Urgently Need Help With Very Basic Command
 

I know that if Stewie doesn't learn to "come" when we're outside, he is going to get killed by another dog or traffic or running away through our fencesomeday. However, I am having a lot of trouble with this basic command. He knows "sit", "make potty", "stay" and a few other words, but whenever I call his name and say "come" he runs even faster and wants me to chase him.

It just a happened as I was typing this, too. I am at a lossj and nearing my wit's end. With the Lab I had, there were no problems. She must have known at least 100 words and sometimes even sentences. I hate to say it, but I am beginnning to feel hopeless with him. Any suggestions?

hmm mabee you should try a different word that word you should just forget it cause he learned it as play and runaway mabee i tell brownie 'get over here before i beat your butt' kayko and brownie for some reason it must be the way i say it but when i say NOW they dont even thiink twice there at my side show him that you mad at him when he doesnt come yorkies respond very well to emotions good luck

I am no expert on dog training but there sre wonderful websites devoted to it
Here is one site and what they say about teaching "COME".

http://www.perfectpaws.com/recall.html

Hope this helps! it always scares when they run the other direction!!

"Sully, come HERE!" :-)
 

Sully doesn't respond as much to "Come" as he does "Come HERE!" When we say this, we point our finger directly to where we want him to come.

We taught him this by giving him a treat and LOTS of praise when he came. When he didn't come, we'd say "bad dog!" and try again. And when he did it right, treat and praise. He now comes for praise only, and he's really good about it. In fact, we don't even have to do both anymore. He will come to our finger pointing straight to the ground OR to our voices saying "Sully, come HERE!"

:) Best of luck, don't worry, it can be done!

Connect the dog
 

I too had the same problem with my yorkies (2) and it is very difficult to chase one, much less two especially when they go in different directions and at my age, lets just say plus 50 LOL. I had one very scary experience with them taking off and that did it for me! I went and bought these leads (cannot remember the name of them, but I got them through Petedge.com) and hooked the boys to my belt while in the apartment. Did this every day when I got home from work. The lead was long enough to allow them to go into a different room than where I was. Then I would call them (COME HERE), if they did not come I would reel them in until they were where I wanted them. When I got them to me, I would say good boys, give them a treat, etc. Did this everyday for over a month. Today I can say with pride, that they always come when I tell them COME HERE. I can take them out in the courtyard of my large apt complex, and call them, they come immediately. Sunday we went to the dog beach, very early so there were not a lot of distractions (i.e. other dogs) and they were terrific. I am so proud of them and also this command is so important, it can quite literally take them out of harms way and save their lives. This method worked for me, you might want to try it.

My first yorkie did all the time. Major reason why I started dog training. As soon as she see's something interesting she runs off and I couldn't call her back. I got really tired of her doing it so I took her to a dog behavorist and we work it out of her.

What it is, is all the distraction outdoors. There are so many new sounds, smells, and things outside compare to inside the house. That is also a reason why some people can get their dog to obey inside the house but not outside.

Anyway, this is what we did. We did lots and lots of recalls. What it involved was putting her on a long leash and calling her to me. As soon as she came, she got a special treat(chicken, steak, etc.). After she was did that consistantly, we started to add distraction( one person walking around the room or bring in a dog). Then the distraction increase and finally we did the whole thing all over again off leash. One of the worst one was placing her in a enclosed field with 20 loose dogs and calling her to me off leash. She has no problem doing it now and I'm not afraid she will run away anymore.

Tip: 1. Do not chase your dog. If you do, he think it is a chasing game and run further. Instead get his attention by calling him name cheerfully(you can jump up and down too and wave your arms if you like-dogs are natually attracted to motion) when you have his attention move or run the other direction encouraging him to follow(chase you).
2. Try not to get anger or show anger at your dog(would you go toward a person that is angry with you?)

I hope this info helps. Good luck with your dog.

toby did this too, i feel your pain :( he is getting better though, toby actually managed to slip out and into traffic AND wouldnt come when we called, that was a big wakeup call for us... we have been using cherrios and randomely saying "come" when hes not really paying attention, he is getting rather good at it... i think the next step for us is to either go to an ENCLOSED area where we can let him off teh leash and practice, or get one of those really long leashes to practice with him out in the open..... it has really been a step by step process for us: (lol..... i say "us" as in my fiance and i, but toby only listens to me, if my fiance gives toby a command toby looks at him like "yeah right")
first, we STOPPED chasing him altogether. He loves the "chase me" game and we indulged him all the time,... not anymore, no more chasing (although now i think he kows the differnce between play and serious time)
second, we called toby to "come" randomely throughout the day/night using his favorite treat, and then treat or praise, and eventually we will get to praise only but we are not tehre yet.
Third, (we havent gotten here yet either) after youre dog has mastered the above, graduate to an enclsed area or put youre baby on a LONG leash and practice outside in teh open (there will be distractions so dont get frustrated when youre baby gets a little sidetracked)

Lucy does the same thing, we say come and she runs away wagging her tail. We just used another word. We tell her now 'good bye!' and wave and she comes pelting back like a good girl! I think once they get the association with that particular word as a 'play' word, you can never be sure if they will respond to it appropriately or not. We were very strict teaching the new words as it is such an important command and we dont use it when playing so that she doesn't get confused :animal-sm

Thanks for the great tips everyone. Millie, I found yours particularly amusing.

Its so frustrating and I think I am going to have to change the "come" word to something else. I like "goodbye", but I already say that to him when I am going to be leaving him for a couple hours or if we are going some. I've been pointing to the ground and saying "come here", but he just lies down wherever he is. He's really confused and I am afraid I'm confusing him more.

How long should I typical training session last for a 5 month old? I've been doing about 15 minutes plus however long it takes me to get him to "come" to me after we're done to go inside.

Add another to the NON comers!! Bailey is 9 months and I still have this problem. He starts Obed. school 04/20 so Im hoping they help me! For the longest time I kept his leash on him , in the house, cause he behaves better with it on,, that and i could reach him when he ran or ran under or around the table 30 times,, when I wanted him to come..
Of course he will come like an angel when I have a treat, but when I dont he'll run up see NO TREAT and turn and run.. like "screw you" ! :eek: , it is so frustrating,,, so heres hoping school will help,,, and if he escapes out the door which he has chasing the cat,,, all I can hope is the cat will run back in, to get away from him, and he follows,,, otherwise,,,, I just wait,,, or get a treat and hope he gets a whiff of it! Then when he comes in I dont know whether to scold him for running out,,or be praise him for coming back?? :confused: