Teach Your Pup To Come When Called

• Introduction
• Step 1: Food Bowl Comes
• Step 2: Opportunity Comes
• Step 3: The Gotcha Game
• Step 4: Surprise, Controlled Comes on Leash
• Step 5: Teach Your Emergency Recall Word
• Add Distance OR Distraction to the Really Reliable Recall

Introduction

The most important cue a dog can learn is a reliable Come When Called — it truly can be a life-saving command! Unfortunately, most dogs have either learned that they don’t need to come or that not-so-fun things happen when they do.

Coming when called is a habit! The more pups come when called, the more they will continue to come. The less often pups come when called, the more they will continue to come. Your job is to build a “come habit” in your puppy.

We’d recommend you have several words related to come so you can keep your standards very high for come. You don’t have to use our cue words. Pick your pup’s cues but then stick to them so you have three different ways to get your pup to come.

“Come” – this is your primary word and it means “come close enough to me that I can put my hand through your collar.” Think of “come” as a place so you are telling your dog to come to this place near me. We teach our dogs to come to our sides, not to the front since it’s awkward to have your dog immediately in front of you. Other commonly used cues: Here

“Here” – this is your emergency recall word and it means “come to me as fast as you can, something amazing is going to happen.” We teach an emergency recall word because “come” tends to lose value over time as owners don’t reward it.

“C’mere” – this is your casual word that means “come close to me, we are going this way.” You don’t have to have a casual recall word but it’s nice to have when you don’t really need the dog to come all the way to you.

Come-When-Called Rules

1. Reward your puppy every single time it comes when called for the first year of its life! Yes, that means you have to carry treats but it is worth it to have a fabulous recall on your dog for a lifetime.
2. Don’t Be CHEAP! Pay your dog well for coming to you. Your puppy honors you when it chooses to come to you instead of doing something else. You can use kibble for other training but not come! This will pay off when your pup is a teenager!
3. During puppyhood, do not call your puppy:
   - away from fun, say at the park when it’s playing with its friends.
   - and then scold or punish it.
   - and then do something to it that it doesn’t like, such as put it in the ex-pen.
4. Do not ask your pup to sit when it comes to you; you are teaching Come not Sit in this exercise. We’ve seen many enthusiastic Comes go away because the dog is only rewarded after a Sit. Get a happy Come-When-Called first and foremost! If you want, you can pair it with a sit later in your dog’s life. Instead of saying Sit when your dog comes to you, reward your dog once your dog allows you to touch their collar.
5. Use a medium tone of voice to call your dog. People tend to raise their voices and even yell when training “Down” and “Come.” Train your dog to Come on a medium voice. If your puppy is paying attention, they will hear you. Teach your puppy to pay attention.

Step 1: Food Bowl Comes

As you prepare your puppy’s meals, it will likely be right there with you, having heard all the cues that mean food is coming. Even if your puppy is right there by your feet when you’re ready to put the food bowl down, step backward quickly a few paces and say “Puppy, Come.” As it reaches you and the bow, stand still, say “Yes!” and give the pup the bowl of food instead of a treat. Sometimes say your pup’s name first and then “Come.” Other times, just say “Come” as your puppy gets to you.

Step 2: Opportunity Comes

Watch for other times during the day when your dog is already focused on you and coming to you in a motivated way. For example:

• When you reach for the leash to take your dog for a walk, say “Come” or “Puppy, come” as your puppy rushes up to you. Take your pup’s collar in your hand, then Yes/treat.
• If your dog sees you take their favorite tug toys off the shelf, say “Come” as they run up for the game. Stand still, take your pup’s collar in your hand, then Yes/treat, and then play with the toy.
• If your pup loves car rides, say “Come” as they hear you pick up the car keys. Stand still, take your pup’s collar in your hand, then Yes/treat and then head to the car.

Step 3: The Gotcha Game

This game teaches your pup to anticipate good things when you reach for its collar. Some dogs tend to shy away when you reach for them, making it difficult for you to take their collar or put their leash on. This game teaches puppies that having your hand on its collar means great things are going to happen.

