Stops or backs away when called

[MissSunni]

Hi everyone,

My puppy was doing really well with commands, but the past few days when I say "come" she trots over and stands about 2' away..or she will come right to me, then back up if I move towards her. I try not to make sudden moves to scare her, but thats what it seems like. If I take myself away or don't pay attention to her she will come all the way to me. I feel like if I let this keep going on, that command will be more of a game then an important command. I would love to hear any advice before I mess things up. We are taking a puppy course but it doesn't start until the end of the month (March). Thanks in advance.
Sunnis slave, lol

[anneclaire]

Dont feel bad as my Spice will do many commands except come! She will not come all the way to me. And I think you may be right in it could become a game to her.
I am going to follow this as I too would like suggestions.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Many toy dogs do just have a predisposition toward moving away or stepping back anytime anyone moves toward them and will rarely come to us and stay by our feet when we call without specific training. On the other hand, some are like my late little Jilly would turn herself around backward so I could pick her up properly when I approached her or she came near to my feet! But she spent the first 2 1/2 months of her life riding in her breeder's large, deep apron pocket as she was a fragile runt who had to be watched constantly for various problems so she loved being picked up and carried around and was imprinted with being carried by a human very early. Some toys are like that but I find more of them I've owned, fostered or trained move away than offer themselves to be picked up.

Toys dogs are so often picked up - so much more often than larger dogs - and that immediately inhibits their freedom, of which toy dogs have little compared to larger ones, and what's worse to them, they are often carried off to get a bath, nailclipping, brushing, toothbrushing or something or other they prefer not to happen to them. Bigger dogs get to walk beside or behind us and accompany us to wherever we are going to bathe or groom them, even if they are slow to do it, but the little ones are often just whisked up and off.

If you just hate the habit of stepping back(I don't mind it, as all I have to say is, "Stop" and the dog will stop), you can work to train him to approach you and then train him to "stay" in place anytime he approaches close to you or your feet. It will likely take about 6 months if you work at it fairly regularly to overcome the natural tendency to step back but most good trainers can train instinctive behavior out of most dogs if they are determined to do it and make a game out of it, having the dog "win" when he stays put by plying him with instant treats offered immediately - not 8 seconds later - but immediately when he's stayed in place for a count to 20, accompanied by happy smiles and a wiggle of their head or body. Not too much praising or celebrations at first - the dog will immediately back off to celebrate so the first three months or so or more - treats and smiles, maybe a quiet "good dog". The praise and celebrations can come when the dog is standing solid over and over and not about to move because he wants the treats and you happy.

The thing is, given the dog's nature, if it's kind of timid or anxious, it will keep moving back out of sheet habit more than he stays put for a good long while and most will lose heart in the training. But, you can do it with a dog if you work really hard to make the dog understand that "winning" at staying put before you is more rewarding in the long run with loads of instant, luscious treats and praise and happiness than the temporary relief of moving away - at which time you say "uh oh" and turn away from him in obvious disappointment, no treats. Eventually, the dog gets the message: Stay put - get treats, mommy is smiling, praising me, happy, I'm happy. Move - get an "uh oh", no treats and she's unhappy, ignores me for a long time. Hmmm.....maybe it's better to "stay put! He'll begin to work hard to do that - he'll still fail for a while but he'll try harder and harder. Then it becomes second nature.

You can use a leash the first day or so you begin training but often the moment you take the leash off after starting this training, they are right back at zero and stepping back again so just sticking with the repetition and positive reinforcement eventually will begin to associate staying put with happiness and good things and he will want to do it for the oxytocin his brain begins to flood with anytime he gets it right. It will take patience and persistence but you have the rest of the dog's life to live with them so what is six months in the long run?

What also can work is teaching the dog that "come" means treat and the dog is to come and stand there until you give the treat, however long that takes. When he is used to standing before you to get his treat, it shouldn't be a stretch to then teach him to "Stay".

