Running away when called...

My rule #1, is I never chase, in fact, I've even turned to walk away from them but keep an eye on them, and then make some playing out of it when they come towards you. If you are playing with them, they won't want to miss out. Rule #2, all good things come from my hand. Early on, I've sat on the kitchen floor, food bowl next to me feeding them each piece of kibble, one at a time. They learn my hand gives them great things. I'll keep different treats around the house, so they are always close by. Do some thing good gets you a treat, a scritch behind the ear, big hug, or fun toy. Do something great, time for something special. Like others have said, Miko is testing you and filling out his oats.

Rolland
 
I am so glad I am not alone. Since I started feeding the puppies separately when I call Pal he does not come and he runs away from me. So I have been ignoring him, but if he sees me move her runs away from me. I tell him come, and he acts like he has never heard the word before. I start telling him I have kibbles and he does not come. He could really care less about eating. I usually end up picking him up when he is not expecting it and put him behind the gate to feed him. So now I know not to call him with the command come. I was hoping by 11 months old he would not learn new tricks to keep me on my toes.
 
2 words- Long line.

You can make one out of a clip and nylon clothes line. Make it a bout 10-15 for indoors and about 20-30 ft for outdoors if you have a secured fenced yard to let them off leash. Don't make a handle for it as that will catch on things. You can tie a couple knots on it to help your grip. Put it on them at all times for the time being or if that is too hard when you are thinking you are going to be calling them like before dinner.

Call the puppy and if they run away or don't come step on the long line ,pick it up and reel them in without saying another word. Praise them with petting, but no treats unless they come on their own. If they came on their own- party.

Ember went though this phase at about 5-6 months. She would come to just about arms length and then stop and run away or she just wouldn't come. First time with the long line, she did her come to arms length and run routine. I said nothing but step on the line and she hit the end of it. :eek2: Surprise.:smile2: Really the look on her face was priceless. I think she wondered how my arms got so long. I said "Oh my what happened" in a shock tone and I moved backwards and reeled her in and praised like crazy. I let her go and called her again in a happy voice and ran away from her at the same time. She ran straight up to me and she got a handful of treats and tons of praise. She never ran away again. Ideally I like to keep the dog thinking that they will always get great things if they come to me(Justice and Diva never realized not coming was an optiion) but once they discover the game(like Ember) a long line is a life saver. I never chased Ember in fact I would run away from her, pretend to play without her etc but she didn't care. She was a bit independent.:rolleyes2:
 
Last edited:
Embers story reminds me of my Maggie. During Puppy Kindergarden and obedience class the instructor kept saying "you are so unsheltielike." She was so independant and with a Queen's attitude.

Rolland
 
I am working with Zak and private trainer and we talked about this today. Some times in our fenced backyard he will come but sometimes he is so darn stubborn so I plan to put the long line on him and if he does not come I can grab it and "reel" him in with no words. But when he does come I celebrate it. Dr. Shelii you explained it so well. Luckily my trainer also owns and shows Shelties- she has six of them. I don't want to show him I just want him to listen and have a on the spot recall.
 
Just a quick update...

I've been trying the "come" command and if he doesn't immediately do it, I turn and head in the opposite direction - it's working... he always chases me :smile2:

The part I'm having the MOST trouble is not using "come" when I want to a) put him in his crate... b) put him back in the kitchen... c) pick out an eye booger... d) take something out of his mouth... e) you get the idea.

Anyway... we're making some progress, and I wanted to say "thanks" for the ideas. I'm going to give the long line a try as well.
 
Mikos_Mom said:
Just a quick update...

I've been trying the "come" command and if he doesn't immediately do it, I turn and head in the opposite direction - it's working... he always chases me :smile2:

The part I'm having the MOST trouble is not using "come" when I want to a) put him in his crate... b) put him back in the kitchen... c) pick out an eye booger... d) take something out of his mouth... e) you get the idea.

Anyway... we're making some progress, and I wanted to say "thanks" for the ideas. I'm going to give the long line a try as well.
Click to expand...

That's great! Shelties are so darned smart. :biggrin2:

a) For putting him in his crate, teach him the 'crate' command. Mine all LOVE running in their crates to get a carrot or a stuffed Kong.

b) Create a kitchen command, just like the above crate command. it turns into a fun game that ends in yummy things. :smile2:

c) Try just calling his name or go to him, instead of calling him to you. Reward him any time he lets you approach him or take his collar. This is something I've been working on successfully with with Toby, who can be suspicious if you're trying to call him to you or if you try to take him by the collar. I think someone punished him for coming in his past life.

d) Teach him the 'Drop It' command and/or 'Give', they're two of the most useful commands you can teach him.

e) Remember that you can put just about any behavior on a command. :smile2:
 
Great advice, my fellow Canuck :wink2: I especially like the idea of making "kitchen" a command that he gets rewarded for.

I have one question for everyone, though. ..... Do you all walk around with treats in your pockets at all times? I find myself in a situation where I need to call him to me... grab his collar... pick him up... put him the kitchen... and rarely, if ever, do I have a treat on me to make the reward go with the action. I mean, we can go get a treat after the fact, but I'm thinking that the connection with the action is long gone by then.
 
Mikos_Mom said:
Great advice, my fellow Canuck :wink2: I especially like the idea of making "kitchen" a command that he gets rewarded for.

I have one question for everyone, though. ..... Do you all walk around with treats in your pockets at all times? I find myself in a situation where I need to call him to me... grab his collar... pick him up... put him the kitchen... and rarely, if ever, do I have a treat on me to make the reward go with the action. I mean, we can go get a treat after the fact, but I'm thinking that the connection with the action is long gone by then.
Click to expand...

No, I don't. I use treats when I'm initially teaching the command but that's it. Usually a LOT of praise is good enough, for my three anyway. If they've done something REALLY good I'll give them praise and then go get them a treat.

Since we've only had Toby for 3 weeks he has a lot to learn, and so do I. It appears he was a bit of a thief in his previous home and I've caught him checking out the coffee table. The other day I wasn't paying attention and he stole a muffin wrapper off the table. I gave him a stern 'Drop it!' He gave me that heartbroken look of his, but dropped it and walked away. I got really excited, gave him lots of pats then went to the cupboard and gave him a cookie for being so good. He was absolutely overjoyed with the praise. For Toby, this has worked for everything, he enjoys the praise and attention so much that he'd rather please us than do bad things.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top