COME Command Not Working? Solution: The Recall Game!

Does your dog look the other way when you say Come?
(This is Alvin's modus operandi)

RECALL This! I Ain't Moving.

Or does he run happily to you EVERY time you use the Come command?
(This is Simon's modus operandi)

So what happened so that one dog ignores the command and the other enthusiastically bounds to you every time you issue the command?

DRUM ROLL please!

Training of course! And taking advantage of puppy shadowing. And playing The Recall Game!

How can you find out about The Recall Game? On a dog forum! Many dog forum threads are fluff, or drippy, or spam. But on occasion, a thread will communicate a workable idea.

The Recall Game is such a post. It's a step-by-step explanation of how to get your dog to come every time, no exceptions. Best of all - your dog will love playing this game!

valmillsy

P.S. Always remember (and never forget) to check out the "Bible" of Dog Training, the best-selling Kingdom of Pets Secrets To Dog Training:

Are YOU Training Your Dog or Is HE Training You (6 of 6)?

Victoria Stilwell is THE Dog Training Expert

This is the sixth in a series of blogs about dog training:

Introduction
Training Foundation
HouseTraining
Obedience Commands
Overcoming Aggressive Behavior
Advanced Commands/Tricks (you are here)

Advanced Commands/Tricks

The Secrets to Dog Training guide lists the following in its section on advanced commands:

• Advanced Sit and Stay (Down and Stay is a variation)
• Seek
• Beg
• Fetch (Retrieve)
• Catch
• Shake
• Climb
• Crawl
• Jump
• Roll over

I’d consider the first two useful commands and the others – tricks and/or fun things to teach a dog. Since training needs to be fun for a dog to learn anything, it’s worth the effort to teach. A few of these commands might fall into specialty/performance training.

Another addition to this list might be the Come command, probably one of the more important things you want a dog to do. It’s usually covered as a basic obedience command, but it requires a gradual process of moving further and further away from the dog. To get a high success rate, you need to practice A LOT. Never EVER call the dog to you for a reprimand.

Leash training falls into the same category as the Come Command. It requires a lot of repetition and work. The It's PAWSible! Dog Training and Puppy Training DVD devotes several sessions to leash training. So does the Secrets to Dog Training guide, but as an aggressive behavior issue.

valmillsy

Puppy Training - The Big Picture

I finally got smart about puppy training - it's not a finite thing with a beginning and an end - puppy training turns into dog training and NEVER ends.

At first, I thought I could housetrain Alvin and teach him a few commands, and then bingo - a perfectly trained, obedient puppy. What WAS I thinking?

First, I discovered the Basic Command training needed constant reinforcement (this was explained very thoroughly in the It's PAWSible! Dog Training and Puppy Training DVD I used for training). The best example is the COME command - Alvin conveniently forgets that one. And if he's distracted - a rabbit, a bird, someone cooking food - he might forget "SIT." At times, "NO" is clearly a foreign sound. And housetraining - that's a never-ending vigil. One little lapse in his schedule means a possible accident.

Then the behavior/agression issues started in the last few weeks (Alvin is now 5 plus months):

• Jumping up on everyone
• Barking for seemingly no reason
• Backbark (similar to people backtalk)
• Biting/Nipping
• Pulling on the leash
• Constantly getting into mischief (pulling socks or clothes out of a drawer, chewing slippers, chomping on the computer mouse)

It was clear that housetraining and basic command training were not enough and it was time for a new plan. This must be the stage where many people give up training and decide the puppy wasn't such a great idea. And that's how dogs end up in shelters. Lack of committment - people just give up.

What's the solution in Alvin's case - a look at the issues and how to address them with more comprehensive training. And it seems to be working - one day at a time.

More details in future posts . . .

Recall Training Tip - Lure versus Reward

Alvin's typical reaction to the Come Command

If you're new to training a puppy basic commands, you're going to make mistakes. If your pup is not responding the way you want him to, the dog's not stubborn or stupid, you're doing something wrong.

A Prince Alvin example
The Prince responds quite nicely to both verbal and hand commands for sit, stay, and down. The command "Come" is the problem. As long as he's fairly certain I have treats on my person, he'll come when called, even if there are distractions. But when there are no treats in sight (or smell), the reaction is what you see in the picture above.

So what's a newbie trainer to do? In the case of the Come command, my mistake is that I'm using treats as a lure instead of a reward. I finally remembered the discussion of lure versus reward in the training DVD I'm using (see Bringing Your New Pup Home continued). The trainer in "It's Pawsible" recommends phasing out the lure (treats in your hand) to the point where there are no treats in your hand. Once the phaseout is complete, you reinforce randomly with a positive comment or a treat as a reward (but not originally in your hand as a lure).

Over time the pup will associate the treat with the command even if he doesn't get a treat every time. According to this trainer, treats will always be needed as a reward. The trainer asks this question, "Would you come to work if there were no paycheck?"

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