My dog is about 6. He is very smart I just taught him the past to weeks how to jump, beg, and speak. He also knows how to give a high five, shake, roll over, balance food on his nose, smile, and play dead. The one thing I really want to teach him is to walk without a leash. He is always escaping and running around for a long time without letting us touch him. this is important because in a couple of weeks we are going on a trip and I can't take a chance he will escape in place he has no idea where he is. Please help. I need a link to dog training website or some good directions. Thankx
Dog Behavior: Finding the Right Motivations for Your Dog Training Program
Recommended Answer:Teaching a good come command (also called a recall) is a very important command when owning a dog for many reasons. For one, you can have your dog off-leash and feel confident about getting them back to you at any time. But, it takes a lot of repetition, as does all of the obedience before it would be successful off-leash.
Take the command words themselves, seriously.
In order to later be successful off-leash you will want to begin to teach the come while on-leash so that you can back up the command with good timing. What I mean by this is; imagine you have called your dog to come to you while off-leash and they don't come, you have now begun to ruin that word for them because they realized they really don't have to come to you. But if the dog was on leash when you called them you could have made sure they came to you no matter what which makes the command itself have more meaning. Of course you will later have that off leash control but if you do not first practice it on leash you cannot have the proper timing to make it extremely successful.
Teaching the command COME
1.Put your dogs leash and collar on and get a treat ready and in hand.
2.Walk to the end of the leash and visibly show the treat to the dog and say their name and follow with the command come, for example: “Spot, come!”
Always say the dogs name first to gain attention and you should sound very encouraging with this command because you want it to be very exciting and wonderful for the dog to get to you. When the dog gets to you reward them instantly with the treat. They should gobble it down and have a lot of focus on you now.
Do not say the word “come” over and over. You should try to say it once after their name and that would be enough. (Sometimes we repeat the command in the early stages more than once but when you begin to advance you want to be sure you only have to say it once). You do not want them to get into the habit of waiting until the sixth time you've said it!
When you are showing your dog the treat, hold your hand the same way every time. The goal here is that later, when you are not using treats, you will hold your hand in the same way as if you were holding a treat. It makes the dog have a visual with the command as well. The dog then later is visually stimulated to remember that treat and reward when they see your hand look the same whether or not you have a treat in your hand. It will help you have more focus from your dog later when we begin to use treats less.
To understand how close a dog should be when they receive their treat, you will want the dog to be close enough where you could reach out and grab their collar if needed.
If the dog does not come to you at this point it is usually because of one of three factors; either your treat is not enticing enough, or there is something distracting your dog, or at some point in the past you made it a negative experience for the dog to get to you, probably unintentionally. So, try to go into a quiet environment with an amazing treat and be very positive and excited about having your dog get to you!
Your dog should race to get to you when called, NOT stop along the way, sniff and do something else before they come. When we are teaching a good recall (come command) we want our dog to come rather quickly to us without stopping.
The photo shows the dog in a sit but they can be doing anything they want when you practice this command. When you begin this exercise note that the dog is in a release mode doing whatever they want before you call them. You should walk to the end of your 6-foot leash to call them. If they come to you before you call them that's great too! Eventually when you begin to practice this command they may start coming to you before you call and that is a good thing. Dogs are smart and may begin to anticipate your moves.
Be encouraging at this point in the training and have it be really fun and exciting to get to you. You want getting to you to be better than some amazing smell or site of another exciting experience that the dog might be focused on so you have to make it like a party when they do get to you. Do not give the treat until they have actually reached you. But, you want to treat immediately when they reach you and not delay it so that they feel very clear as to what you are happy about.
You can also try offering praise with petting or a favorite toy as a reward for getting to you. Make sure there are no distractions and you are acting very inviting right now like squatting on the floor with a treat for beginning to teach this command. If they still do not come to you try walking away to get them to follow you.
It is EXTREMELY important that in all situations it is positive to come to you. Dogs only remember the last thing that happened. So for example, say at one time you were angry at your dog and you called them to you to discipline them. What you actually did was discipline them for coming to you because that was the very last thing they did and that will be what they remember. I came across a client one time whose dog was actually fearful of coming because one time her boyfriend disciplined the dog when the dog came because he was angry about the dog peeing on the carpet. He actually disciplined the dog for coming to him, not for peeing when he did it that way. The dog thought it did something wrong for coming to them. So not only will your dog stop trusting you but they will not want to come to you either! Never make the mistake of having anything ever be wrong for coming to you. You always want to encourage your dog to come to you and make it very positive when they do.
This type of beginning training is laying the foundation for our dog to think that when they hear their name and the ‘come' command they get a very positive experience when they reach you! It instills in them that coming to you is a very happy thing that they will always want to do.
