how do you make your puppy come when called

[Blessedbee]

Hey Chinalee61! Kipper is also 5 months old and JUST learned to finally come when called. He learned sit, first. I have not tried the stay command yet, but I am glad to be reminded of that by another person's post. I do use the reward system, but I also used the leash and made sure he would respond. He would always look at me with a quizzical cocked little head. I have heard it said that the smarter the dog, the harder to train (they have to decide they WANT to do what you are asking). I have had some pretty smart dogs and I did not necessarily find this to be true. They were all big dogs, though. Are the small ones more stubborn? Maybe so....

[JaxsonsMommy12]

I would suggest a class for puppies.

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by Blessedbee

I have had some pretty smart dogs and I did not necessarily find this to be true. They were all big dogs, though. Are the small ones more stubborn? Maybe so....

This may just be my perception, but I think small dogs can appear more stubborn than big dogs because they tend to have a natural fear of their surroundings. They're the littlest life form in their world, and there's a lot of things that can hurt them.

My feeling is that you have to be even more positive in training a small dog than you would a big dog. You don't want to do anything to scare them. It has to be fun, and I think the best training is when you make them WANT to do the behavior instead of MAKING them do it.

But I'm just an amateur. I've never really trained a big dog and have only tried my hand at training two little dogs. My little dogs are very well behaved, though, and are both therapy dogs.

And as long as I'm blathering on, Blessedbee, you mentioned you hadn't taught stay yet. The way I learned was to put them in a sit, then stay right next to them. Don't put any distance between you and the dog. Say "stay," and maybe put a hand out to indicate stay, wait 15-30 seconds and say "good dog" and give a reward. Build up the amount of time you make them stay before worrying about distance.

[kjc]

Originally Posted by citygirl123

I hate to admit it, but I stand at the door and yell, "TREAT." He comes.

Haha, me too! Or Peek A Boo answers very quickly to "Here, Kitty, kitty". So worried the cats are going to get something and not him!

[milomarch]

It,s a joke with us too.One word from me,and Reuben does what he likes.

[LILBIT1]

These lil guys can be quite stubborn LOL We did puppy classes till a large dog tried to mount our pup. Then I rented books from library and trained her ourselves. She comes by name now. And if I snap/point to my feet she will come. If I am sitting down she will lay at my feet when I do that. (Of course she prefers to be on me, shes pampered ya know) Just keep working with your pup. It took a while but Waffles knows a good amout of tricks now.