You can't catch me!!!
 

GRRRRRR. Had to leave for work this a.m. and needed to catch Maddie, after 20 minutes she finally won. Depending on everyone's schedule, some days she is left out, some days she is gated off into part of the house, and 2 days a week she is crated from 9 - 3. I had contractors coming to the house to work in the kitchen so I needed to gate her off into the back half of the house. How in the world she can figure out what I need to do is beyond me, because there was no way she was going down the hall in front of me so I could put the gate across the hallway entrance. I tried throwing her favorite toys down the hall, going down the hall into my bedroom, putting treats down, everything I could think of. Any other time she is attached to my ankles like velcro!

She basically does this any time we want to catch her to pick her up. She potties outside in a fenced yard so we can just open the door (after she sits and waits) to let her out. But at night, I want to put the harness on her, because after she does her business she doesn't want to come back in. Too much cool stuff to do after dark, I guess! If we ask her if she wants to go for a ride, she runs to the back door and waits for you to pick her up. If she wants the last bit of milk in my cereal bowl, she runs to the kitchen by the sink and waits for me to pick her up. If I want to pick her up, forget it. It's like if it is MY idea, no way. She will "come" but if you reach for her she is GONE! :rolleyes:

I would appreciate any ideas. We are constantly trying to come up with tricks to "catch" her. I almost feel like I should get one of those long poles with a net at the end!! NOT REALLY!!! :eek:

Good question. My Bailey does the same thing as soon as she wants something she will let you pick her up but when i want to pick her up she runs away?? Why is this?? she wont come when i say come as well she will come when she feels like it. How do you traint hem to come. She sits, lays, shake a paw, rolls over, high five??? what to do?

I am going to watch this thread for responses because Missy LOVES to play the "you can't catch me!" game. It must be a Yorkie thing.

LOL, Fido does the same thing!
Maybe its just something with the breed? :P
Only thing that works for me is to pretend that im going for a walk, i take out the leash and ask him if he wants to go for a walk, usually he runs right over to me.
If not, i say ''Bye bye!'' and close the door, then when he's at the door i open and say ''hello!'' then he goes to me and is so happy that im home again :P

My Piper does the exact same thing. Is it a female thing? I've always had males and never remember doing this with them. I keep hoping she"ll out grow the Catch Me If You Can Game. She's 16 months now and besides ball this is her favorite game.

Jackson did this a lot as a young puppy! But literally every time he would come to me, he'd get a
really yummy treat and I guess he figures it's worth it to listen for that delicious treat LOL. So
sometimes he will try to play that game but all I have to say is "want a treat?!" and he's right at my feet, lol.

Hehe .... everybody has got the answer in their posts but you're not aware you're doing it and making it worse

The pups see it as a game
so when you call them they are standing there and saying in their little pup minds .... Ready-Set-Go! :animal36

Come on Catch me WEEEEE!

and the more you call and the more you chase .... the more they will run

To make them come
You need to do it and train them when there are no distractions
in a calm but stern voice call them
and hold either a toy they love or a treat
when they come tell them what a good girl or boy they are
and repeat and repeat and repeat the process again and again
eventually they will think that good things will happen when you call their name

I have a 5 mo. male who would come to my Wife but not me. I probably made it worst by playing chase with him. Resolved it by carrying Cheerios in my pocket when I was home with him. I would call him at different times and different situations . He is getting much better , hope this helps:D

Thats a Great idea :p

My two always stop and I can pick them up. I just got a new furbaby and
she is like a darn rabbit and she don't listen. I just adopted her , the owner had to rehome her , so now I just stand there until she came back to me, so I can pick her up. We r in training right now. thanks god I have a big fence yard. But she likes to b in the house so if I open the door she will ran in.
bark@ulater!!!
manina,miley:aimeeyork,max:aimeeyorksasha:aimeeyor k

don't chase them- that turns a command into a game!

When Banjo was little- he got out of his harness- near a 4 lane really busy street! took off toward the street, of course- my 1st reaction- was run after him- and i remember-don't chaSE THEM- I TURNED AND WENT THE OTHER WAY- HE CAME BACK! I really think if i had not turned around- he would of been killed in that street- plA!YING- CATCH ME IF U CAN.i SHOOK FOR 2 DAYS! And threw that harness in the trash!

Banjo need inprovement still-BUT 1 OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COMMANDS- IS COME! IT CAN SAVE THERE LIVES!!

You could try cheese. My dogs will do anything for a piece of cheese...

I don't know how, but somehow she KNOWS when I NEED to pick her up. The reason I had quotation marks around "chase" is that I don't really "chase" her. I reach to pick her up and she is darting around like Sugar Ray Leonard!

I try treats. She will sit. I show her the treat. When I move to give it to her, off she darts. I tell her sit. I show her the treat. I tell her to wait. She sits and waits. I move to give her the treat, off she goes. She will run off a bit and come back and look at me just watching. If i put the treat on the floor, she will get up to get it and then take off!

If I don't need to pick her up for any reason, she will jump up in my lap to take a treat!!!!!!!!! How do they know????????? Must be like Ceasar says and have something to do with my "energy"?

