How to teach the "come" command
 

Lola is now 5 months almost, and loves to play. When I need her to come to me to put on a leash or get something out of her mouth she thinks we are playing and doenst let me grab her. I need to teach her the come commands, training suggestions?

also looking to enroll her in petsmart puppy class this coming month

The puppy class would be good, they will teach you how to do the basic commands.

If you want to use the habd signal.......
I believe the come command is arm stretch out palm facing dog and when you say "come Lola" (all loud and bright)bring your arm to waist with back side of hand to dog.
or leave the hand signal out and just stand a few feet from her and say loudly/joyful again "Come Lola". IF she does say good girl and give a treat.

I would start in side very small area, and as she catches on then increase your area.

This is what I read somewhere and did with mine.

Also don't forget to teach her the "wait" command, the "leave it" command and the "drop it" command stop, stay.

I took the basic puppy class with Jack and I did learn alot. You just have to keep practicing.

thank you, i am going to sign her u for the classes starting this saturday i think :)

Class is a great idea.

When teaching and using the "come" command, be sure to do for good things and not just "undesirable" things. Tell her to come to you, then bend over and pet her a little and tell her she is a good girl, and then let her go on her way. Give her an occasional treat for following the command and let her go. This way she won't associate "come" with things she doesn't want to do. :)

thank you. my problem right now is unless she is tired or really in a cuddly mood she wont come right up to you. she is always a hand length away. i have to get her to come right up to me to pick her up. i have to start to work on this command :)

Max is that way sometimes. He plays a little hard to get because he wants everything on his terms. I usually squat down toward the floor and pretend I want to give him a kiss and then he comes right up to me. Have to admit, I have probably inadvertently reinforced the behavior/game.

I had/have this same problem with Princess. So sometimes it's a 3 part process: she comes, I tell her to sit, then wait until I can get right up to her. She's much better now. The one "rule" I remember reading is never, ever scold them for anything when they come to you. These pups can remember as much as they want:rolleyes: & if they associate the command with discipline they wont forget that. This has worked even if she has a potty accident I'll tell her to come here & show her & tell her the correct way, etc. and she can learn, yet she's not afraid.

Another way to teach is have another person in a different room call her then reward when she comes & go back & forth. She'll soon realize coming is the right thing to do.:)

This is how I trained all of my pups...

You will need
1. collar or harness that has a front chest ring
2. leash
3. favorite toy & tiny treats.
4. a partner to help you.

Sit on the floor with your partner about 4 feet away from one another with your pup Lola on her leash.

One of you hold the pup while the other holds the toy & treat. While calling her name, pulling the leash toward you as she takes a step at a time.

When she finally makes her way to you (Reluctantly at first) show her her toy, give her a Big job well done (Good Girl) and the occasional treat. Try to make the toy the main reward.

Now switch, toss the leash to the opposite person and the toy to the other and do this over and over again and in time she will get it. Than you wont even have to tugg the leash to get her to come to you.

Simply say "Lola Come" :thumbup:

I have had so much success with this way of training, it works every time. So good luck !

thank you all. i was reading a book today that said i should avoid using the term "come" at all?!

it said to use "where are you?" to get her to come to me and use that because alot of dogs associate come with a bad meaning like "come here, you've been bad". i guess it all depends on the tone of your voice?

I can see where that would recommended, too. If my girl is busy in another room & I want her I'll say "Where's my puppy?" in a high pitched voice & she comes running. If she's in the same vicinity or something she wont come to me unless I tell her to come.

It doesn't matter what you call it as long as your pup learns that the most important thing ever is to come to you when called.:)

Coming when called is sooo super important and probably one of the hardest things to teach, to a terrier anyways. That's what I've found.

I am still working with Jackson continually.

I try to use a REALLY rewarding treat when practicing coming when called. I bought a 50foot training lead (Petsmart has these for around $10-$12) and I let him go all the way out 50 feet and then call him to me... so it's almost like he's off leash, but IF he happened to run off, he's still safe at the end of that 50 feet. I also found he responds better to "here" than "come". I don't know why. So you can try different words and phrases. I use "Jackson, here".


I'm lucky that my dad has a big fenced in yard and we also have a nice dog park. Both are nice places to practice recall. I always keep a few treats in my pocket at the dog park and will randomly say "Jackson, here!" and he responds REALLY well most of the time now at the dog park (with lots of distractions). It's been a nice place to incorporate training. As well as doing agility class with him, that helped him with off leash commands a ton. I also will occasionally bring him up the high school football field.