[MissSunni]

Wow, YorkietalkJilly! That was great information. Thank you very much for taking the time to go into such a good explanation and hopefully a plan. What you said makes a lot of sense to me. I guess there is no fast way to train a puppy the right way. I'm really not in an extreme hurry, but I know there are a few important commands that are for her safety more then my convenience. Come, stop and no are the ones that come to mind. On another note, she and my other dog were home alone for much longer then I expected tonight, and she didn't have any potty accidents. She went on her pad by the back door, which is also her outside door. She seems to have that one pretty well now. I think, lol. Time will tell.

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by MissSunni

Wow, YorkietalkJilly! That was great information. Thank you very much for taking the time to go into such a good explanation and hopefully a plan. What you said makes a lot of sense to me. I guess there is no fast way to train a puppy the right way. I'm really not in an extreme hurry, but I know there are a few important commands that are for her safety more then my convenience. Come, stop and no are the ones that come to mind. On another note, she and my other dog were home alone for much longer then I expected tonight, and she didn't have any potty accidents. She went on her pad by the back door, which is also her outside door. She seems to have that one pretty well now. I think, lol. Time will tell.

Good for her, coming along on her housebreaking. Sorry the training use the male pronoun and reference. My dog is a male and I'm so used to dealing with him, I habitually fall into referring to dogs in that gender - a bad oversight when the dog in question is such a darling little girl!

Obedience training a dog can repay you literally 1000-fold for its whole life, especially if the dog tends to be hyper, anxious or dominant in nature, traits that begin to show themselves as the dog settles in to its new home and grow into its persona. Simple obedience training that teaches your dog, through a series of command and trick-training sessions - 2 -3 X 5 mins. each day - that obeying you is an automatic response and brings her her best life by keeping you happy - will make for a great, happy, playful, willful, impish but well-behaved pet. Trust me, a terrier will still have all the attitude and terrier qualities of a non-trained dog, it's just that she will be able to control it once you've had enough! My Tibbe is well-trained but still has plenty of fire and all the sass-back in the world, trust me!

In the process of the fun training, the dog learns that obeying you brings her good things, fun times(training and rewards are fun!), happiness, satisfaction as she learns to control her impulses and complete her task, food and happy praise rewards, gives her confidence and pride, helps her see you as a benevolent leader to be trusted and respected and she will learn to love the good feelings that flow in her brain when she gets it right and sees your pride and happiness in your face and demeanor.

When you train your dog, you're not always yelling at them "no!", "stop!", "don't!" for the rest of their lives - the dog is under control, controls its wilder impulses, rarely misbehaves and if she's doing something you don't like, a simple look or pointing of your finger is often all it takes to stop them and certainly an "uh oh" or "no" is sufficient. Teach her to stop and stay in place until you give the release command, drop it on command, leave it, sit up, lie down, rollover, high-five, handshake, sit up and beg, bark on command, go quiet on command, growl on command, wait at the door without going out until you give the release command and to do all of that inside and outside, for starters and you will thank yourself for doing it all along the road of your lives together.

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Many toy dogs do just have a predisposition toward moving away or stepping back anytime anyone moves toward them and will rarely come to us and stay by our feet when we call without specific training. On the other hand, some are like my late little Jilly would turn herself around backward so I could pick her up properly when I approached her or she came near to my feet! But she spent the first 2 1/2 months of her life riding in her breeder's large, deep apron pocket as she was a fragile runt who had to be watched constantly for various problems so she loved being picked up and carried around and was imprinted with being carried by a human very early. Some toys are like that but I find more of them I've owned, fostered or trained move away than offer themselves to be picked up.

Toys dogs are so often picked up - so much more often than larger dogs - and that immediately inhibits their freedom, of which toy dogs have little compared to larger ones, and what's worse to them, they are often carried off to get a bath, nailclipping, brushing, toothbrushing or something or other they prefer not to happen to them. Bigger dogs get to walk beside or behind us and accompany us to wherever we are going to bathe or groom them, even if they are slow to do it, but the little ones are often just whisked up and off.

