Training a new dog to come when called [Obligatory dog pics included]

Casual · April 2012

Hey everyone, meet Eddy.

He is a lovable scamp and a disobedient little shit. I've had him three days and I'm trying to teach him to come when called. So far indoors I have a 60-70% success rate (unless he knows I'm going to shut him in the room I'm calling him into, then he just runs away). Outside it's more like 20%.

Anyone have any tips for training him this basic thing? In every other way he's a great dog, very smart and picks things up fast.

Djeet · April 2012

Have treats he will work for (hot dogs, cheese, whatever, dog treats usually don't taste very good) and reward him with those when he successfully comes when called. Eventually taper down from treats to petting, praising, and encouraging when he's successful. If when outside (backyard?) he doesn't come when called, don't run after him and call him; disengage, walk away, go in the house. If he learns the game that you will chase him if he doesn't behave/listen then he will play that game. If there are a lot of distractions around that he finds more interesting than following your commands then it's not a good time to train until either he loses interest in those distractions or you become more interesting to him (treats). Eventually you'll want to train while there are distractions around as well.

Enc · April 2012

Seconding the rewards thing. Positive reinforcement is the best way to get your dog to do anything. Make him excited to go into his crate or a specific place. Put toys and treats in there. Most dogs react very well to crating (in your case, rooming I guess) when introduced properly, and will use them as homes when you are away even when the door is open. Give him attention and treats in that room, so he knows he gets something awesome in exchange for being locked up a bit.

Casual · April 2012

Djeet wrote: »

Have treats he will work for (hot dogs, cheese, whatever, dog treats usually don't taste very good) and reward him with those when he successfully comes when called. Eventually taper down from treats to petting, praising, and encouraging when he's successful. If when outside (backyard?) he doesn't come when called, don't run after him and call him; disengage, walk away, go in the house. If he learns the game that you will chase him if he doesn't behave/listen then he will play that game. If there are a lot of distractions around that he finds more interesting than following your commands then it's not a good time to train until either he loses interest in those distractions or you become more interesting to him (treats). Eventually you'll want to train while there are distractions around as well.

This is more or less what I've been trying to do, except I wasn't sure what to do when he ignores me but I'll give that a shot. One problem with the treat arrangement is that as soon as he knows I have treats he'll stick to me like glue. It's hard to call him when he won't go more than a foot away from me. I do shower him with praise when he does come though.

amateurhour · April 2012

That's easy, when he ignores you, he doesn't get a treat, and you try again later.

edit: Just read the rest of your post. How are you training him outside? Back yard or park? If it's park, it's going to be more difficult because of distractions. If it's backyard, it's better to roll a bunch of training in one. Not in a confusing way, but work on walk and stay and come at the same time. Walk the dog, keeping him at your side, not flying off on the leash, work on stay, sit, etc, giving treats for all, then work on stay, longer stay, until you can get to the other side of the yard, and work on come once you're there so he'll come back to you.

THEN start working him at parks and the like to weed out distractions

Djeet · April 2012

When I 1st started trained my dog (and sometimes during my occasional re-inforcement training sessions I do every few months) I made sure to have the treats in a plastic baggie in my pocket cause if I had them in my hand he wouldn't leave me alone. But you're right, you have to call him when he's not right at your side for the come -> obey -> treat/praise cycle to work its magic. If he follows you around then just walk around and ignore him til he finds something else interesting to sniff or otherwise check out and call him when he's pre-occupied. I'm assuming you're doing your sessions while he's in an enclosed area where you don't need to be super-vigilant about him running into the street or something (like a backyard). Also, if you have another human to be your training partner, then have your partner call him (and treat/praise) if he won't leave you alone.

Dr. Frenchenstein · April 2012

you might want to train him to "look" when you call him first. i know my dog listens to whatever i say if she is paying attention. however, if she's got the scent of something and i tell her to come, i get nothin. like if he is beebopping around your house, and you say "Fatty, LOOK!" and he looks at you, praise/treat. once he's got that down, try it outside, off leash, etc.

mts · April 2012

heres my opinion of how you do this.

