I definitely have to put some time and energy into this! Right now, abbie thinks "come" means lay down and bark at mommy - or run as fast as you can in the opposite direction!
Our Mozart (11 y/o) still has his stubborn spells; but, for some reason he will respond when I say "ONE"...as if I'm counding down. Now, this might make sense IF we counted to (say) three and then took some sort of action; but, we NEVER have! LOL And, it can't be my tone, because I use the same serious tone to say "come" when I really need him to obey. So, when he's in one of his moods, it might go something like this:
"Mo, come" [Mo looks my way]
"Mozart, come here" [Mo sits - licking his lips nervously]
"Mozart...(pregnant pause) come HERE" [Mo sits]
"ONE".....[Mo advances toward me, tail between legs, like he's expecting something terrible to happen!]
By that time, I've forgotten why I needed him to "come", and the whole thing became an exercise in the battle of the wills.
*sigh*