Teaching
The
Come Command
Teaching
the come
command to your dog
Teaching
The | | |
| The come command is an effective
and essential exercise as it will enable you to rapidly call your dog away from
a potentially hazardous situation. If your dog is trained to quickly turn away
and return to you, then you have a powerful safety mechanism at your finger-tips.
As with all new exercises, you must start the training in a calm location with
very few distractions, perhaps inside your own home, then increase the distractions
as the new exercise becomes more familiar to your dog. You must have some of your dog's favourite treats ready at hand for this training technique as you should aim to reward your dog the very moment he successfully does what you have asked. He won't remember what he did if you don't praise him and give him his treat straight away, so you should keep the treat in your hand and give him it when he has done the exercise correctly. Praise him enthusiastically too, and further down the line of training you can omit the treat, and just give him praise, making the edible treat an occasional thing for reinforcement. So how do you carry out this training exercise? Well, it is best carried out with two people, but if this isn't possible, a long training leash can be used, along with the stay command. Your companion should hold the dog's collar, while you show your dog is treat and let him smell it. While holding the treat in your hand, you should back away from your dog while your companion holds his collar. If your dog already knows the “sit and stay” commands, then use this while you back away from him to about ten feet away. Stop and call your dog's name followed by the word “come”, always using the same words and the same tone of voice. When your dog has learned the command, you can teach your friends or family to use it as well by teaching them the exact words and intonation. Consistency is essential with dog training as anything else will confuse your dog and undermine progress in training. Your companion should release the collar as you use the command and your dog should come running over to you. Give him his treat immediately and praise him so he knows he has pleased you. Repeat the exercise many times, increasing the distance between you and your dog and even going out of his line of sight. He will soon learn the exercise and associate “come” with a nice treat and praise. Next, you should take your dog outside to a quiet location. Your companion must hold your dog on it's leash and run over to you with the dog when you give the “come” command. Soon, the dog will be responding well to the command and remembering the positive reinforcement of the treat and praise, and it will be time to use the command with the dog off the leash in a safe environment. Remember to always use positive reinforcement for this exercise – don't chastise your dog if he gets it wrong as he will not understand. Neither should you call your dog to you to tell him off or to do something he dislikes, like putting his leash back on or putting him in the shower! If you want to get him back on the leash, you can trick him by calling him to you, playing a little game where he stays close to you, then putting his leash on, so he doesn't associate the command with something negative. Some dogs don't see the leash as negative and therefore you can just call him as normal and give him a treat or praise him. As with all training exercises, the key to success is repetition, patience, consistency and positive association. Your dog will be a happier, healthier, safer dog for accomplishing this simple task in a variety of environments with differing degrees of distraction until it is an automatic response. |