I have a 3,5 year old german sheperd. I have had him for 2 months(he was my sisters dog but she didnt have the time for him). So here i am trying to learn him some basic commands. he knows how to sit and give his paw (at least most of the times) but with the come command he only comes when he feels like it. I use treats to make him come and he responds only when he hasnt got something better to do. i have him on a 10meter leash. please help me any advice will be appreciated.thanks <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

always use a lead maybe starting with 10 footer, and say "come" and while pulling him to you, coaxing with a treat, for faster results, he should start getting the idea after a while, but always practice this with the lead so he is always guarteed to come. also very important never say "come" if you can't reinforce it, cause (from the sounds of things) he has already learned that he doesn't always have to come to begin with. the more times he fails to come the harder it will be for him to learn "come" and succeed. hope this helps. i have other suggestions but with his age this may be the best route to start with.

Hi Stella,

First off, the dog DOES (100%)know the command and is choosing not to listen, right? If he doesn't, you will need to treat him as a puppy and start with only motivational training.

If he is disobeying, I agree with Tammy about using a rope, however, instead of "pulling" him in, I would reccomend giving the lead a sharp pop.

So here's the way it would work. Take your pooch out to an open area like a field on your 10m lead. Call him enthusiastically. If he ignores you, give the rope a sharp pop and then call him again as though nothing has happened. When he comes praise and play with him (treats are good too if he likes them). If he comes half way then gets distracted, repeat the correction and call him again.

Repeat.

Like Tammy also pointed out, be sure you never ask him to come unless you can enforce it immediately.

Good luck and congrats on your new dog!

Heather

Failure to come?

Start from the beginning.

Follow the advice above, start with a lead and a very short distance. Be consistant, have the dog sit directly in front of you. If you meant only come nearer to you, use another command such as "near" Be very consistant. Never call come with an upset or angry tone of voice. This distance should begin just several steps, than on to yards and further.

You must know if the dog is confused, distracted or ignoring you and you must react for each cicumstance.

If he appears confused, tech him.

If he is distracted, train without distraction.

If he ignores you, correct him.

I must disaggree with one above posted message. Never repeat your "come" command. Use back-up phrases if you must, "lets go" "see ya". If you repeat the dog will wonder which time do you mean it and the fail to respond until it's ready.

The correction for failure to respond must be a leesh correction to get the dog's attention on you and moving in your direction.

If the dog responds favoably, it must be praised each and EVERY SINGLE TIME. I like to combine all the praise methods I have, smile, voice, petting, treat, lick of your hand. Use all simutaneously to begin, give the dog many favorable reasons for him to come to you.

Good luck

Kirk Simon

 Quote:

Originally posted by Kirk Simon:

I must disaggree with one above posted message. Never repeat your "come" command. Use back-up phrases if you must, "lets go" "see ya". If you repeat the dog will wonder which time do you mean it and the fail to respond until it's ready.

Kirk,

Don't you the dog will "wonder" if you constantly change your command for come? And imagine if he doesn't obey a few times - you'd really have to start getting creative with thinking up other words!

If you repeat your command after giving a correction, he will learn that he should listen the first time you say it to avoid the correction.

You are correct that repeating a command is wrong in some circumstances, such as if you cannot enforce it right away. Then your dog WILL learn that he can pick and choose when he comes because there's no consequences.

Heather

You can also put a leash on the dog and sit in your chair in the house and every time the dog wonders away call him,giv him a pop and when he gets to you give him a treat and praise and go back to watching TV you can do that over and over for a half hour or whatever.After that becomes real easy and the dog understands what you want go out side and do it on the long line.It seems to make for an easy transition for the out side work.Being how the dog is 3.5 years old it could be kinda hard to get it to be reliable because the dog has NEVER HAD to do anything before.In that case an e-collar would be very easy and take about 5 min.But even at that I would still go through all the steps already mentioned so the dog knows exactly what you want.

Thanks to all of you!
I did what you all told me and Orphea has almost learned how to respond to the come command.At first when he wouldnt listen i gave a pop to the rope and if that didnt work i would pull him in. Now almost 8 of the 10 times he comes. We also started the down command and he is doing pretty well.Now i am thinking to start the distraction phase(on the come). Do you think it is the right time? I am thinking of distracting him with his soccerball (which he *worships*). Is this moving too fast? If it isnt the right way do you have any suggestions to distract him?Any advice will be deeply appreciated since it worked miracles the last time. THANKS
stella

anyone for more advice???
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi Stella,

Great to hear you have made some progress with your dog!

Where have you been doing the recall work to this point?

If it was in a quiet famillar area, I would suggest moving up to an area with interesting smells etc like a park. Take small steps. If your dog loves his ball as much as you say he does, you may want to take a few smaller steps in before bringing it out.

Also, as a sidenote: if the leash pop was not working and you had to pull your dog in, you were not giving the correction properly. What type of collar are you using on your dog?

Have fun!!

Heather

I have been training ORPHEA outdoors in an enviroment with distractions. i live in a small town with around 15 families. my house is surrounded with fields (that is where i do my training) where their are a few dogs tide up at around 100m distance. they bark alot but orphea doesnt give them any attention.Unfortunately there isnt anywhere else for me to go with orphea. sometimes we got to the beach but in summer that will not be an option. people here are very prejudist with dogs on the beach.
Anyway i am using a normal leather collar on orhea. I am ordering Eds Basic obidience tape; will it have any information on a prong collar?
One other thing: when i give my dog the down command sometimes he goes down and then rolls over on his back. What can i do for this?
thankyou in advance for your advice