[tomjess]

Hi

I have a 11 month GSD bitch. In the garden and training she is great, obeys all orders. When we go for walks and I let her the lead she refuses to come to me and just wonders around. I usally have to wait till some one comes so that she goes to and then catch her for me. Any ideas please.

Thanks in Advance

 

[GunnerJones]

Find a trainer in your area, Does she like to chase a ball or toy?

 

[mastercabman]

does she comes to you in the garden?you might want to work harder with that command.
this is a command that if you don't do it right the first time,you going to have a hard time.
do you let her off the leash?what you might want to do is to bring a long rope/leash.let her go and when you call her,and she doesn't respond,pull on the rope(a little at first)if she comes back to you with little effort,give her praise and treats.i would keep her on the leash for now.
sometime when you train only in the backyard,that's all they know.
you want to train with her in different places.
is she spayed?that also could be a probleme.i would talk to a vet or if someone here can help with this issue.
don't give up and be patient. do not get mad if she's not comming back to you.you want to make her feel possitive to come to you.

 

[Kayla's Dad]

I’m assuming that you meant when you let her off-lead. You want to avoid circumstances where your puppy can disregard a command. You may want to try using a long-line with her for now so you can grab it and give her a correction/pull her into you after giving a recall command.

You want to go back to where your puppy is obeying your commands. Then slowly extend the distance out to strengthen her reliability.

Another way to encourage the recall is to have something that she likes – a ball, a toy. When she ignores you, run (don’t walk) in the another direction tossing/playing with her toy and making high “happy” noises. Put your attention on the fun object

Whatever you choose, keep it happy and fun. If she's misbehaving when you call her, you must praise her for responding to the recall. Do not correct or punish for actions done prior to a successful recall.

 

[OllieGSD]

My friend had an issue just like this w/ her lab. Her husband ruined the come command by calling the dog to him when it was misbehaving and punishing it when the dog obeyed the come command. To fix the dog (not the husband) she changed the command "come" to "here" and started training all over again. The post about generalizing the training in many areas is very important. Also make sure when you give the "here" command the dog comes and sits infront of you and waits for you to touch her collar before rewarding the correct responce with food. The dog gets used to waiting for you to put the leash on before the reward. Good Luck...

 

[tomjess]

Hi and thanks for the advice.

Firstly she loves to fetch but will not bring it back to the thrower, she would rather be chased after, seems more fun for her.

She has not been spayed. She is just a dog that a zest for life.

It could be she is still trying to be boss between the two of us.

I will try everything that has been mentioned and will let you know the outcome.

Cheers

 

[MaggieRoseLee]

Doesn't sound like she's trying to be the boss to me. Just sounds like she didn't get taught what 'come' is.

And that 'come' is the BEST command in the world, cause being with/near/by/along side me is just about as close to heaven as heaven can be!!!!!!

I start when my pups first come in the house, and don't use the word 'come' at all. I just use their name. And when I say it, and they look at me, I use a clicker to 'mark' the behavior I want (looking at me) and then giving my pup a chunk of chicken/roastbeef/liver/cheese............. Hey, but guess what's happening when they are coming over for their treat? They are 'coming'!!!!

The most important thing now is what many of us mess up when our dogs are outside. Our dog 'comes' and we immediately gather them up with the leash or by the collar and leave the fun whatever they were doing loose. So the dogs learn that when they get near you, the fun is over. If they avoid you they can keep having the joy of freedom.

So what I do when I click/reward my dogs is then LET THEM GO AGAIN. And do the name thing again, click/reward, let them go AGAIN. So the dogs never know which of these is the time I have to leash them up to go home.

You may want to pretend your dog is a 7 week old puppy and retrain the both of you all over again. And this time, all the commands and learning is about fun, teamwork, leadership, and rewards for your dog making the RIGHT choices.

Does your dog tug? A tugging dog is the best of all, cause the reward comes from you and is WITH you.

Dog classes would help, specially positive based ones that would make you the leader and the light in your dog's eye. Someone they WANT to listen to and obey (not someone they are stressed about cause they make think they either 'have' to obey, or that is to be avoided cause (frankly) you may tend to suck the fun times out of their lives (unintentionally, but a fun-sucker none the less.

So I'd back off and start doing some basic reading on leadership (not being the boss, but the natural leader) of a dog. As well as basic positive based training (and I think clicker training breaks it down the best).

http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/index.htm#basic

http://www.clickerlessons.com/attention.htm

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/925

 

[davismiro]

Jo, my 2yr old gsd, was stubborn about coming on call if she was interested in something else, so we started playing a "Jo come" game. My husband would be on one side of the yard/room and I would be on the other then one of us would call her. Right when she reached us the other one would call her... we would do this over and over with the occasional other command (down, sit, etc.) to make sure she was listening. She LOVED it and she got tons of exercise. Now she comes every time we call. We still have to add the occasional "hurry" but she is much better now. Good Luck!!!

 

[Mac's Mom]

Davis -Simple yet brilliant. I'm going to try that game with Mac. How many days/weeks did you play this before Jo improved?

Related question - Mac is 6 mos. In the am he's leashed to a spike which enables him to run the entire length of our large yard. This morning he broke his leash when I was in the house. My neighbor found him running around playing in the yard just like he would if he was still leashed. Maybe he's ready to be off leash? Any thoughts?

 

[JudynRich]

This is so interesting. I have not yet tested Mia and Bella off lead, but just purchased a 50 foot training lead. I used to say "hurry" to my Susie...think it was the tone, because she always "hurried". My Sue was so good off lead, but I did not start her on that training until she was 2 and had really proved herself. She resisted cats, bunnies and squirrels.

 

[Miss Molly May]

Jo, my 2yr old gsd, was stubborn about coming on call if she was interested in something else, so we started playing a "Jo come" game. My husband would be on one side of the yard/room and I would be on the other then one of us would call her. Right when she reached us the other one would call her... we would do this over and over with the occasional other command (down, sit, etc.) to make sure she was listening. She LOVED it and she got tons of exercise. Now she comes every time we call. We still have to add the occasional "hurry" but she is much better now. Good Luck!!!

Wow what a good idea!!!!! thank you

 

[BlackPuppy]

I just keep a handful of hotdogs in my pocket.

 

[VChurch]

I've noticed with my four-year-old male (who yes is fixed) that he is about half-way good with the "come" command. He's great after I've had him on a leash for a while walking at a heel and then I let him off; that being said, there are times that he will go and hike his leg on a tree and his hearing appears to be lost at that point. Although, this has only happened at the soccer fields and we're already heading to the car and he always makes sure he's the first thing in the car, so I never worry about it. But I plan on working with him extensively this Fall (when I'm also training my GSD puppy) so that I can allow them both to be off-leash and not worry about them not coming back.

 

[Josephine]

Elsa has similar problems with the "come" command also. Inside of course she's great (she's 4 mos now). Davis, that idea is great!! My problems stem when we get outside around the other dogs. She is sooooo distracted by EVERYthing in the environment. She just wants to play with the one and unfortunately we started a bad habit of not leashing her when we are outside (we have 20 acres and well a whole other story is his way of training and mine!) She doesn't run off but some times she doesn't come to me either unless I start walking the other direction.......