Well
then, how do you get your dog to come to you in all, or at least in most,
situations? It's all about conditioning your dog to think that coming to
you is a good thing. Below are 12 guidelines to help you teach your dog
to come amidst distractions...
1. TEACH YOUR
DOG WHAT “COME” MEANS
The
first thing to do is teach your dog what is expected of them when you say “Come”
(it can be another word such as “Here” if you prefer). At first, your dog won’t
know what it means, so you will want to say “Come” when your dog is walking towards
you anyway. Or you can say “Come,” then right away make noises or movements
that will encourage your dog to come towards you. In other words, you are
letting your dog hear the word “Come” as he does the corresponding behavior.
With repetition, the dog learns that “Come” means that he should come to you.
Often,
dogs will come to you when you just call their names, but it’s recommended that
you teach your dog specifically what “Come” means. The name is meant to get your dog’s attention before you ask
for a specific behavior, for example, “Fido, Come” or “Fido, Down.”
2. MAKE IT
WORTHWHILE FOR YOUR DOG / USE HIGH-VALUE REWARDS
One
of the best ways to condition a reliable recall is to make it worthwhile for
your dog to come to you. Let’s look at it from your dog's point of
view. Say your dog is playing with his doggie friends and you ask him to
come to you. He does so, and you put him on leash and take him away from
his friends. Do you think your dog will come to you next time he’s
playing with his friends?
For
most dogs, food is the number one thing they will work for. If you're
going to use food rewards, I recommend high-value food for Recall training.
Coming when called can be one of the most important things your dog ever learns
- it could even save his life in a dangerous situation. By “paying” for
your dog’s recall with delicious treats, you are drastically increasing the
odds that your dog will come to you when you ask. (Please refer to the treat
chart at the end for ideas.) The treat should be equal in value or more valuable
than whatever the distractions are, so you can “compete” with them.
Praise
is good, but usually doesn't work as an only reward. If your boss at work
praised you profusely for doing a good job, it might make you feel good the
first few times, but if you didn't also get a paycheck, then you'd probably end
up quitting your job. We all work for something. What will your dog
will work for?
It’s
good to mix up the rewards too, i.e. alternate what you use as treats. It
will be more exciting for your dog.
3. START WITH
BRIBING BUT SWITCH TO REWARDING
Assuming
your dog has learned what “Come” means at this stage, you may find that he
still won’t come to you if the distraction is extra interesting. In that case, stick a treat right to
his nose, say “Come” and take a few steps away. Usually with a treat right in
front of his face, the dog will follow you. Release the treat as soon as he takes a few steps with you,
then send him back to play.
This
is called bribing because you are showing your dog what he will get as a
reward. We are teaching the dog that it "pays" to come to you even
though there are other exciting things going on.
After you've used a bribe several times in a particular situation (such as while playing with another dog), transition to a reward system, i.e. instead of showing the dog your treat first, have the dog to come to you first, then pull out the treat. This way, your dog won’t always rely on seeing or smelling your treat first. But he will trust that you’ll still pay him for coming.
4.
ASSESS DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF EACH DISTRACTION / VARY THE REWARD QUANTITY and
QUALITY BASED ON DIFFICULTY LEVEL
Each
type of distraction has a different level of difficulty in terms of being able
to call your dog off of it. You may find it helpful to make a list of
your dog's distraction, rate the difficulty levels, and decide what kind of
rewards to use:
~
Geckos - MILDLY DIFFICULT – use medium value treats
~
Smells - grass, trees, other dogs' pee - MODERATELY DIFFICULT – use medium
value treats
~
Cats - MODERATELY DIFFICULT – use medium value treats
~
Other dogs - VERY DIFFICULT – use high value treats
~ Cat
poop - VERY DIFFICULT – use high value treats
- On the beach - ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE – use multiple super-high value treats!
- On the beach - ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE – use multiple super-high value treats!
You
will want to train for each type of distraction so that your dog can generalize
the Recall in various situations. Keep in mind also that the DISTANCE from
which you call your dog can also add to the difficulty level.
