I am having problems getting my puppy to come. he does good unless he is playing and I call him, or he is told to get out of the car when it is raining (happened today for the first time) or it is late at night and he is asleep and he knows I call him to go in his crate. Here's what happened, for instance tonight. He was asleep, I called him, and he just sat there and looked at me and after 5 calls he refused to budge. Only after I got my low, loud, "you're in trouble for not obeying" tone did he slink over and he got a swat for refusing to follow an order he knew how to follow. Then he went to his crate and i called him for a treat and he again defiantly refused to come out ater about 10 calls. So I brought him out and he began whimpering and he got another swat (the swats are basically light taps on the side of the leg, very light but he still screams when he gets them) for not listening. he is a mild dog, and sweet, but at times he gets his little ego and thinks that he can do what he wants before what I want. Some people say that i am too strict with my dog and dont give him any leniency, but i am simply trying to do what Mr. Leerburg says and make myself the center of his world, and have him realize that no matter what he lieks doing or how fun it is, when I give a command he drops everything and obeys me first and formost. How can I get him to immediantly respond, even when he doesn' feel like it? he is 4 1/2 months old, and he knows to come when he is called, cause he does it alot of the time. One good thing though, as for the crate problems, I have noticed that when he disobeys and gets lightly swatted, he runs into his crate and that is the only time that I don't hear a single peep from him. I am a new owner, first time, and am just trying to get a really good obedient dog who obeys every comand that he knows right off the bat.

When you "swatted" him once he finally came over to you, you taught him the stupidest thing he could do was go to you because in his mind he was hit for going to you. Never call the dog unless you have a line on him so that if he doesn't start to come to you after the first call, you can LIGHTLY tug on the line, while encouraging him vocally, but not in a threatening manner! ALWAYS have a good reward for him once he gets to you, a treat and/or a LOT of praise. PLEASE stop "swatting" him. He's just a baby! Swatting him is not going to make him do anything but fear you.

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One good thing though, as for the crate problems, I have noticed that when he disobeys and gets lightly swatted, he runs into his crate and that is the only time that I don't hear a single peep from him.

He is hiding from you. The crate is his safe place and he is using it to get away from a perceived threat.

Like Susan said let him be a pup at 4 1/2 months you can't really expect on point obedience... Even if he knows the commands =).

It's great that you are trying to improve your dog's obedience, but remember not to sacrifice your bond with him.

I never thought about it until I watched the "Come" section of the Basic Obedience DVD.

When my last Shepherd would do something that she was not supposed to do, like get in the trash, I would call her over to punish her. I would not hit her, but my strong words and a light tap on the nose were punishment enough. I never put the two commands together like that. Just like I never thought about the fact that if she tore open the trash while I was gone, she might not understand why I was mad about it two hours later.

I am just starting to work on “Come” with Starbuck. So far the word “Treat” or “Nummy” works 1000% better than “Come”

Depending on the dog and how soft he is you very well could have blown pretty bad here. The tone of voice and the swatting are not good at all. If I knew you were not happy with me I wouldn't want to come to you either. This is just a young pup still. Give him time and watch your tone. If you want to work on the recall try using a treat that you know he likes and have him smell it while someone is holding him on leash. If your by yourself just wrap the leash around a pole while you hold the other end and then call the dog. Make the dog work at trying to get to you for a couple seconds before you let go and then reward the dog. Do this a few times a day. If the dog has a good toy drive you can use his favorite toy instead if you like. The whole idea is making yourself irresistable to the dog. When your out just playing around with the dog and you don't have a leash on him, make sure you have a toy or food with you before calling him. Like Susan said it's best to have the leash on. Don't repeat yourself because your setting yourself up to be ignored in the future. After a while of this type of training (repeating your commands) the dog looks at your repeating the commands as a package and thinks he needs to hear the whole thing before he comes.

From your recent posts, Jonathon, me thinks your expectations are *incredibly* high for a 4.5 month old pup.

My pup is just about that age. This is what I know about "come". The command "come" is the most important command you will ever teach your dog.

I'd start from scratch if I were you...what I've been doing is having someone my dog knows hold him on the lead. I flail his favorite toy, treat, what ever, show it to him to get his excitement. I turn and run the other way about 50 feet (you could start with less distance) then call my dog's name. There is a lapse in my partner releasing, so the dog is good and amped, then he comes running, blazing saddles over to me. We do this exercise often and his attention to me when I call his name is awesome.

The one other thing to consider is attaching actual commands at this point. No need for them. I started to make that same mistake early on (because the pup "seemed" to already know) and my trainer told me I was expecting a one year old trained dog, to slow down and work only on the behaviors and treat. Markers. SO SO easy. Will start attaching commands later. Keep it simple and have FUN with it....cuz if you don't, your dog will pick up on your frustration quickly and avoid the negative energy.

In case it isn't clear above, NEVER call the puppy to be corrected.

You are teaching the puppy indelibly that coming to you is painful.

You want coming to you to be what the puppy wants more than anything in the world because it results in good stuff.

You got some good advice here. I hope you will modify what you're doing right away.

I'd get video #302. And I'd re-read all the suggestions above about making "come" a good thing. :>

Michele mentions markers:
http://www.leerburg.com/markers.htm

I guess being around him all the time and seeing him do soooo good at sit, shake, lay down and at times, come, I forgot that he was still a puppy. Thanks to all for your advise and reminding me to slow down. I started today calling him with lots of treats trying to correct MY mis-training.

 Quote: Jonathan Hensley

I guess being around him all the time and seeing him do soooo good at sit, shake, lay down and at times, come, I forgot that he was still a puppy. Thanks to all for your advise and reminding me to slow down. I started today calling him with lots of treats trying to correct MY mis-training.

You might want to start using your recall every time something good is about to happen, and reinforce it..... call for supper; call for car rides; call for belly rubs; call for brushing (if he loves it as much as mine do)......

we have successfully been working on that. Although, he screams when it is time for brushing, still getting used to it.