1. keep the extra good treats for when he does come.

if you ever want him off leash at all, he needs to be able to recall. if he knows he gets the awesome stuff for coming when called it will be mroe incentive

2. Always treat when he recalls.

do this until he is doing it all the time, then slowly randomise it to keep him honest

3.when you are sitting around the house, and he walks up to you even if you didn't call him praise him for good come and give a treat

4. never use come angry

always use this command in the happiest funnest voice you can use. even if your dog just ate a coffee cake out of some guys hand, and you are calling himback, be happy. we used the separate command "Here" for the angry, get over her now command.

5. until he is reliably recalling, keep him on a long leash when working this.

if he doesn't respond, you need to reel his ass in. there should be no ignoring the come command as he gets better increase the distance until you can take him off the lead. then when he is good at that work distractions.

6 be consistant with your command. you can't expect him to understand 4 different commands for the same thing at first.

Dr. Frenchenstein · April 2012

yeah having a lunge line (like 6ft or more) is good for come training.

Dark_Side · April 2012

Also an important thing to remember when training dogs is to set them up to succeed. Which is why when he's outside your recall just isn't there yet (3 days is really short for him to reinforce that kind of command), as there's too much other good stuff competing for your dog's attention. And trying to train him to do it is probably just wrecking what you've accomplished indoors. I'd definitely continue doing the training in a quiet, distraction free area. Then move upwards from there, introducing new distractions and places slowly. Others are correct, really tasty treats are key. So, get it bulletproof indoors, then start moving onto like, a backyard, introduce new people to the equation, etc.

Also, they say it's valuable to have an emergency "immediately stop what you're doing and come to me" signal that you reinforce with amazing treats so that whenever you use the word, the dog snaps to you. This is for those occasions where you're looking at a Fenton situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU

amateurhour · April 2012

mts wrote: »

heres my opinion of how you do this.

3.when you are sitting around the house, and he walks up to you even if you didn't call him praise him for good come and give a treat

I agree with pretty much everything you just said but that....

Dogs learn fast. In three days to a week you're going to have a dog that's constantly putting his head on your lap expecting a treat just because.

Don't pamper your dog with gifts when just randomly walks up you.

Not only will it confuse the training, but it'll also by association make it harder to break the habit of your dog walking up to strangers when they're visiting, and not everyone likes an adorable dog all up in their business.

BlazeFire · April 2012

Dark_Side wrote: »

...
Also, they say it's valuable to have an emergency "immediately stop what you're doing and come to me" signal that you reinforce with amazing treats so that whenever you use the word, the dog snaps to you. This is for those occasions where you're looking at a Fenton situation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU

Oh my god, that is very funny!

mts · April 2012

amateurhour wrote: »

mts wrote: »

heres my opinion of how you do this.

3.when you are sitting around the house, and he walks up to you even if you didn't call him praise him for good come and give a treat

I agree with pretty much everything you just said but that....

Dogs learn fast. In three days to a week you're going to have a dog that's constantly putting his head on your lap expecting a treat just because.

Don't pamper your dog with gifts when just randomly walks up you.

Not only will it confuse the training, but it'll also by association make it harder to break the habit of your dog walking up to strangers when they're visiting, and not everyone likes an adorable dog all up in their business.

well you want him to come to you, but like i said, eventually you want to stop treating every time and keep him guessing or else you end up with a dirty beggar. really depends on how stupid/young your dog is. if its a puppy, with the attention span of 5 secs, its good to do that at first since it helps establish you as the giver of good things when they go to you

Casual · April 2012

I've been training him in the back garden and in the house. I did let him off the lead outside once and it resulted in a "code Fenton". Luckily I had the sense to do it in a somewhat enclosed space and he cornered himself but I won't be trying it again in a hurry.

The main problem is that he isn't even two yet and has a super short attention span, he loves chasing birds too.

Pel · April 2012

The most important thing to remember when teaching a dog to recall is that, while training, NEVER give a command that you don't know for certain will be obeyed. If you can't enforce it, don't bother. Either have a way to reel him in, a treat to convince him, or a willing accomplice to surprise him and give him a thorough scolding if he doesn't jump to do your bidding. I have never had to endure this task because (thankfully, it's a tough one that requires some patience!) while I've had a number of dogs, I've always kept them off leash from a very very young age and they adapt the policy very early and with no troubles since you have the ability to basically rope them in from arms length when they're still tiny pups.