Basically: Practice, practice, practice! Don't use the word "come" or "here" if you know they are NOT going to come. Set them up for success. If you overuse any word, they become 'immune' to it and don't really understand the meaning behind the word. If you keep saying "Come! Come! Come!" and they're not coming... that word is worthless. ONLY say 'come!' when you know they are going to, or after they do.


The key is making YOU be exciting. Make it so your dog wants to come to you, and has fun while doing it. There's also a few things you can do in emergency situations like get on the ground, so that your dog looks at you and is curious as to what you are doing and comes over to explore. I saw this on It's Me or the Dog.

Here is a good video:

I've had a TERRIBLE time with this command as well. Chloe is getting better. I'm no trainer by any means but how I am solving this....When I would want her to come to me, I would always be picking her up to put her in her crate or take something away......so now to solve that...I've gained her trust by getting her to come.....but then just give her a good little pet....and a big "good girl", then I turn my back and walk away.

I've made sure that the "come" command has been used more for petting her than to retrieve her.....and it's working.....

Correct... it is the tone of your voice that is important! ;)

You can use whatever word you think will work best. I use the word come for all of my dogs, but our youngest one Ruby seems to do better with the word "here" and if she doesn't come when called I have to use a more stern voice and the words "Here NOW".

But one thing the I never, never do with my dogs is use baby talk !! It can hype them up and cause major issues down the line. LIke jumping uncontrollably to gain your attention and the whole excitement peeing thing. The way you greet your dog at the door or when you take them out of their cage can have a negative affect on their behavior. Just keep that in mind when you are training you little one.

thank you, can you expand upon how to greet or leave your dog? i know when i get home we are both so excited to see oen another, but when i leave i kind of just slowly leave and dont make it a huge production. do yous uggest NOT making a big dela when you arrive after the long day apart?

i'm going to have to try this

Good to hear that you say nothing as you leave the home. In my opinion that is they best way.

I have worked with mine for the past 9 months or so because they seem to think that they are leaving with me. They were not really that bad just frustrating the heck out of me. Occasional they would run out the door and to the car or the back gate. So, I had to put a stop to that. I now have them trained to sit on the carpeted area about four feet away from the front door when ever anyone leaves the house. I am really proud of them..... it took some time but I successfully did it. Occasional the little one will act up but I quickly put her in check.

Now coming home is a different story. The only thing that I say as I come in the door is "Lets Go Outside" They usually have to welcome me home first by scrapping my legs with their nails. Not fun at all...

I have four and they just go nuts. Jumping on everyone as they come in the door has been a big problem, and it hurts too! So I decided enough was enough. I started training them not to jump on anyone coming through the door. I simply raise my knee and say "Down". At first I had to repeat it for each of the dogs 2 or 3 times, but they are doing a lot better now. I only need to do it 1 or 2 times for the first one that jumps on me and the other ones know not to even try. I will work with them until they no longer do it.


Believe me it would have been so much easier if I had know about all of this stuff when we got our first one. After about Oh, the third one things slowly began to get out of control. SO, if you have the chance to do things right in the beginning...... it is so worth the outcome! Bad habbits are very hard to break.

A well behaved, well trained Yorkie is worth it !!

I've read that to keep yourself in 'alpha' position you should initially ignore your darling when returning to it and only make a fuss of him/her when you are ready. I've taught our little man to come by excited / nice voice 'come, Alfie' and 1time out of five giving him a treat when he did come. He's 12weeks now and it took 2 weeks to get him to come whatever he is doing (but I am at home all day and try to call him at least every hour even when he is asleep.. He must curse me!). When we leave him I pick him up give him a kiss and put him in his bed/crate with the myriad of toys he has :)

yesterday we made GREAT strides with the "come" command. I got home early from work and devoted the time to take her outside. I let her go very far on her leash then when she got to end i yelled out "Lola come, come lola, come!" and she turned and darted toward me and got a treat. did this over and over. she did so good.

once inside i did this in a smaller space, she would come right up to me, and wait. then i added in the "stay" command to associate with "not time for you to take the treat yet" and i literally held it by her nose and said "stay, stay lola" and she wouldnt even lick or budge, then i gave it to her.

so now we are workign on these two commands. come and stay still :)

:thumbup: :thumbup: thumbs up to both you and Lola for a job well done!

thank you! i was so proud and i think she enjoys the training too. i will do this again today, come and stay.

the "sit" is hard, bc if i try to put my other hand without the treat around to push her bum down she jumps back. i cant quite get her to let me do that yet, however, if i stand up and kind move toward or away from her she will sit. so if i see her do it i say "SIT" and hope she is catching on with what she just did with what the word is. cant wait to start classes!