I don't use the come command because I always read not to use the come command for something they won't like, like picking her up and putting her in her crate so I can leave. I always read the come command was to be used for good only. So that it is reliable for when you really need it like when they get away. Not even for just coming in the house when they would rather be outside playing because you don't want them to have to think which is better... play or come ... play is fun... if I follow the come command she might make me come inside.. not as much fun....
darn they are smart!!!

I have tried putting a favorite treat in her crate and saying crate and letting her go get it in the crate and not closing the door. Then closing the crate door a couple of times and then letting her out right away. Maybe this is the best way to try to get her in the crate, but what about those other times you just want to pick them up?? Like I said earlier, any other time she is like velcro on my ankles.. They are too smart for us!:rolleyes:

When I went back on nights I was determined to take my two out as soon as I got home and before I fed them. It would take me ages to catch them & I couldnt understand why as they love walks. Finally figured out they wanted their breakfast so I had to give up the pre-breakfast walk idea. They have me right where they want me.
Of corse, then theres the I have something I shouldn't have catch me game. And the I'm upstairs what you gonna do about it game. Its a wonder I'm not bald.

AMEN a dog that won't come is a dead dog! you must work this one over and over, the way we do it is in our hallway, i stand at one end and dh at the other and we call her to us for a treat and back and forth we go, sometimes she will run to the opposite person without being called and doesn't get the treat and get's called back to the same person twice in a row.

another thing to try is the tether her with a leash to your body and do housework with her always around you and practice picking her up and putting her down at different points in the day so she's used to the picking up and not getting away from you when you do it.

good luck

i don't agree here about the come phrase, i think it should be used anytime and every time you want the dog to come to you for any reason. this is a word that needs to be reinforced over and over so that the dog knows what it means and acts on it every single time perfectly, it could save a life someday and if you never use it how will the dog know when it's a life or death situation to do it.

Maddie does the same thing. The trainer that I go to told me that if I go towards her to pick her up and she runs then to turn around and go in the other room. Everytime I do this, Maddie will follow me and just wait for me to play so I go back to pick her up and she runs again and I do the same thing. After 5 or 6 times she gets tired of it and lets me pick her up. It takes patience but it seems to be working for me right now. Good luck. I know it's tough! This is probably Maddie's favorite "game"

Mine does the same thing. He looooves to run away from mommy all the time, but I've actually began training him to sit and stay. He's about 5 months old now and he's doing quite well when it comes to training him. Everytime he tries to run I say COCO SIT he sits then I ask him to stay and that's what he does. Of course it doesn't ALWAYS work he has his hyper moments but yeah that's what works for me.

We have had this same problem with Sophie. We have a large fenced in back yard that she loves. What has worked for us is a clicker. We stand at the door and say treat and double click. When she comes in we say sit and click once and when she does she gets a treat instantly.

Jackie & my :littleangSophie :aimeeyork (a.k.a Poco Diabolo)

Without sounding rude; would this behavior be funny if a 50 lab was doing it? We are the alpha in the pack and it is our job to make sure our babies know it. I agree with the posters that have pointed out that it can be life or death for your baby. If we can train them to sit and shake, then we can train them to come.

not rude at all, I understand what you are trying to say. the difference is that it is a LOT easier to catch a 50 lb lab in a house than it is a 7 lb jack rabbit quick fur ball. the lab isn't going to go under the couch, around the back and between your legs before you can even bend over! that seems to be the problem I have with training Maddie - how do I "make" her do something when I can't catch her to make her do it?????

something else we have been working on is to say the word "up" whenever we pick her up (when she is ready for us to pick her up!). you can actually feel her helping you pick her up, so it's not like we just snatch her up into the air. we say up so she knows we are picking her up. but, as I said, you can say up until the sun sets and unless she wants to be up to go for a ride or walk or whatever, you can say up and it may as well mean run around like a crazy person.

as an earlier poster said, my Maddie also plays the "I've got something I shouldn't have" and there is no way you are going to catch me to get it away from me. I may come when you say come, but you are NOT going to pick me up and pry it from my mouth cause I'll be off and running before you can even think about picking me up. :D

When I drop something in the kitchen she has it snapped up before I can even say the words leave it. I can put her in a sit and put a treat down and say leave it and she will sit there literally forever before I tell her to go get it. But if it's dropped, she must think it's manna from heaven and a gift from the gods cause she's got it and she's not giving it back!

These little buggers are so funny... you read about taking them for walks and treating them at your calf to get them to heel, heck, I don't think I can even bend over that far!

I was told to change up the schedule a little. Instead of getting your shoes on and then picking up your purse and then your keys, do the opposite. That way they can't watch for the signs. They are very smart! :)

We also do the turn and go the other way trick. It really works. Also as hard as it is, keep your voice pleasant when you're trying to get them to come to you. This is really difficult when they're in a dangerous situation but it really makes a difference. We learned to play "gotcha" in puppy class. Whenever they come, grab their collar, say Gotcha! and give them a treat. This makes them used to the idea of being "caught". Do it often when you are just giving them a treat and letting them go again. Then (hopefully) when you need to actually catch them they let you.