My puppy just turned 5 months. She "comes" all the time in the house. It is spring now and with all the lizards, birds, bees, my turtle getting out of the pond, etc., etc. She has becomed very distracted outside compared to the winter months. It is even becoming hard to train her even with high value treats outside in my back yard. I have to say come 2 to 5 times now before she comes and it is not until she hears that I am getting pissed off that she will come. I don't want to cave her in with too hard of a correction at this age. Of course keeping her on a line works when I pull it, but I want her to start coming when I say "come" off a line like in the house. Any suggestions for a puppy this age or is it just a number of times using the line over and over until she does it on her own?

Distractions are hard with pups. Their attention span is short, and they're flighty by nature.

Don't call her unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure she'll come. That means if she's chasing leaves, or checking out the turtle, now is not the time to call her.

If you make a mistake and call her while she's distracted, don't call her a second time.
Every time you call more than once, you teach her that its okay to ignore the first command.

With young dogs, I like to carry a squeeky toy to get their attention, and THEN call them once they're looking at me.
IF that doesn't work, I call once, and then go get the pup.

Ideally, if I don't think the pull will come, I just reel it in or go get it. I don't bother calling a distracted pup.

Running backwards, clapping your hands and basically making a fool of yourself to lure the dog to you is also helpful. You have to be MORE interesting than the turtle. Otherwise, why in the world would she want to leave the turtle?

Correct repetition is the key. Never give a command more than once (unless perhaps the dog didn't hear it because of noise, or it's own barking). If the dog doesn't comply with the first command, ALWAYS reel it in or go get it.
Always be more interesting than the world around you.

Always set your pup up for success.

STOP!

Do not turn the recall into a game of keep-away.

If you have doubt, do NOT call the dog unless you can back it up with a long line (reeling her in).

You have probably turned your recall word into automatic "let's play keep-away" or at least into an option for her.

What correction? I hope that you have not called her and then corrected when she finally sauntered in, tainting the recall further.

But it's all fixable. You need to start over.

I will find some recent threads about teaching the recall and proofing it gradually. It's not about doing it with no distraction and tossing a whole yard full of distraction into the mix at once.

Never call a dog unless you are sure of compliance or can enforce compliance. Use a long line. Dogs learn through repetition. Right now your repetition is teaching the dog "you can ignore me the first 2-5 times."

Ah. Alyssa and I posted together. lol


And Mike. LOL

Edited by Connie Sutherland (03/26/2009 11:51 AM)
Edit reason: addition

Well, I know not to say come and have the dog come and then correct it. But I do say come once and if she doesn't come I say it stern and then more stern each time until she comes. Then I say good girl when she does come. I guess I am confussing her.

My husband trained our last GSD. His grandmother was a GSD breeder and trainer for many many years. He never agreed with her old way of training and trained our last dog to be one of the greatest dogs I have ever known. My husband has a even temperment with dogs and they all dogs seem to love him and learn easy from him. Greta, our puppy, cannot wait until he comes home.

I am not as patient as my husband. I get kind of pissed when she doesn't listen, even if I am hiding it, I think she knows. I am so use to my other dog just doing what I said immediately, that I guess I just expect her to do the same. I haven't had a puppy around for over 18 years.

One suggestion I would have is to keep her on a longline outside, so that if you call come, and she ignores you, you can reel her in.

That way, you're not repeating the command (and being ignored) and you don't need to worry about getting annoyed and her picking up on that (and beginning to associate 'come' with an annoyed Anna).

One thing I would do though is if you are reeling her in, still be upbeat and positive. Still clap your hands, be fun, squeak a toy, etc - while reeling her.

Ok, I can do that, but if she comes when I have to pull on a line and I tell her that she is a good girl when she come, isn't she going to assoicate having to be pulled on a line as a good thing instead of coming on her own as a good thing or does it really matter at this point?

Yes you are correct..that is what she has learned!