Chewie won't come!!!

C

Chewiesmom

Forums Regular
Ok, I know Chewie is an older puppy (7 months old) but i thought I would post this here. I have been trying to teach Chewie to come when called since he was 3 months but it just isn't working. It really concerns me because the kids have "accidentally" let him out front without his leash and he has run into the road before I can catch him....he will NOT come to me when me call him...instead he will run the other way grinning at me and wagging his tail. Any advice or ideas on how I can correct this behavior?
 
You have to be more awesome than whatever fun he is having. I'm doing the same training with my 10 month old puppy. "Come" means nothing to him, but "that'll do" stops him in his tracks, whips his head around, and causes him to leap onto my stomach. This is because 100% of the time he has heard those words, awesome things have happened. Either I have food, or I release him back to sheep, or something that he loves happens when he comes to me. It's that simple.
 
Dickens is the best dog I've ever had for coming on command, but I did things differently with him. Starting from the beginning, instead of always making him "do something" for his treats, I'd simply dispense treats at certain intervals apropos of nothing on his part; always calling his name when I did so. Not big treats that would make him fat, but just little things like pieces of meat, pork rinds or small liver treats. I still do this throughout the day. He always associates my calling him with something good. And of course, as everyone will tell you, never call him when you mean to scold him or otherwise take him to task for something, or give him a bath, etc. In those cases, just go and get him.
 
Poor you, that must have been very scary!

Things I do:
NEVER everrrrr chase him
don't let the kids chase him, everrrr
Instead RUNNNN the other way, always always make him chase you! Every opportunity you get...
Then have a BIG party when he gets there, coming to me HAS to be the most rewarding thing to my dog, otherwise why make that choice to come see me of he could self reward somewhere else. Never threaten for not coming fast enough, I know that's a tough one but pays off when you need to turn the dog on a dime when he's chasing something!!
While training don't call when you know he won't come, TREAT AND REWARD more frequently with higher value treat and play than anything else.
NEVER call the dog to you to do something unpleasant (give a bath... trim a nail, do a brushing... put on leash...) For all of those I use a different command so that all association with me is the best thing it can be.

Don't look at it as something that needs correcting, just something you haven't trained yet :D Start fresh at the beginning, if you have NO recall then he has to earn offleash privileges, leave him on a long line and do same as above... but this way if he starts playin' and running off you just get a hold off the leash, without getting excited and start walking. If you can't get a hold of the long leash, do not give him attention as he wants you to chase him, not even negative attention (excitement, hollering, chasing)simply walk the other way. THEN when he comes (he will! wait him out) reward and still party, lol, even when you you might be silently stewing, again remember he has to BUILD up that foundation


Also be patient if you haven't really worked on being the most awesome thing in the world every time to your pup, it will take to build that up.
Plus they get more independent as they get older so to lay that foundation is super important, so just give yourself and your dog a lot of patience and make the training FUN for both of you.
 
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What they said!!!!!

I'm going through it two with 3 month old Callan. It takes time and patience and doesn't happen overnight, unfortunately.

It's frustrating because sometimes you are in a hurry and damn pup just wants to investigate every corner of the property 3 times over.

When I'm really in a rush, I'll make sure pup has me in sight and I'll run away from him into the house yelling come! He will follow every time. I try not to scoop him up immediately and put him in his crate. Instead I run to the treat jar!

That being said, an equally important command is Stay! In other words, you want them stop and drop where they are immediately.

I use this on Indy when he is about to run himself off the dock chasing Seadoos.
 
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