Things to try:

Treats: Not a fan. Dogs love to please and I have never needed to use these as a training tool for basic commands. Then again, other people have great success obviously, and different dogs have different motivations. I just can't give you much advice here. Just don't overdo it, and get a special, distinctive, treat for obedience training so it's very clear pup is being rewarded.

The "Hemmingway special": Get a long, thin, light cord such as surplus army paracord. Affix it to collar. Call pup. If pup doesn't come, don't become angry, reel him in. When he arrives, treat him or just praise him. I have met a number of people who have success with this one, but I'm not sure it's necessary, although I have used a few variations to teach dogs to go OTHER places so I can say it's pretty effective.

The Patient way: Go to a calm, fenced in area. Play with pup. Don't worry about training him, but when he runs to you to play/ bring the ball back/ get food or water, call him as he runs towards you. Praise or treat him when he arrives. Once he's got the idea, gently move to influencing his behavior by calling him. The idea is, call him when he wants to come show him what it means, move on to calling him when he's ambivalent, and then slowly graduate to more challenging situations to cement the training.

Leash training, or the even more patient way: I find that most dogs learn nearly all of their good habits on walks. Your best option might be to forget the recall training entirely for a while and work on leash training.

First, enforce perfect behavior on leash, then a longer leash, then switch to a very light cord with a dog harness (the idea is that he forgets about it).

Once your dog is an angel on walks (probably a week or 2 at least of at least a walk or 2 a day), start doing stop-and-go drills. tell him to stop, stay, and slowly scoot away. At first, a few feet so you can correct him, then longer distances and more time, until you max out a 10' lead or so.

Remember copious praise when he stays. Most dogs will usually try to come to you when you praise him, this is not a bad thing but you have to get him used to "good" not being synonymous with "come". Copious praise again when you call him and he follows. If he doesn't come, turn and walk away a few steps while calling, and, if your leash training stuck, he'll bolt to your side.

Once these on leash behaviors are cemented, coming when called will be a non-issue. Just, at first, find someplace fenced or at least safe, and practice the exact same thing off-leash as a portion of your daily walk for a few weeks. Move the stop-and-go drills farther and farther away off leash, and, if you're ambitious, teach him to stop again once you've called him, and stay put again.

Soon pup will be trotting away happily at your side, and bolting to you when you call him. And, by, "soon", I mean, probably upwards of a month of daily training.

Last, and perhaps most importantly: if pup starts to fail ANY of these exercises, STOP. Go back a step, and cement the previous behavior first. You cannot proceed with any of this unless he has mastered the previous step! As I said earlier... NEVER, when training, give a command you do not either expect to be followed or have a way to immediately enforce!

Good luck!

Casual · April 2012

I am already working on leash discipline with him using the stop start meathod. When he pulls we stop walking and he has to sit for a moment or two. It's working pretty well, two days in and he's already getting the hang of it. I certainly need to get him one of those long leads, mostly because I feel he isn't getting the exersise he needs on walks because he's having to walk at my pace.

godmode · April 2012

The way that's worked for me so far (Helps if combined with consistent training methods like a clicker):
Dogs are encouraged by seeing you motion to them with your hands. So, starting indoors, wait until he's across the room or a couple feet away. Keep small treats in one hand, keep your other hand open. Hold out your hand to him. Once he starts moving towards you, give the command you want to use: "Eddy, come!" (or whatever) When he touches his nose to your palm, give him a treat. If you use a clicker, click it as soon as his nose touches, then treat. Then proceed from there. If you're having trouble getting his attention at first, get excited, loud, clap or whistle, or whatever makes him look at you, and again give him the command once he starts moving in your direction.

mts · April 2012

Casual wrote: »

I am already working on leash discipline with him using the stop start meathod. When he pulls we stop walking and he has to sit for a moment or two. It's working pretty well, two days in and he's already getting the hang of it. I certainly need to get him one of those long leads, mostly because I feel he isn't getting the exersise he needs on walks because he's having to walk at my pace.

you may also want to try just randomly changing directions while walking him. that way he is watching you. in combination with the stop start, it wil help a lot.

also. don't use a long lead for anything but training. walking with one just teaches them that pulling gets them where they want since there is always some back pressure on them.

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