Practice this several times a day over the next few days to weeks in several parts of your home. Your goal here is to be successful 100% of the time with the recall and for your dog to think it is just one big fun game right now. We will of course be making it a little harder later, but for now, it is all positive.Julie Lokhandwala is founder of webDogTrainer, LLC. and has created the interactive Online Dog Training Guide and Consultation www.webdogtrainer.com
You can ask Julie any dog-training question!
"Julie had an immediately calming effect on us as dog owners. She can explain the canine perspective and how we as humans can interact with our dog in a positive way, even when disciplining. Julie was super patient with all of our questions and even fielded our email questions after training ended," said Sina and Ed of Fremont, California.
Dog Training Techniques - The Dog Whispering Technique Explained
- Keep him on a leash at all times!
He's not going to learn unless you give him boundaries. Keep him on a leash - especially when you're out of town.
- I think you really need to teach him to "come" on command.
I go hiking with my dogs and I let them off leash when we are far from any cars. I am able to do this because they come on command.
He sounds like he is a very smart dog, so he should pick this up quickly. There are a few different ways to do it. Start by tossing a treat a way from you. After he gets the treat, say "come", and treat him again when he comes to you. If he doesn't come, walk over to him, put the treat in his face, say come, and lead him back to where you were standing before you give him the treat. When you are outside with him in your fenced yard, call him "Come" and treat him. When you are walking him on leash, let him in front of you and say "Come", every now and then, treating him each time. You can work on the "stay" command along with the "come" command.
The other command you are looking is "heel". That's when they come over and sit next to your foot.
- Your dog seems to think that it is more fun to run away from you.
This is one training where you will need to be PATIENT and start with him wearing a leash. Call the dog. If he doesn't come never run after him. This only makes him think he can always get away from you. Catch him when he is off guard. Work with him catching him very quickly when you know you are close to him to be able to catch him. Some people throw something beside the dog to scare it. (sometimes something noisy) I have been successful with both. This will make him think that he cannot ever escape you and he will start to just come or stop on his own. But you will have to be consistant with this exercise. Never let him get away.
- It will take much longer than two weeks to train him to walk without a leash. When you bring him on the trip, keep him on a leash whenever he is outside. And if he bolts out the door when somebody opens it to come in or leave, teach him to sit and stay while you go in and out the door.
Make sure his collar has ID tags on it when you go on the trip in case he does escape.
- 1) Check leash laws in the area you live and the area you are going.
2) Be the Moose in your dog's life.
- i dnt agree with.. Pit Bully Love .. one of our dogs, a 7 yr old collie can go with out a leash (we adopted her a few months ago and she did that already) . and my aunt has her 3 yr old dog(she adopter the dog at the age of 2) that can go with out a leash, tho she had to teach her.. tho i cnt remeber how she did.. sorry... ut u may have to wait more then a couple weeks to get him trained.. to really trust that he'll listen..
- First off, does he walk well on leash? If so, then the transition to off leash should be easier.
Put him on a leash, but don't hold the leash in your hand like normal. Instead, drape the leash from the dog, around the back of your neck and down the opposite side. This way, as you are walking, your hands will swing free naturally at your side, and the dog will assume he is off leash. (make sure when you drape the leash that there is enough slack so that clasp on the leash is hanging towards the floor.
If the dog wanders from your side, give a tug on the leash and tell him to heel, and bring him back to where he should be. Every time he veers off, bring him back.However, this may or may not help with him. You say he's "escaping" - when you are walking or is this an escape outside the door or the fence? He needs to know a good recall, a come on command.
With the dog on leash, allow the dog to roam at the end of the leash. When he is distracted, call his name and the command "come", and pull him in to you. As he is coming in, lots of praise - make him glad he is coming to you. Never let the dog outside without a leash unless he is coming to you every time you call him.
When he responds to the come command on a short leash, put him on a longer line, a flexi lead, some sort of line where he can get 10 feet or so away from you. Again, call him, only one time. If he does not come to you, literally reel him in - don't allow him to not respond to your come commmand.
This will help in getting the dog to respond to you when they are loose and get away from you.
- Why can't you keep him on-leash? It's safer, and it's illegal to have your dog off leash in some areas.
- you can't & certainly not in a couple weeks. why has it take you 6 years to teach him anything?
there is no such thing as a boundry trained dog that you can guarantee & it only takes one mistake for the dog to be dead.
he already takes off every chance he gets, why would you think he would do any differently if you were trying to train him?
keep him safe & don't let him get out or off leash anywhere
- It takes a long time to train a dog with a solid recall. You need to work with the dog around distractions, and if you're out somewhere new, the dog may find the distractions more enticing then you.
But start with the name game and targeting. You'll find info about both at this site. It's written up for fearful dogs but applies to all dogs.
www.fearfuldogs.com/targeting.html
