I had never thought of having an "emergency come code". Tatum took a training course where the teacher had us walking the dog on a lead and every few feet or so we would let them get ahead of us, stop and wait for them to look at us and then say "come". When she did, she got a very special treat. We didn't train with just plain ol' Cheerios (like she gets at home). I actually used a hamburger patty torn up into teeny tiny pieces. It has to be something very special for these training sessions. It really took no time at all to teach her to come when approached this way.
I had a very proud moment a few years ago when she was playing with some big dogs at my husband's uncle's house and a man drove up in a big truck. Well, the big dogs go running off towards it - with Tatum following right along. People usually know that big dogs will get out of the way but they sometimes don't see the little ones. I did panic a little bit but just stopped and hollered "Tatum!"... "COME". She stopped, looked back and forth at me and then at the big dogs a time or two and then calmly walked back to me. This was not long after training for this and I couldn't have been a more proud Mommy. We don't overuse the command and I think that's one of the keys to making it effective. I do use it often enough though to keep testing her. I've even used it a couple times when she's taken off after a possum in the yard (we're out in the country). I think it took every bit of willpower for her to stop and turn around.... she wanted that possum! But once you get them trained for this, you'll be very happy that you did.
Good luck with your training.
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~ Angie |