Won't come to me

[Archie's Mom]

My little stinker will not come to me. If I call his name (which he clearly knows), he may look up, but when I try to get him to pick him up, he jumps backwards (!!!) and will not let me pick him up. Sometimes when I call his name, he just ignores me and keeps doing what he's doing. He is 10 months old now, so I thought by now he would have gotten the hand of "come here." He also will not let me touch his face or brush him very often, which I have tried repeatedly. He's very stubborn, but is otherwise a sweet-tempered little dog. Dogs I've had in the past, even without obedience training, have come to me when I've called and let me pick them up without chasing them down. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any advice you can give.

[stinky]

Ginger used to do that and it would drive me nuts! I’d be in a hurry to go some place and be late because I had to chase her around trying to catch her. Finally one day I had had it. I was so frustrated I threw my wallet and change went everywhere. I didn’t hit her of course, but the noise was enough to get her attention and it scared her. I felt terrible with guilt all day, but now I have no problems. I wish I could give you a more positive way to train him... one that didn’t involve loosing sanity and freaking out. Lol. Hopefully a more patient person will weigh in here. Good luck.

[Shadow]

Rocco does the same thing and it drives me insane, where is Milan when you need him?

[JiggityJig]

Dogs I've had in the past, even without obedience training, have come to me when I've called and let me pick them up without chasing them down.

Ditto. Is this just a weird yorkie trait? Because my two won't come when called either, and it drives me NUTS.

Kiki also always pulls away when someone reaches out to pet her. She's not being timid, or aggressive....she'll just evade you and go on her way...or else acts like she'd rather be sniffing your hand...but it just seems weird to me that she's not BEGGING to be petted, like all other dogs I've had.

[chachi]

Chachi will come when he is called Jewels wont. Jewels also wont learn tricks and doesnt have an obedient bone in her body. She is a total free spirit

[LuvtheCooper]

Carley will always come when she is called, even when she knows she is in trouble. Cooper however, will come only if he wants to. He also will only allow me to pick him up when he wants to. You could give him anything in the world treat wise and it still wouldn't work, he is soooo independent. We took him to obedience school, which was a total joke. Treats and praise get him to do nothing, unless he chooses to do it. We just go along with it, he is very well behaved except for this behavior. We are used to it now!

[DENISE517]

Maddie will come when I call her but sometimes when I have to leave or she is in trouble she will run when I try to pick her up. It drives me crazy too. I think she knows sometimes when I leave she had to go in her crate?? I would love to know how to solve this problem. I need to enroll her in puppy classes. She will be 8 month old on Dec 14

[rsmit02]

Originally Posted by LuvtheCooper

Carley will always come when she is called, even when she knows she is in trouble. Cooper however, will come only if he wants to. He also will only allow me to pick him up when he wants to. You could give him anything in the world treat wise and it still wouldn't work, he is soooo independent. We took him to obedience school, which was a total joke. Treats and praise get him to do nothing, unless he chooses to do it. We just go along with it, he is very well behaved except for this behavior. We are used to it now!

LOL your boy sounds just like mine Jake he is so independant and dominant he knows all the comands for training and if he chooses to do it he can but it is his choice.

He is to smart for his own good, he was bad for running after bikes in the park if off the lead. Trainer said to take a toy or treat he loved with us and if we saw a bike to distract him with it, but he only got the treat or toy when bikes were coming. Well this worked great for a week, saw a bike took out jakes ball played, bike went by jake didnt care BUT....... after a week smart boy realised that if I took the ball out I had seen something ahead he wanted to chase so it went like, I see bike get out ball, Jake sees ball knows Ive seen bike, Jake runs in all directions till sees bike, Jake chases bike!!!! Smarty pants!!!

I swear I can think in my head im going to bath him or brush him and he looks at me and raises an eyebrow as if to say you think so and goes behind the couch where I cant reach him!

Ruthx

[Archie's Mom]

Well, at least I'm happy to hear I am not alone in being the mother of a stubborn Yorkie. He's such a mystery to me sometimes. He loves to be cuddled and petted on his terms -- but he pulls away when I try to pet him randomly -- unless he's sleepy! Little Monster! I like that he's independent, but I amm worried that we'll one day be in a situation where I need him to come to me (to protect him) and he's going to do his backward jump routine! Love him to death, though!

