When Your Dog Won't Come

In my classes I like to get a sense of what my student’s goals are with their dogs. After I have everyone introduce themselves I ask: What are your goals? I can almost always expect at least 1 if not all of the students to include coming when called as one of their goals or something similar like having a dog who is reliable off leash. It makes sense. It is an important and life saving behavior. Behavior is the key word in that last sentence. By definition behavior is: the way in which an animal or person acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus.

There is a misconception that dogs understand the word “Come” and should appear as soon as they hear it. In truth, we must train this behavior just like we train our dogs to sit or roll over.

In my experience, most owners have not formally trained a “Come” behavior. When the puppy is around 8 weeks to 5 months old they prefer to be around their human. When we use come during this period of time it is highly probable that the puppy will come because they want to be near people, they are dependent on them. This gives the human a false sense of security that their puppy actually knows how to come but this is not true. Once the pup reaches adolescence, it becomes clear that the dog does not know what “Come” means because they are no longer returning to their person. There is a misconception that dogs understand the word “Come” and should appear as soon as they hear it. In truth, we must train this behavior just like we train our dogs to sit or roll over. What do you do when your dog won’t come? If you are struggling with teaching “Come” here are 3 things to get your started on a reliable recall.

1. Add value to the Word

With the dog on a 6 ft leash, say the word “Come” and start to back up. When the dog begins to move with you, say Yes! and continue to praise them until they reach you. Then give them a high value reward such as chicken, freeze dried liver, or cheese (the stinkier the reward, the better). Do not use “Come” outside of this practice. It is important to do this exercise for at least a week, if not more, multiple times a day in different locations. Our goal with this is to have the dog develop muscle memory. that the word come means move towards the handler.

2. Never Punish

Never punish the dog for returning if it took a long time or if they didn’t come immediately. Take it as a learning experience as to why the dog didn’t come back. Was the dog placed in a situation he wasn’t ready for? The key to getting a reliable recall is to always keep it positive and enjoyable from the dog’s perspective. Don’t call the dog from play or something fun to snap the leash on the collar and make it end. Even if you give the high value reward it may be overshadowed by the fact that lots of fun just stopped.

3. Increase Distractions Gradually

Once the word has been charged it is time to gradually add distractions, indoors first, and then outdoors keeping the dog on a leash. Gradually increase the length of the leash as your dog is successful. I have leashes in lengths of 10’, 30’, and 40’. A longer leash provides the dog with some freedom while preventing them from running away and ruining all the hard work you’ve invested.  “Come” should not be used unless you are willing to put $100 down on the behavior, that the dog will come. If you aren’t willing to make that wager then the distraction is too great and the word should not be used. The last thing you want is to use “Come” and then have your dog not come. If you end up with the dog not returning, you are teaching him that “Come” only means appear when he feels like it or when there isn’t anything more tempting or better to do.

These are just a few of the steps to take to have your dog come. In Bessey’s Positive Paws classes we also includes fun games and more tips to strengthen the recall. Taking the time to build a reliable recall will allow some dogs to have more freedom off leash in the future.

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Importance of Socialization

Have you ever seen the young adult dog who acts terrified, almost like they'd been abused in some form, as people often assume? While that does sometimes happen more likely the cause of the fearful dog is lack of socialization during the critical period of development. In the first 8 weeks of their lives, breeders or the responsible caretaker of the puppy should be providing the litter with enrichment activities such as different under footings, noises, and people. Once you come to own your puppy it is your job to continue to positively expose your dog and socialize them to the world. It's more than being around other dogs it's different places, people and things to help build and create a confident, stable, adult dog. This is more important than teaching your dog any basic commands. You can always do that but you only have a short window to socialize.

Here is a list of ideas of ways to socialize your puppy.

Different Types of People - Your puppy needs to be socialized with at least 100 different people before they are 16-20 weeks old. If you don’t have access to that many people, consider hanging out with your puppy at a busy shopping area. You need to do that more than one time. Make field trips fun and keep them short. Not every trip needs to result in greeting every person. Calm behavior should be encouraged during these interactions. 

• Men (men with beards, men without beards, men with beards that wear hats, wearing hats and sunglasses, etc.)
• Women
• Boys
• Girls
• Shuffling people
• Slouched people
• People with glasses
• People on crutches
• People with walking sticks
• People with walking frames
• People walking strangely
• Babies
• Parties
• People on roller blades
• Joggers
• Wheelchairs
• Heavy people
• Thin people
• Tall people
• Short people
• People costumes
• People in big coats
• People with beards
• People with sunglasses
• People of all races
• Bald people
• People exercising (running, jogging, star jumps, etc)
• Children and babies (See NOTE)
• Dancing people
• Busking people

 Note: It is really important that your puppy interacts with kids of different ages. Infants are very different than a crawling or semi walking baby. Most dogs are fine with infants but when a baby become a little more mobile is when most families see signs of growling and other aggressive displays. Please go out of your way to find children who will follow direction well and not hurt or scare your pup by accident.