If you just hate the habit of stepping back(I don't mind it, as all I have to say is, "Stop" and the dog will stop), you can work to train him to approach you and then train him to "stay" in place anytime he approaches close to you or your feet. It will likely take about 6 months if you work at it fairly regularly to overcome the natural tendency to step back but most good trainers can train instinctive behavior out of most dogs if they are determined to do it and make a game out of it, having the dog "win" when he stays put by plying him with instant treats offered immediately - not 8 seconds later - but immediately when he's stayed in place for a count to 20, accompanied by happy smiles and a wiggle of their head or body. Not too much praising or celebrations at first - the dog will immediately back off to celebrate so the first three months or so or more - treats and smiles, maybe a quiet "good dog". The praise and celebrations can come when the dog is standing solid over and over and not about to move because he wants the treats and you happy.

The thing is, given the dog's nature, if it's kind of timid or anxious, it will keep moving back out of sheet habit more than he stays put for a good long while and most will lose heart in the training. But, you can do it with a dog if you work really hard to make the dog understand that "winning" at staying put before you is more rewarding in the long run with loads of instant, luscious treats and praise and happiness than the temporary relief of moving away - at which time you say "uh oh" and turn away from him in obvious disappointment, no treats. Eventually, the dog gets the message: Stay put - get treats, mommy is smiling, praising me, happy, I'm happy. Move - get an "uh oh", no treats and she's unhappy, ignores me for a long time. Hmmm.....maybe it's better to "stay put! He'll begin to work hard to do that - he'll still fail for a while but he'll try harder and harder. Then it becomes second nature.

You can use a leash the first day or so you begin training but often the moment you take the leash off after starting this training, they are right back at zero and stepping back again so just sticking with the repetition and positive reinforcement eventually will begin to associate staying put with happiness and good things and he will want to do it for the oxytocin his brain begins to flood with anytime he gets it right. It will take patience and persistence but you have the rest of the dog's life to live with them so what is six months in the long run?

What also can work is teaching the dog that "come" means treat and the dog is to come and stand there until you give the treat, however long that takes. When he is used to standing before you to get his treat, it shouldn't be a stretch to then teach him to "Stay".

Excellent post!! Great information!! I certainly have nothing to add.....the bolded part above is like just what my Roxie does, and many of the pups in her past litters do the same thing!!! I think it is sooo adorable!!!

[yorkietalkjilly]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

Excellent post!! Great information!! I certainly have nothing to add.....the bolded part above is like just what my Roxie does, and many of the pups in her past litters do the same thing!!! I think it is sooo adorable!!!

LOL, sweet Roxie! It is so endearing a quality - a dog that just loves to be picked up. Very quickly after I brought her home, Jilly taught herself to do that - turn around backward, hump up her tiny back and make herself ready for me to pick her up, even when she was jumping with excitement because we were going out the front door - she was backwards, waiting to be picked up!!! Of course, she was constantly in my arms as I would carry her everywhere I went - even to the bathroom, where she insisted on sitting on my lap most of the times!!! No one could hear that without laughing me off the planet but another Yorkie lover!!!

[anneclaire]

Yorkietalkjilly thank you so much for this post! You are such an amazing person with an abundance of sweet patience for us new yorkie owners. And you explain things so well . THANK YOU !!

[gemy]

Originally Posted by anneclaire

Yorkietalkjilly thank you so much for this post! You are such an amazing person with an abundance of sweet patience for us new yorkie owners. And you explain things so well . THANK YOU !!

So agree with this

[yavenay]

Come is an extremely important command. What's weird with Duchess is that she does the same thing in the house. However when the leash slip out of my hand and she took off running, I yell "Duchess come" in the most serious voice (while chasing after her) and she actually stop and came back to me.

Even though I was happy she obeyed me, I am still not comfortable and feel she definitely needs more training. When the weather breaks, I will take her into a crowded dog park (small dog side) where there are tons of distractions and train her more on the come and stop commands. It is the only place I can practice off leash with her in a safe environment. Training them in the house is one thing but we also need to trained them outside as well with all of the distractions.