• Several times a day when your pup is up and about, reach for and hold its collar while saying “Yes!” and giving it a delicious treat. Scratch its neck and praise while you hold the collar for a few seconds. Then release.
• There is no verbal cue for the Gotcha game although after you have the collar, you can say “gotcha” while you treat, pet and praise. Don’t say your pup’s name, don’t say “Come.” Just reach out and take hold of the collar.
• Over this lesson period, vary how you do this, sometimes:
  - reach for the collar slowly
  - reach for it quickly
  - do it when you are walking
  - do it when the dog comes up to you for attention
  - do it in lots of situations
• Once in a while, grab the collar, put the leash on, and give the “Yes!”/praise/treat, but take the leash right back off again. This teaches the dog not to duck or play “keep away” when someone wants to put a leash on them.

Troubleshooting

Is your pup afraid of your hand? If so, move your hand toward the collar from underneath or beside the pup’s head. Move it slowly. Take every opportunity to make collar grabs a good thing. DO NOT use the word “come” while you are practicing this. In fact, there is no verbal cue for this. Your open hand reaching for the collar is the cue.

Is your pup biting your hand? If so, be sure you are reaching with an open hand so it doesn’t look like you have a treat. Then, put on gloves so you won’t get hurt by your pup’s teeth, say “yes” and give a treat from the other hand.

Additional ideas for concerned pups are to grab the dog’s collar when your puppy is resting on your lap, when you put its food bowl down, or when it is jumping into the car.

Step 4: Surprise, Controlled Comes on Leash

Most dogs cannot resist investigating when you quickly move away from them. While on an on-leash walk when your dog seems least engaged with its environment, stop suddenly. Become dramatic, make some sort of explanation, such as “Oh! Wow!” and either back up quickly or turn around and move quickly away a few steps. Your dog will wonder what is up and will turn to see, perhaps even begin running to you.

When you see that your puppy is highly motivated and running toward you, call your dog’s name, then “Come”, say “Yes!” and pull something wonderful out of your pocket, such as their dinner in a baggie or a meatball. Since this “come” is outdoors, be sure to have a great treat!

Your dog has learned that it was worthwhile investigating when you move quickly away. Now we will take advantage of this to teach them an emergency recall, the recall that will always work in times of crisis.

Step 5: Teach Your Emergency Recall Word

It’s time to pick and teach a new word for your Emergency Recall. You will continue to use your normal word (“come”) for day-to-day activities so this new cue will only be used for your emergency recall. “Here,” “Now!” “ComeHere” “Pronto” “Quick” all work well.

Pick a word that:

• Is clear
• Carries a long distance
• You won’t use for anything else.

Plan this training well in advance because you have to prepare amazing rewards. These rewards need to be the best thing that has happened to your puppy all day.

You will need three food items each day (or if your puppy doesn’t like food, use what they like best…play, cuddling, walks, retrieving, or tug-of-war). Food rewards should be large, relative to the size of the dog, and very high quality (in the dog’s opinion). Cut down on your pup’s other food rather than short it on these rewards. Examples for a golden retriever puppy might be a quarter of a McDonald’s hamburger (hold the pickle, hold the onions), a small spare ribs (no bone), a chunk of chicken breast, a quarter of a hardboiled egg, or a quarter of a meatball.

• Have the rewards ready so you can do three repetitions each day this week. Go shopping and get a bunch and put them in the freezer.
• Use your Emergency Recall word 3 times a day for the first lesson. You are simply teaching the dog the value of your ER word. Use the word ONLY three times a day and ONLY when you know the dog will come…inside, away from distractions, quite close to you, within 4-5 feet.
• Say your Emergency Recall word excitedly and when your dog comes to investigate, take its collar and start feeding its treat in pieces while praising and petting them for 15-20 seconds.
• Then tell them “Okay” and go back to whatever you were doing before.
• Your pup may be amazed at what just happened and wondering what caused this amazing treat to show up. After a day or two, your pup will be listening for the Emergency Recall word, hoping for if not begging you to say it. But you will resist and just do it three times a day.

Add Distance OR Distraction to the Really Reliable Recall

• Continue to train INSIDE THE HOUSE!!
• Continue to do the Really Reliable Recall three times a day but either extend the distance your pup has to come or add mild distractions.
• If your pup is successful, attempt to go as far from your dog as possible before calling.
• Or wait until your dog is distracted, playing with a toy, or chewing on a bone.
• Call once using your RRR word but make sure it was loud enough for your dog to hear you.
• If your dog comes, take its collar and give it a fabulous Emergency Recall treat with 15-20 seconds of praise, petting, and fun.
• If your dog does not come, go to it and show it the treat that it missed getting. Pretend to eat the treat yourself and put it away in the fridge.
• Ignore your pup and try again later, this time closer.