[margot.]

Originally Posted by stinky

Ginger used to do that and it would drive me nuts! I’d be in a hurry to go some place and be late because I had to chase her around trying to catch her. Finally one day I had had it. I was so frustrated I threw my wallet and change went everywhere. I didn’t hit her of course, but the noise was enough to get her attention and it scared her. I felt terrible with guilt all day, but now I have no problems. I wish I could give you a more positive way to train him... one that didn’t involve loosing sanity and freaking out. Lol. Hopefully a more patient person will weigh in here. Good luck.

I read two really great books that talk about training puppies. The first, "The Art of Raising a Puppy," by the Monks of New Skete and the second, "Mother Knows Best," both are excellent books. I can't remember which book says what, but I'm pretty sure they both say that when your puppy won't come you shouldn't chase them as this turns it into a game. There are a few tactics they suggest to prevent this problem. The one I remember off the top of my head is to run backwards saying the puppy's name and the "come" command. Another thing the book (I'm not sure which one) said is to lay down on the ground as a puppy will be curious about this action and come to investigate. The laying down tactic is employed when you need to get your puppy to you if he is in danger. Hope this helps!

[margot.]

Sorry Stinky - I meant to quote the inital poster! oops! i'm new at all this!!

[margot.]

Originally Posted by DENISE517

Maddie will come when I call her but sometimes when I have to leave or she is in trouble she will run when I try to pick her up. It drives me crazy too. I think she knows sometimes when I leave she had to go in her crate?? I would love to know how to solve this problem. I need to enroll her in puppy classes. She will be 8 month old on Dec 14

"Mother Knows Best" deals with this issues specifically. There is a whole vocabulary that she recommends teaching your dog. She talks in great length about the emergency "down" command to stop your dog in his tracks, which in spme instances can save his life. (ex. if your dog runs into traffic and you say "come" the dog might have to go back into traffic and risk his life further, the "down" command is supposed to stop your dog in his tracks)

Hope this helps!!

[ditsy]

Jake would often run away from me when I tried to pick him up or do something he didn't like ie brushing.

He thought that me coming towards him was a game and wanted me to chase him around the furniture as he thought that was great fun.

While I haven't 100% corrected this behavior I can now get him to lie down and wait 80 % of the time.

He already knew the command "down" so I used this .. I would make him lie down and then take steps towards him ... if he ran off ... I would just tell him in a firm tone to "lie down" or "down" or "no" and then basically with the different tone and posture to follow him around the furniture. Letting him know that I wasn't happy with the tone of my voice (not screaming or shouting ... just generally firm and not playful at all).

It took two or three weeks, but eventually he started staying down as I walked closer to him and eventually will now wait for me to come pick him up most of the time.

As I said before it doesn't work 100% of the time, but it has greatly improved and only usually doesn't work if he's over excited or hyper.

Jake was 8 - 9 months when I started to do this, and is now almost 10 months.

Just keep at it

PS

We still play chase around the furniture, but I my body and tone of voice are different, he understands the difference.

[FirstYorkie]

Archies Mom,

I think that you need to separate being picked up from the "come" command. Come only means come here right now. Use another cue word when you want to pick him up. If he doesn't like to be cuddled except when he's in the mood (and some dogs don't - heck, some people don't!), then you don't want to associate something negative- being picked up - with coming to you.

Since Archie has a history of only responding to "come" occasionally, it would be a good idea to change the word you use for that command and reteach it. There was a recent thread on that here:
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47650

Once Archie is coming to you regularly, you can gradually add one of two things to ensure that he doesn't run up, get the treat, and run away. Either very gradually make your hand on his collar part of the criteria for getting the treat. Or, since, he's a bit touch sensitive, it might be better to require a sit/stay at the end of a come before he gets his treat.

Hope this helps!

PS I agree with the others that an emergency down command is a good one to teach. But, it's a good idea to also have a reliable recall.