How To Train Your Dog Come To You Every Time You Call | Dog Training Tips

Getting your dog to come to you may seem to be an easy task under dog obedience training, and most of the time this comes as the first training you do with your dog.

While it is true that most dogs will come when called, a major concern is that over time, dogs tend to not heed your call anymore. While the training is there, and your dog knows his name and can indeed hear you calling, there are other considerations involved that makes your dog at times purposely ignore your call, and believe it or not, your relationship with your dog plays and his emotions towards you plays a role in getting him to follow this simple and basic command. 

In cases of emergency, it is especially important that your dog heeds your call. At all other times, it is rewarding and further strengthens your bond when you know your dog will come to you and hear you each time you call.Whether your dog listens to you before and just stopped, or if this is the first time you will train him, you can still teach your dog this skill that is both basic yet important.

When we try to train our dogs to come, there’s a very specific thing we want. We want to be able to say “Here, Rover!” and then have Rover sprint towards us as quickly as they can. Unfortunately, most people have no idea how to make that happen. If you want your dog to come when they’re called, you have to make the come command the greatest thing ever. This involves giving them the best rewards.

Here are a few tips if you’re not sure how to do that.

Many people use the come command when they’re upset at their dog. This results in them calling their dog, and then yelling at their dog when their dog does come. This can undo months of work. Dogs aren’t the same as people, they’re not capable of understanding nuance the same way. So when you call them, only to yell at them, they connect the yelling with being called. That means they’re less likely to come, because they know they’ll only get yelled at.

There’s nothing wrong with calling your dog in order to get them to stop doing something. However, you need to praise them for coming. Don’t think of calling your dog as a way to stop doing something, but rather a way to get them to check in with you. While it may seem counter-intuitive, if you call them consistently when they’re doing something you don’t want them to do, they’ll learn not to do it. This is true even if you praise them for coming when you call.

When you’re trying to train your dog, there’s a simple formula that you should follow. 

CALL your dog by name 

REWARD your dog immediately 

RELEASE your dog after you reward them

The reward doesn’t have to be something physical. You don’t have to give them food or a treat. Simply showing them affection and telling them that they are a good dog can be enough. But you need to make certain that they connect coming to your call with a pleasant experience.