I need some good insight on dealing with my dog only obeying 3/4 of the time when I call him to come in from the fenced yard. I call him once...he stands and looks at me, so I go get him, and make him come into the house. To make matters worse, he has recently added a new twist. Sometimes he will start to run happily around the yard in circles so I can't reach him, or he waits until I get my shoes and coat on, and I take just one step towards him, and he bounds in the door. This really doesn't improve my mood.
I have always worked on the come command, right from the start because I've always had hounds, and coming when called never seemed to be their forte'. I have praised like mad when he comes on the first command, I've treated hundreds of times, I've clicked a hundred times, and I am now way past aggravated. I admit to being at a loss as to how to correct him, since he is an extremely soft dog, very unlike other hounds that I have had. I am also conflicted about correcting him, since it was always drummed in to me in obedience class, never to correct the dog for not coming. Obviously this theory is not working and I am going to need a different approach.
I might add here, that in obedience class he always comes on command with a perfect sit at the end.
I am thankful that this is the only problem I have with him, but I am really could use some ideas on how to overcome this exasperating willful disobedience, from this otherwise good, very laid back , soft dog.

Feed dog a lot less, use a better treat to give when he does come in. Give it every time he comes in on his own after you call. Also, only give the dog one meal a day. Don't allow free access to food. The one meal should always be given after the dog comes in the house when called. Like a once-a-day pay off prize.

NEVER go out after him, I bet he thinks thats a real hoot. . .till you catch him of course. (but it sure is fun till that happens, and it is reinforcing the bad behavior)

Last thing. . .from now on that dog only comes in the house when YOU let him in. Don't ever ever EVER let him in when he wants in. Let him suffer out there alone till you deem it a good time to let him in. You can even tease the little punk by playing with his toys at the back door and then walking away.

You'll increase the desire to come inside if he thinks it might not happen all the time. . .only when YOU decide to let it happen, not when he prompts you to make it happen at his leisure.


I find that with a lot of house training issues you have to think like a real azzwhole. Do things like a jerk, a petty dominate knuckleheaded jerk. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

You might want to find out what makes him tick, food or toy, and use it everytime with a come, be patience and never shows that you are mad cuz they can sense it and won't come, get in your knees and try to get him in but don't ever go after him and chase him, if he don't want to come in, just shut the door and leave him out there all night, I guarantee you the next morning he will come in faster than lightning. With my pup, he has crazy food drive, and so I have been using food everytime I use come and now he come so fast at full speed that sometime he could not stop and I have to get out of the way or he might knock me over, or if he could stop in time he still like to slam his nose into my manhood part and a few times it hurt like hell, I guess there is good and bad in everything.(-:

I disagree about not letting him know you're mad. It depends on how sensitive they are to you, whether it bothers them if you reject them. I have Bouviers and they can be stubborn. If they don't come when I call, I shout "NOW" very firmly. It's usually used when they are barking too much, etc. and don't want to stop what they're doing. The "NOW" means "I'm not kidding. Quit what you're doing and get over here." I have walked back there and swatted them on their hindquarters (lightly because it's the reprimand action rather than the force of the swat that they dislike.) When they get back to the door, I make them obey a few commands, sit, down, etc. before they get to come in. I also don't hold a grudge towards it, reprimand and then release the emotional pressure, praising them for what they do right. I agree with Van Camp - ignoring them and shunning them also works because they want to stay in my good graces.

He rings a bell when he wants to go outside, since I trained him at 10 weeks old to ring it with his nose. With the use of a crate and the bell, he was completely housebroken in three weeks. I am not into endless days of sopping up messes, so this has always worked for me. However after reading some of the ideas posted here, I can now see the logic that perhaps I have given him the wrong impression about who calls the shots about coming INSIDE when he is called.
Using Van Camps suggestion, when the dog didn't respond when I called him in, I calmly shut the door and waited him out. When he showed up at the sliding glass door and wanted in, I sat inside in front of him and tossed his toys in the air. He started to bark, so I turned my back on him and continued to play with the toys. He then began to whine, so I disappeared to make my dinner. I went back to the door and made a great show of slowly eating it in front of him and if he began to whine again, I gave no eye contact, and completely ignored him. When he was quiet and I was good and ready, I let him in. After this, he was moving a whole lot faster to get inside. I have also upped the quality of the treats, when he promptly responded to being called in.
I'm very optomistic about this new approach. Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions.

The meal reward given at different intervals when you let him in is really going to seal the deal. Only time you feed the dog is when he comes in the house when called.


I do this with my puppies, as a part of their housebreaking. I give the meals when they come inside and after they have done some business out there. Thats the only time they eat. Coming in the house is a big deal. It carries over to the come command as we continue training and I start offering the rewards in different locations for the come.

Everything you do in everyday interaction with the dog can be a training exercise to teach the rules of the house and help with the foundation of obedience.

Hey there .. you've got a lot of good comments already so I'll try to keep mine brief.

Never run after them unless you can catch them. If its too late (they're too fast now) then definitely don't. I think that just reinforces that you can't catch them.

At an age, pups are going to stretch their boundaries. Its also the time that they are getting more and more independent. So running after IF you can't catch them is a large mistake. In a subtle way, it shows a large vulnerability as masters/owners/guardians.

It might be a bit late now, but I did like I read on this board. COME is an "absolute command", it must be followed 100% of the time or there should always be discipline 100%. So when my pups were little and they could still be caught easy, I praised heavily for coming - and corrected heavily for not coming. They come when called now, no questions asked.

But in your situation, you might consider other forms of discipline. I read that your pup might be a bit soft. All the better I say, you won't have to be too hard. But better hard now, than after a serious accident.

For starters, go back to the beginning with COME on a leash (like in the training video). The method works. The "automatic correction" - very good stuff.

One more thing might prove to be a good trick. Have ONLY 1 treat for COME and reserve that treat for COME and COME only. Make it a really really good treat and NEVER give it out otherwise. At first give it when he comes at all. Then back off to only fast comes. The video teaches the importance of fast comes - and I've seen that its so true!

My pups used to fuss about going to bed (in their crates). I did the same thing with a "Goodnight" command. My pups now rocket into their crates and don't make a peep now. Maybe that'll work for you in the COME command.

Good luck!
DHC

David, I really appreciate your ideas, especially your comment:
"At an age, pups are going to stretch their boundaries. Its also the time that they are getting more and more independent. So running after IF you can't catch them is a large mistake. In a subtle way, it shows a large vulnerability as masters/owners/guardians."

That makes a lot of sense.I cetainly felt a whole lot less than masterful, waiting for the little stinker to slow down enough that I could catch him! Right now,I have the time to make him wait outside until I am good and ready to let him in, and ignore him if he whines to be let inside. Using the ideas posted here, I am seeing a new attitude taking shape in his head. I like your idea of using the special treat only for the come command.

Seems to me that he wants to play with you....

my dog did that once, i did the - ignoring thing behing de door and only let him in when i wanted.

Since i did not want this to become a habit, the next time i let him out, i simply took a leash and went with him, the following time i went without a leash and played :ball, chase ect... and took a sprint with him to the door to see who would get there first...
Well guess what, it was so much fun that now i always go with him...i wonder who trained who..

The odd time he'll go by himself and comes back when called.

You might want to invest in an electronic collar or borrow one should your dog not listen or chooses to listen to you when it's on your dog's terms.