“Come” is probably one of the most important commands, but often the most difficult. The overall response to the “come” command varies from dog to dog. More sociable dogs seem to come easily when called. Dogs that are more environmentally oriented are more likely to ignore their owners when they command them to come closer.
Let's break this down into five important steps to improve the rate at which your dog follows the “come” command. We recommend performing these steps more frequently and for shorter periods of time. Think about 5 minutes two to three times a day. You can do more sessions if you have time, but it's best to keep them short.
First: Beware of negative associations. Dogs are full of impulses and follow their noses, eyes, and ears in conjunction with a variety of motives. These include curiosity, predation, risk avoidance through fear, and not wanting the fun to end.
Think about it this way. Every time you call to your dog, it always does what you want it to do. The “come” option may be difficult, since your dog will have to stop what he's doing and rush back to you. Basically, the fun always ends.
Going from what the dog wants to do to coming when called creates conflict in the dog. The dog then engages in a quick cost-benefit analysis. Is it worth it? How much better is the trade coming back to you than what he's currently doing? Often the dog's reaction observed is something like, “Wait a minute. Hold on.” . I'm a little busy, but I'm listening. ” It then continues to make calls, often increasing its privileges with each command. Never reward your dog if he finally comes back after several minutes of calling and insisting.
From the dog's perspective, the “come” command is very unfortunate because it is used to sabotage the dog's well-being, exploration, and curiosity. Therefore, coming when called is a low-probability action, and ignoring is a high-probability action. The more times you call it, the less meaningful the command becomes. This is called learned irrelevance. To minimize this sequence of events, don't stop your dog from having fun or call your dog to do something it doesn't like. Therefore, expecting your dog to come while doing a threat assessment of sounds coming from your neighbor's yard is highly unlikely.
If you're calling to put your dog in a crate to go to work, you're in for a double whammy. We're not just making a call to end his fun, we're making a call to make sure that if he complies, what he thinks is bad is likely to happen. That's what I'm doing. In these situations, it's better to gently guide the dog through the collar, use a toy or treat to get the dog, or quickly put the leash on and let the dog inside. In this example, you might also consider why he doesn't want to be put in a box. You need to box him at random times and intervals. That way you can lessen your anticipation of leaving when he goes into the crate.
Second: Turn the dog into an opportunist. With the help of a friend or housemate, put around 10 small treats your dog loves in your pocket. Then we both split up into one or two of her rooms and call the dog back and forth. Get excited and repeat high-pitched commands in a staccato manner. It's like, “Come, come, come, come.” Animals have been shown to rush in time to higher pitched, staccato sounds. Conversely, for deeper, longer notes, slow down or stop.
Consider what happens when you tell your dog to stay close to you. It's no wonder that an authoritative, low-pitched voice reduces compliance. As soon as your dog starts heading towards you, switch to enthusiastic praise. Continue praising in a high pitched, excited voice. This will motivate him to continue on his way towards you, making him more likely to ignore any distractions along the way.
When he arrives, make sure you're close enough to touch or pet him before taking the treat out of your pocket and giving it to him. This step does not involve touching or petting the dog, as the dog needs to be close enough to the owner to be touched if the dog needs to be collared or leashed for safety reasons. is important. It can be very frustrating when your dog comes so close to snatching a treat from your hand and then sets off on another adventure, leaving you unable to catch him.
Treats should be a real reward for doing something, not something offered in exchange. (I mean, look what I have. If you come, I'll give you this delicious treat). Don't negotiate with the dog. If you don't do this, your dog will either teach you to hold out for something better, or if your offer isn't worth more than what he's currently doing, he'll likely choose not to come at all. Become. Remember, you don't want your dog's learning to be a cost-benefit analysis. The goal of this step is to turn your dog into an opportunist.
Third, teach him to discriminate. After you repeat this a few times, your dog will start running to get the treat without waiting for the next call. At this point he has learned the game of going back and forth for treats and has become a complete opportunist. When the dog thinks it's the next person's turn to call, it heads there anyway. You want to teach him to discriminate. This means that you only get a treat when you come to the person who called you. Therefore, even if you aggressively approach someone who has not given you orders, you will not receive any favors. This could mean that the same person calls the next few times because the dog opportunistically runs to the next person without a command and therefore doesn't get a treat. Once you've waited for your dog to command you to come before he approaches you during the back and forth game, you can move on to the fourth step.
Number 4: Delayed gratification time. To make your dog's “come” command solid, your dog must learn to accept delayed treats. Because in the real world, we don't always have pockets full of snacks. He only needs to make one adjustment while continuing the back and forth game from step 4. That means taking the treat out of your pocket and placing it about 3 feet away. When it's time to call your dog, just like before, praise, touch, and pet him as he approaches you. Then, continue to praise and walk a few steps to get the treat.
As you continue to practice this process, place the treats farther and farther away so your dog has to follow you to get the reward. This allows you and your training partner to call him into different rooms, praise and touch him when he arrives, and have him happy to join you in retrieving treats from the treat jar in the kitchen.
Dogs need to learn delayed gratification. This is a step that reduces the chance that your dog will make a cost-benefit analysis of how valuable your reward is compared to his own behavior. This helps turn the act of remembering into a habit of anticipation. It's always better to have someone come when you call, because why not?
Fifth: Next, you need to generalize it. Once you have completed the fourth step and are able to call your dog to come with you to collect your reward, you are ready to generalize your dog's learning. In this step, you want to call him in different places, situations, and distractions. This can go from outside to inside, inside to outside, room to room, situation to situation.
This includes being able to call him from a full dinner bowl on the counter while you walk to another location away from the bowl to make a call. When he comes to you, praise him or touch him, then go back to the dinner bowl with him and place it on the floor. Think of five things your dog will probably never do and try to train them specifically. However, be careful not to let your dog simply become a bait. You want your dog to be successful with these generalization exercises, so be sure to control your dog's access to the planned decoys.
You want the behavior of coming to you to be as automatic as possible. Dogs are shortcut artists just like humans. They want the quickest and easiest way to get what they want. Being called from a dinner bowl waiting at the nearest counter cannot be calculated by a brain trying to be efficient. Shortcuts are essential to routines and habits so your brain doesn't have to constantly analyze problems. In this case, you want your dog to know that the quickest and easiest way to get what you want is to come when called, and you want to make sure your dog gets something great. I am.
There are many additional steps and methods to teach the best recall possible. Starting with these steps will help you build a beautiful and positive foundation. After all, remember that the dog (just like humans) is opportunistic, impulsive and self-centered, so he should not expect 100% results at the end of training. There are always exceptions to compliance. Human beings certainly do not immediately and unquestioningly follow the orders and demands of others. So how can you expect your dog to remember his 100% fidelity? The goal is to get compliance around 80-90% based on habit and conditioning. The remaining 20-10% represent situations where we did not consider training the dog in the generalization step. This gives you even more opportunity to tweak his training when you discover his kryptonite.
Rather than analyzing your dog's choices based on what your dog wants, you can help your dog by making the reminders positive and fun while spending time preparing your dog to follow them as a habit. Let's help you succeed.
Sam Freeman, CPDT-KSA, is president and owner of Scottsdale-based Pet Behavior Solutions and Edu-Care for Dogs of the Valley. She is the creator of the Core Behavioral Assessment, a behavioral assessment program used by many animal shelters and animal control agencies in Arizona. Freeman is certified through the Professional Dog Trainer Certification Council and has completed specialized education and training in psychology, learning theory, behavior, family counseling, behavior modification techniques, aggression, canine and feline behavior issues, and grief counseling. doing. Visit her online at petbehaviorsolutions.com.