Different surfaces

• Bean bags
• Tile floors
• Wood Floors
• Bubble wrap
• Different walking surfaces
• Wobbly bridges
• Heights
• Agility Equipment
• Gravel
• White floors
• Child’s plastic sled
• Leaves
• Metal street grates
• Plastic tarp
• Cookie tin
• Walk through a ladder on the ground
• Tippy board
• Mud
• Puddles
• Foot bridge
• Stairs, closed and open back

Note: Be creative here! Your puppy will not need to walk on all of the above.
You can pile the treats on different weird surfaces and gently encourage your pup to step on. Never force your puppy to go on something. Help shape the puppy to think that this is their idea.

Water

• Sprinklers
• Hoses
• Being wet by the hose
• Water
• Shower
• The beach
• The bath
• Swimming pools
• People swimming
• Water feature
• Rain

Note-Just because you got your puppy in the winter does not mean that you don’t have to go out of your way to find things that they will see in the summer.

Places

• Airport
• Skate park
• Bus depot
• Bus stop
• Train station
• Shopping malls
• Loud fun places
• Football game
• Supermarket
• School
• Coffee shop
• Building site
• The gym
• Tennis game
• Office
• Speed way
• Place with crowds
• Main roads
• Your place of work
• Playground (start at a distance and work your way closer)

 Note- Many large stores like Home Depot and Lowes or greenhouses allow puppies to come and train. Check with your local store before going. This will cover many things on your list. You need to go more than one time!

Moving and making noise

• Lawn mower
• Bikes
• Children playing with various toys
• Shopping carts
• Vaccum cleaner
• Skate boards
• Scooters
• Bus
• Train
• Tractors
• Ride on lawn mowers
• Cars
• Hammering
• Trucks
• Motorbikes
• Chainsaws
• Fork lift
• Helicopters
• Airplanes
• Sirens
• Hair dryer
• Suit cases
• Remote control cars
• Ceiling fans
• Mirrors
• Glass sliding doors
• Boats
• Automatic doors
• Garage doors
• Construction sites 

Noises

• Fireworks from a great distance
• Storms (e.g. thunder and lightning)
• Parties
• Musical instruments (piano, guitar, saxophone)
• Gunshot
• Cheering
• Yelling
• Singing
• School bell
• Sound effects CD and/or on line
• Saucepans
• Radio
• Lawn mower
• Loud noises

Note- Fireworks -please do not take your puppy to fireworks. If you know a holiday is coming like the 4th of July, be ready to make it a positive experience with lots of yummy treats, your jolly voice and a soothing music. If your puppy lives with a noise phobic dog, consider having the pup in a different location during these holidays. You can also find noises on line that you can condition your puppy to. Start at low levels.

Situations

• Leash
• Harnesses
• Muzzle
• Loom overhead
• Collar grabs
• Opening mouth
• Cutting nails
• Grooming (as appropriate to the breed)
• Clippers
• Being tethered
• Having ears cleaned
• Having eyes cleared
• Having every part of the body handled
• Being picked up
• Teeth cleaning
• Being carried on a stretcher
• Being bandaged
• The vet

Note – Please make arrangements to stop in to your vets several times for some treats and love at times when your puppy does not have an appointment. This will make visits less stressful for everyone.

Weird things

• Big plastic objects
• Plastic bags
• Balloons
• Umbrellas
• Mirrors
• Big balls
• Thrown things
• Shopping carts
• Baby stollers
• Fast movement
• Kids toys
• Brooms
• Vaccuum cleaner
• The wind
• The wind blowing bushes/trees
• Flags
• Balls and frisbees
• Tents
• Flashlights

Travel

• Escalators
• Elevators
• The car
• Planes

 Other animals

• Puppy school
• Big dog
• Little dog
• Shaggy dog
• Smooth dog
• Farm animals
• Bull breed dogs
• Rabbits
• Birds

When socializing is done properly you build the confident and stable dog. Therefore your dog will quickly recover from any instance that might startle or scare him. You may not need to socialize to every item on this list but if you can check off most of them you will find your dog is able to roll with new encounters or weird objects. Socializing is for life but it is best received at the young age of 8-16 weeks. It is always a good idea for the first 6 months when out with your puppy to bring tasty treats. If your dog sees something that makes him uneasy you have your tasty treats handy to work him through it and turn it into a positive experience.

What are you waiting for, get out there and start helping your dog cope with the world.