When
your dog successfully comes to you in a distracting environment, it helps to
give several small treats rather than just one big treat. If you give several small treats
consecutively rather than just one small treat, or several treats all at once,
then you encourage the dog to stick around after he comes to you, instead of
doing an “eat and run.” Giving
multiple treats also prolongs the enjoyable “treat party” for your dog, making
it even more rewarding.
5. SET YOUR DOG UP FOR SUCCESS / GRADUALLY INCREASE DIFFICULTY LEVEL
While
your dog is still learning to come to you and away from distractions, you can
set your dog up for success by making things easier. For example, rather
than calling your dog from 20 feet away at the beach, walk halfway to your dog
and then ask him to Come. Increase
the distance as your dog becomes more reliable in his recalls.
If
your dog hasn't learned to come to you in the presence of certain distractions
yet, then it's better not to ask him to Come in that situation, because he may
ignore you. Instead, you can do one of the following: 1) avoid that
situation, 2) keep your dog on leash, or 3) reward your dog for "checking
in" with you voluntarily, rather than explicitly asking for a Come.
If
your dog is playing with other dogs, or sniffing something really interesting, learn
to recognize the natural pauses during the play or sniffing, and use those
moments to call your dog, rather than saying Come when they are fully focused
on what they’re doing.
6. SEND YOUR DOG
BACK TO PLAY 9 OUT OF 10 TIMES / KEEP IT POSITIVE
Nine out of ten times that you ask your dog to Come,
send your dog back to play (or whatever he was doing before you called him)
right after he comes to you and gets his reward. This way, your dog will
learn that when he comes to you, he gets a yummy treat (or toy) AND he gets to
go back and play. Coming to you
does not mean “the end of fun.”
If possible avoid associating Come with things that
your dog doesn't enjoy, such as taking a bath, clipping his nails or leaving
the dog park. Your dog may start to avoid you when you say Come, because it
means bad things. If you need to
wash your dog or clip his nails, you can quietly put him on a leash without
saying Come.
7. COMMUNICATE
CLEARLY
Be
clear in your communication. I recommend saying your dog's name first to
get his attention, and then the word Come. For instance, "Fido, (dog looks), Come!" rather
than "Come here puppy" one
day and then "Over Here"
another day. Say the name clearly first, wait for a head turn or
acknowledgment, and then immediately say Come (or use a hand signal) with
enthusiasm.
Remember
that it's windy in Hawaii, and there are times when your dog may not hear you
because you are downwind from him. If your dog doesn't know his name very
well, it's a good idea to teach him his name before teaching him other verbal
cues like Come.
8. USE PRAISE
AND BODY LANGUAGE EFFECTIVELY (ESPECIALLY IN THE INITIAL STAGES)
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You’ve
probably seen dogs that start coming to the owner, but get distracted partway
and walk away at a 90-degree angle. Praising your dog with enthusiasm as he
starts to come to you will encourage your dog to keep coming to you - not only
are you more exciting now, the dog also enjoys the praise.
You
might also find that standing at an angle (i.e not facing your dog directly),
or walking in the other direction while maintaining eye contact (i.e. as if you
want your dog to chase you) will also encourage your dog to come to you.
Facing your dog or walking towards him as you say Come may appear intimidating,
or like you're chasing him, which will trigger his "running away"
instinct.
Sometimes
a dog comes to the owner but then ducks his head away from the owner's hands
because the dog doesn’t like to have his face petted or his collar
grabbed. It can help to have your
dog target your treat hand, and if you have to leash your dog, then gently and
inconspicuously grab her collar while
she's eating the treat.
Some
shy dogs feel intimidated if their human leans over them or towers over
them. It might help to squat down,
or stand straight without leaning over the dog.
