Backing and running away from me

[Geri]

Brenna is now almost 8 months old. Lately she will not come, and when I try to get her, she runs away from me. Or backs away from me. She has never been hit and the funny thing is, I got mad at her today and just turned my back on her and she went into her crate, the way I wanted her to.

She follows me where I go so I think she still loves me.

Is she mad at me?

 

Geri

 

[Carol Brand]

No, she is not mad at you.  She is simply testing her limits.  She wants to see if she can be the one in control of the situation.  This is a dangerous road to go down.   You can't have a dog deciding when it will come. A solid recall can some day mean the difference between life and death.  

I'd have her drag a long line around the house.  If you say COME and she comes in, then PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE TREAT!!!!  If, however, she blows you off, you can pick up the end of the leash, give her a collar pop and reel her in praising her as she comes in.  

The idea is to reinforce that ultimately SHE WILL HAVE TO COME.  She can come right away and be praised and treated or she will be made to come in and she has a collar pop as a consequence.   Also, try playing little games.  As she comes in, you can toss a treat between your legs and have her run through.  Also, running backwards away from her will encourage her to come in quickly. 

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Sounds like great advice!

[Geri]

I'm going to try it tomorrow. Thank you.

[Adina P]

Geri, excellent!  How has it gone?

Please remember, however, that training a reliable response to the command 'COME' takes quite a bit of work. It's not something you 'try' a few times. You have to purposely practice this lots, in all sorts of places, with different length of line and different temptations/distractions where she can learn that NO MATTER what's going on, when you say COME it means she must show up seated in front of you and await the next command. 

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Sasha and Oliver went thru this stage too.  They both went thru it at different times so one would listen and the other would not, then they would switch up.   Now both come running when I call them in from outside, every once in a while when I call Oliver in he just looks at me and totally ignores me !! He just stops dead in his tracks and stares - LOL  like he is saying "really Mom do I have too I want to stay outside a bit more".  He knows I mean business when I call so he knows if I step foot outside I am coming to get him so he comes running in at that point.  I really believe he is testing me and I do not let him get away with anything - -  As Carol said 100% recall may save their life some day.  I work on this everyday inside and out !!

[Geri]

She was a little angel all day.

I have it off now, should be interesting.