The 'come dog' training command

When you first set out to teach your dog to come, there are a few tips and secrets that Im going to share with you to better your results!

I have adapted these free techniques from the outstanding ‘Secrets to Dog Training‘ by Daniel Stephens. Jump straight to it here, if you wish to read more.

“Come dog”

Firstly, and possibly the most crucial, is that you should never call your dog over if you are going to do something that he might class as ‘negative’ to him.. Some common examples are things such as tying him up, wetting him (if he doesnt like that!), locking him up, smacking or yelling at him etc..

Never command your dog to come, then punish him for things like running away when he comes over. Your dog may learn that doing as his master commands, is a punishment. If your dog already knows negative associations when you call come, such as he thinks it means 'run asap!' or if he becomes oblivious to it you may have to use a different command with a new sound. 

Forget your old come command and teach this exercise using a new, clear word. 'Here' or 'Hey' are popular ones, but really its up to you to use any command that you think will work.

In the ideal case, your dog should hear your command, cease what hes doing and sit in front of you! For ease, its best to treat this teaching process this as two separate exercises.

Both exercises are best done seperatly, till your dog has them completely mastered. When this time comes, bring them together.

“Come sit in front of me”

Start with putting your dog on a short ish leash. With a treat ready, get your pets attention and hold up the treat at nose neight while taking 4 steps backwards.

When your dog is in front of you, stop and raise the treat up a little, so the dog is motioned to sit and wait.

Command your dog to sit and if and when he does, reward him with the treat, by lowering it to his mouth. Dont let him jump to get it!

Next time round try the process holding you place instead of moving backwards. Try eliminating guiding with food and switch to simply reinforcing a correct ‘come in and sit” command. This helps your dog to learn to accept praise as a reward.

You can read part two of this article, for free, as my website (that has hundreds of other free dog training tips) here, at dog commands.