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

[Michael Gurley]

That is a dangerous game. My dog, Sunny, will dart out the door and run around the neighborhood, coming back to me about 10 feet away, then running off again. She is the reason we fenced most of our yard. Now I do not let her off her leash until she is safely either in the car or in the fenced area.

At the dog park, she used to have problems with recall. She knew that when I called her, it was only because I wanted to leave the park and she didn't want to do so. Then, I started calling her just because I wanted to play. I would call her, throw a ball. Call her, give her a treat. Call her, pet her. Then, when I wanted to leave and called her, she figured it was because I wanted to treat her and she came!!

[Jenny and Chester]

He got what he wanted! Doodles love to have you chase them, and you said this went on for 15 minutes. From his perspective, he has successfully trained you to play with him! I would put him back on a leash. Never call him unless you are 100% convinced that you can get your hands on him.

[Jenny and Chester]

My bad. You are correct Caitlin.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Suggestions for not letting this happen are good however accidents do happen once in a while. If something like this happens again, you might try throwing the treat into the car with the door open and step away from the open door..... Ned evaluates whether he wants to mind, but as he has matured, he comes. Our rescue, Clancy is a runner - could be one reason he was a shelter dog - twice! He comes when called at home, at a dog park, and even once when he broke the gate in the backyard, but when he is excited/scared he runs and you have to hope you can grab him as he goes by. We just took the guys to see Santa at the humane society and just as we finished and started to give treat and pick up the dogs' leashes, an 'elf' opened the door and Clancy started to bolt. Luckily my DH got his tail.

[Ann & Reggie]

Thanks everyone for all your replies....I see I am not alone. You can be assured tha tleash will stay on him unitl he is secured in teh car etc. I do not give h im treats so know he loves them but that did not work. I do have dried liver in the house...any other "high results": snacks you reommend?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with everyone. He needs to be on a leash at all times until he's been reliably trained on recall. This will mean lots and lots of hours of working him on a long line. I don't use treats consistently for this training, because there will be times when I need the dogs to come to me when I don't happen to have a treat handy. We actually practice recall/come in the house several times throughout the day....sometimes they get a treat and sometimes they don't, but they always get lots of praise. When they do get a treat, I never have the treat at the time I give the command. After they come we go into the kitchen and get the treat. For outside recall, I use either a 20 or 50 ft lead, so that they will not have an option to refuse to come when I call them. I also agree this is definitely a fun game for him. As Caitlin said, you may want to join the Training Group and pose this as a discussion. I'm sure you'd get lots of good information on how to go about training your recall.

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

You are no longer interesting to him : ), you might be his security which is why he stays close to you most often but you are not as interesting as what he is seeing and smelling. Carry high value treats with you at all times, never scold him after he comes even if he just ate a 3 year old child. He has got to know that coming to you gets him the highest reward.

I would try exercising Comes in the house for a week with high value treats. When you are on the sofa just call him over using the Come command once and give him a treat. Don't treat when he comes just because you said his name or because you moved your hand for the treat. Only treat on the Come and only say it once. If he doesn't come when called then go get him and bring him to where you were.

You can put a 150 long line on him for outdoor potty breaks so that you can reel him in when he doesn't come.

[Roxanne Ochs]

Early on we trained CeeGee to the whistle - two toots is come no matter what and one toot is sit where you are. It's pretty easy to get them to do this. We got one of those orange dog whistles at the sporting goods store and wore it all the time in the house and out and about (still wear it on walks because there are fields and trails where CeeGee can run off leash - I've even used it in the dog park). I started off with having her sit right near me and gave 2 toots and then a treat. Then if I were in another room, I'd do the same or if she was outside I'd give 2 toots and after a while I'd give a treat maybe every other time and then begin to space that out even farther. Now she comes to 2 toots no matter what. Works like a charm. We also trained her that she simply cannot go out any door until she hears "Okay". That includes the car or the truck. Good luck. Hope this helps.

[Kami Allen]

I feel your pain. I was out running through the fields in my pajamas pants looking like a crazy woman. The dog trainer I work with told me that it's "the owners fault". She said that once the dog runs away from you - they know they are going to be in trouble so why not get as much fun in as possible, right? That leads me to trying to bribe her, jumping up and down and acting like I have the BIGGEST suprise in my hand, and basically looking like the biggest fool in the neighborhood. My dog is smart and will scratch the front door and act like she has to go potty out front and then takes off and I swear she is smiling at me and thinking "sucker!". So I think the best rule is keeping them on a leash.

[2m42srv7vi6sq]

Our Doods are only off leash in our fenced yard.

Caeleach, at 3 years old, will come 99.9% of the time, but I don't trust that one instance when she might not.

We still work on the "come" command with EVERY one of our dogs EVERY day. (I confess that I still give treats when they come, but not all the time.)  Our dogs coem, when they are called, because we have practised thousands of times and they know that responding to that "come" command means that they will get treats or praise. It must be instinctive, for them to come.  They can't stop and think about it, just come.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

As Nancy said accident happen.  I once watched a CDX champion husky elude his owner at a dog show for over an hour.  He (the dog) had a marvelous time.Here are some tips that have worked successfully for me with an accidentally loose dog.  Throw yourself on the ground and roll around making strange noises - the dog might come to investigate,.  If treats are there throw the whole box of them loose on the ground - it is hard to snatch fifty scattered treats and still make a clean getaway.  If your dog is trained to "down" with a big arm motion do that then add wait or stay and approach casually- down is usually a stronger ( higher frequency of obeying) command and short circuits the run impulse .  If a neighbor or willing stranger is near ask them to call and hold the dog - often the dog will not suspect that the other person will hold them by the collar and "turn them in".   In the meantime work on the recall - since come is obviously worn out ( not obeyed) choose a new word.    Have a word or phrase for the casual "come" one that is not always reinforced - I use "let's go" and another

for the formal, always obeyed recall.  I have heard "hurry", "now", "front", "cookie" - etc any unique sounding word that is not currently in your dog's vocabulary.

 

Glad all ended well.  Luck often triumphs over skill.