). Keeping your energy level up helps. Keep your training sessions short so that they do not get overtired. Training is mental work and can be tiring to our pups. Training sessions of 3-5 minutes 6 times a day can often be much more effective than one single 1/2 hour session. End with something positive that you know that she'll do well. Hope this helps! Let us know how it is going. It's always so great to hear how smart these doods are.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

We recently enrolled our two dogs in a puppy/beginner class and the first thing the trainer did was teach us about a Touch command. Basically, you hold a really good treat between your finger, let the dog see it, and yell touch. When they come, lower your hand, they touch the treat and it is theirs. My dogs can be playing in the yard, at the dog park, chewing on a bone, but when I have my hand in the air and yell touch, they immediately come running. I always up the ante with a super good treat for this command. It has made my life so much easier. Just a thought.

[Ronnie & Emma]

yeah i think i should cut my training session short. she does get really tired..she sits down whenever she gets chance ( i.e when i dont ask her to come). she gets so focused on coming that she does not play fetch with me anymore. i guess i tired her out too much that she does not want to run for the kong ball anymore.

otehr than that she has been coming 80% of the time and te rest ive been using hte line to guide her to come and then i give her a treat. it makes me so happy to see her to happy and excited to come to me.
i'm going to keep on trying.

with the distraction levels..she does a much better job inside the house. she comes prob 90-95 % of the time. the problem is with outside . the grass , airplane,scents etc are distracting her to come. Or maybe she has learned to not come and come only as she chooses.

so hopefully she will get it very soon. i think she would. doods are smart !