How to Train a Dog to Come

Learning how to train a dog to come is actually a simple task. Just remember, the tone of voice you use will play a big factor in training a dog to come. Learning how to train a dog to come when called will serve as a basis for numerous other training commands and this is why you should teach it to your dog as soon as possible.

Training a dog to come is often referred to as recall so keep that in mind when reading this post. In my opinion this is one command that you should make sure you’ve mastered. After all, you want your dog to come when called no matter what the distraction. But in order for you to learn about the recall command let me first touch on some dog psychology 101.

Many people start off by letting their dog do what ever they want off leash (whether it be fenced area or not). You maybe in a dog park, on a beach or doing another fun activity. Here is when the mistake happens. Your dog is having fun which doesn’t include you and then you call her to come. When your dog obeys, most owners will put the leash on their dog and head home. What many people don’t understand is that they are inadvertently teaching their dog that the fun is over when they are called to come. Your dog will pick up on this rather quickly and will begin to delay coming each time they are called.

Do you see what’s happening? Instead of learning how to train a dog to come you are indirectly teaching your dog that coming to you is a bad thing. What ends up happening is that you have to call your dog a gazillion times before he comes and your pet begins to understand that prolonging the time he will take to come will increase the length of time he is going to have fun. What is really happening in this situation is your dog learning that he is self rewarded for not coming to you when he is called because if he comes then the fun stops.

Another outcome in this situation is that you punish your dog for taking a long time to come when called. In this case you are further reinforcing the undesired behavior of not coming when called.

How to Train a Dog to Come

Okay now that you know what not to do if you want to train your dog to come, its time lo learn what you should do. In order for this training to be successful you need to have a motivator for your dog to come. Wait until your dog is hungry and is ready to eat. Wait until its your dog scheduled meal time and take a few kibbles in your hand and wave in front of your dog’s nose and then give it to them, Now that you have their attention take a few steps back and give your dog the “come” command while holding the food at your dog’s nose level. When you’re dog starts to come praise her enthusiastically and give her the food as soon as she comes to you.

You should repeat this exercise a few times before every meal time. If at any time your dog begins to lose interest you should stop the training immediately. You may even want to skip the meal all together. Don’t worry your dog won’t starve and remember if she was really hungry she would have been still motivated to come every time you took a few steps back.

After your dog has began to pick up on the come exercise you can take the “how to train a dog to come”: to the next step. What you want to do here is basically repeat the same steps as above (holding the food and taking a few steps back). Only this time you will should get your dog on a “sit” position and grab a hold of her collar.

Once your dog begins to respond regularly to the “come” command you can begin to lesson the food portions that your give your dog when he is called to come. A good way when you are training a dog to come in the later stages is to only give a food reward when your dog comes quickly and happily. You can even begin to give your dog some tasty treats instead of his own food (at a different time than meal time) to further reinforce the behavior.

How to Train a Dog to Come – Step by Step

I know this was a long post so I though I’d put it into a small step-by-step process for all you people that like order :)

1. This exercise should be first attempted in the house with minimal distraction.

2. When its meal time, hold some of your dog’s food in you hand and give your dog just a bit.

3. Immediately after your dog takes the food take a few steps back and then call your dog to come. You may want to do this by name (ie. Sparky, Come)

4. When your dog approaches you praise him and give him the treat as soon as he comes to you.

5. Continue to increase the distance you take back before calling your dog and attempt the exercise in different rooms and also outside.

There is one more thing I wanna mention when it comes to learning how to train a dog to come. The people who paid attention to this post would have probably noticed that we are still left with the original issue of your dog learning not to come to your when called because the fun stops. In this case you have to train a dog to come using what is known as distraction training. When you dog is doing something fun like having some nice outdoor exercise you want to show your dog that when she comes she will be rewarded and then allowed to play again. By continually doing this your dog will begin to learn that coming when called is not such a bad thing.

Wooof… long post. Well I think I rambled long enough on how to train a dog to come but I hope you enjoyed and learned something from it.

Berto