{"id":14347,"date":"2023-03-14T09:05:37","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T14:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/?p=14347"},"modified":"2023-07-13T13:55:14","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T18:55:14","slug":"convincing-your-dog-to-come-when-called","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/blog\/behavior\/training\/convincing-your-dog-to-come-when-called\/","title":{"rendered":"Untrain Your Pet: Convincing Your Dog to Come When Called"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our \u201cUntraining Your Pet\u201d series, where we help you \u201cuntrain\u201d your pet from those naughty or annoying bad habits and get them back to being the goodest boys and girls. <\/em><\/p>\n

Does this sound familiar? You\u2019re at the dog park<\/a> and your dog is wandering a little too far. So you call out your dog\u2019s name and ask them to \u201ccome.\u201d But you might as well have yelled out, \u201cKeep playing,\u201d because they have no intention of coming back to you.<\/p>\n

If you know this situation all too well, we\u2019ve got some tips to help your dog learn to come when called. It\u2019s not an easy command to master, but it\u2019s one of the commands every dog should know<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Knowing \u201cCome\u201d Could Save Their Life<\/h2>\n

Of all the commands your dog should know, coming back to you when called is arguably the most important because it could save their life. Whether it\u2019s stopping them from running into traffic, getting too close to a cliff or avoiding an aggressive animal, getting your dog to stop and come back to you could be lifesaving.<\/p>\n

The goal is to teach your dog that coming back to you is better than anything else they might be doing. Hopefully your dog mastering \u201ccome\u201d will prevent you from doing things like running after them for three blocks when they decide a squirrel looks like a fun new friend.<\/p>\n

Do You Need a New Word for \u201cCome\u201d?<\/h2>\n

If you have been trying to train your dog to \u201ccome\u201d but your command is being completely ignored, it\u2019s possible that \u201ccome\u201d no longer has any meaning for your dog (or never did!). So before starting new training sessions, it\u2019s a good idea to change \u201ccome\u201d to a new word. You could try \u201chere\u201d or \u201cback\u201d or something fun that won\u2019t be called out by anyone else at the dog park like \u201chug.\u201d Just make sure you don\u2019t use the word for anything else other than for asking them to come back to you.<\/p>\n

Try not to repeat your command word over and over during training sessions as this can cause the word to lose meaning for your dog. If they\u2019re not responding to your command, it\u2019s time to end the training session and try another day.<\/p>\n

Remove Tempting Distractions<\/h2>\n

A high school student trying to do homework with a party going on around them would find it really hard to concentrate. It\u2019s the same situation for your dog. If they\u2019re trying to learn a new command and there are lots of fun distractions happening around them, the training session is probably not going to be too successful.<\/p>\n

Start your training sessions inside, where it\u2019s quiet and there are less dogs, squirrels, flying discs, etc., to distract them. Start by getting your dog\u2019s attention with claps, a toy or treat. When they start walking toward you say \u201ccome\u201d (or your own cue word) in an excited, happy voice. Reward them with lots of praise and high-value treats or their favorite toy when they come all the way to you. After doing this a few times, say \u201ccome\u201d and then show them the treat or toy. This way they\u2019re looking for a reward when you say \u201ccome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Repeat these steps at further distances and eventually you should be able to say \u201ccome\u201d from another room. Once they\u2019ve mastered this, try adding some distractions like other people in the room, other pets, or something else that\u2019s tempting them to play instead of coming to you. It\u2019s important that they master \u201ccome\u201d indoors with distractions before you move outdoors. There are many more distractions outside and some that are potentially dangerous if your dog doesn\u2019t come back to you.<\/p>\n

Stay Safe When Training \u201cCome\u201d Outside<\/h2>\n

When you move your training sessions outside, it\u2019s a good idea to keep your dog on a long leash until you know they will actually come back to you and not run off on their own adventure. Start in a quiet area outdoors with few distractions (i.e., not the dog park). Repeat the same training you were doing indoors and once they\u2019re successfully following your command, move to areas with more and more distractions.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re ready to try a training session without their leash, make sure you\u2019re in a fenced area so your dog remains safe if they suddenly forget what \u201ccome\u201d means. Using high-value treats they don\u2019t usually get or a favorite toy can help keep their attention on you.<\/p>\n

Coming Back to You Should Always Be a Good Thing<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s important that your dog associates \u201ccome\u201d with positive things. If your dog is off-leash and isn\u2019t listening to you, particularly when you really need them to, try saying \u201ccome\u201d and walking away from them. If you run after them, they will likely think you\u2019re playing \u201cchase\u201d and will keep running away. But if you walk or run away from them, they will (hopefully) chase you instead. You can also use this walking away technique for training \u201ccome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if they run away from you, they should be rewarded for coming back to you. A successful \u201ccome\u201d should always be rewarded, even if they were naughty to begin with by running away. You want coming back to you (even if it takes a while) to be the best thing ever and always a good thing.<\/p>\n

You also don\u2019t want \u201ccome\u201d to inadvertently be associated with a negative experience for your dog \u2014 for example, saying \u201ccome\u201d and then they have to leave the dog park, or take a bath, or go to the veterinarian. This will teach your dog that sometimes \u201ccome\u201d isn\u2019t a good thing. In these situations, go to your dog and put the leash on them \u2014 don\u2019t ask them to come to you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Training (or retraining) your dog to \u201ccome\u201d will take a while \u2014 possibly a few months. But it\u2019s an important skill and will be worth it in the end. Just remember that coming back to you should always<\/em> be one of your dog\u2019s favorite things and be met with lots of praise and positive reinforcement.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

RELATED POST: Teach Your Dog to Fetch: From Beginners to Advanced Fetchers<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to our \u201cUntraining Your Pet\u201d series, where we help you \u201cuntrain\u201d your pet from those naughty or annoying bad habits and get them back to being the goodest boys and girls. Does this sound familiar? You\u2019re at the dog park and your dog is wandering a little too far. So you call out your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":14352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"Untrain Your Pet: Convincing Your Dog to Come When Called","_seopress_titles_desc":"Are you searching for tips on how to prevent your dog from ignoring your pleas to come when called? Read these tips to help improve your dog's listening skills.","_seopress_robots_index":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[201,282],"tags":[849,134,10,848],"class_list":["post-14347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-behavior","category-training","tag-coming-when-called","tag-diamond-pet-foods","tag-dog","tag-pet-training"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diamondpet.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}