9. GIVE YOUR DOG
ENOUGH EXERCISE, DOG PLAY, MENTAL STIMULATION AND OFF-LEASH TIME
Make
sure that your dog regularly gets enough exercise, socialization with other dogs
and/or off-leash time to get his ya-ya's out. If your dog likes to smell
the environment, then make sure he gets enough sniffing time in. Otherwise, he
may run away every time you take his leash off, because that's the only way he
can fulfill his own needs.
For an energetic or young dog, a 30-minute leashed walk in your neighborhood probably won’t cut it, even if it's twice a day. They need to run, play with other dogs, swim, play fetch or go hiking!
For an energetic or young dog, a 30-minute leashed walk in your neighborhood probably won’t cut it, even if it's twice a day. They need to run, play with other dogs, swim, play fetch or go hiking!
10. SAY IT ONCE
Get
in the habit of saying Come only once. Otherwise the cue becomes
"Come, come, come…I SAID COME!!" and your dog will learn that he
doesn't have to come the first time you say it.
11. COME MEANS
COME
Assuming you followed the guidelines above,
including not asking for more than your dog has been trained for, then your dog
should come to you most of the time. But a dog is not a machine, and you
will find yourself in situations where your dog “blows you off.” In these
situations, it’s a good idea to go and get your dog. There’s no need to scold
or punish your dog; just calmly go and get your dog. This way your dog
doesn’t get rewarded for ignoring you.
12. REWARD
SCHEDULES
When
your dog is initially learning Come, or if he is learning for the first time to
Come away from a particular type of distraction (such as another dog), you
should reward him every single time he complies to your Come.
As
your dog becomes very reliable at recalls (with and without distractions, from
a distance, in all environments), you may not need to reward 100% of the
recalls.
It's
scientifically proven that a random reward schedule will make a simple behavior
stronger. You can see it in slot machine gamblers - they'd get bored if
they won every single time, and they'd lose interest if they NEVER won, but
because they only win sometimes, they are driven to keep pulling that lever. Pulling a slot machine lever is pretty
easy though. What if you had to solve a New York Times crossword puzzle in
order to win money. It’s a more complex problem, and you’d probably want to get
paid every time.
Take
this into consideration when deciding when and how much to reward your dog for
his recalls. If you see your dog’s
recall response declining, then it might mean that you’re not rewarding enough
or that your treats are low value. I myself like to reward my dog at least 60%
of easy recalls and 99% of difficult recalls for the rest of its life. It’s
better to reward too much than too little and be sure to get a reliable
response when you really need it. It’s like depositing money into your bank account;
you’ll be able to withdraw some day when you need it most!
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I hope these guidelines help you train your dog's recall. As with the rest of the advice on my blog, they are just guidelines, and I recommend supplementing them with a group class or private lessons with an in-person trainer. There also some great videos out there including Dr. Patricia McConnell's "Lassie Come!" video: http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/lassie-come-dvd-dog-recall-training
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Treats
don’t have to be expensive store-bought dog treats. They can be cut up pieces
of real meat, or something else your dog goes crazy for. Usually, the
wetter and stinkier the better! If
you’re not sure what your dog likes, try a taste test. Dry biscuits are usually not as
effective because the top ingredient is typically not meat.
LOW VALUE (not recommended for
Recall training)
· Dry dog biscuits
· Kibble
MEDIUM VALUE (can work for low
distraction Recall training)
· Zukes-type training treats
· Dried jerky treats
· Other packaged but non-refrigerated
dog treats
HIGH VALUE (works well for higher
distraction Recall training)
· Freeze dried dog treats such as
beef liver, salmon and other meat
· Plato salmon and duck treats
· Cheese
· Freshpet Vital and other
refrigerated dog treats
· Sliced hot dog
· Cold cuts (turkey, ham, bologna)
· Steak, chicken^^, liver and
other cooked meat and fish (i.e. not packaged dog treats)
^^ Costco sells packages of
pre-grilled chicken that are easy to cut up into small pieces.
Please see my blog below for photos
of the above treats and other ideas:
http://woofpackhawaii.blogspot.com/2011/09/training-treats-biscuit-aint-gonna-cut.html