Come here?

[Moriahsmag]

When I tell my puppy to come to me, she just sits there and looks at me like I'm dumb or something. She is 9 weeks old. Are there any good ways to help her get the point that when I tell her to come to me, she should? Sometimes when she does decide to come, I praise her and I pet her all over and tell her she's a good girl, but it doesn't seem to last long with her. A few seconds after that, I'll tell her to come to me and she will give me that same dumb look. HELP!!!

 

[sgbtab]

you need to always praise and sometimes give treats. one thing you should never do is call her to scold her. I am not saying that you do that. but what I do if samson has done wrong I walk to him. I never call him to me so every time he is called he come's cause he is going to get praise or a treat.it takes a while sam is 7 month's old and he come's all the time now.

 

[Elyse]

We would tell Porter to come and pull him towards us repeating "come." Once he got to us we would praise him and give him a treat. Remember he doesn't understand what the word "come" means, so you have to teach him what it means. Repeat and consistant behavior and he will get it.

 

[davcor]

new command

I agree w/ the previous poster that patience is the key. A good way we learned in class was to have them on a leash, and stand in front of them. Give a few treats to get their attention and then say "come" as you start backing away from them. Don't let the leash get too tight so that you're actually pulling them, because then they'll learn that "come" means, I'm going to pull you toward me. Click and treat when they start moving toward you on their own.

 

[JennieWI]

When Gunther went to puppy class, they taught us to say "puppy, puppy, puppy" in a higher pitched, sing/song kind of voice. It worked, until Gunther started to get a mind of his own. Then I worked with him like the other posters. Delicious treats help alot.

 

[littleone]

Hi Moriahsmag,

She's still a little girl at 9 weeks, but, it's never too early to begin training IMHO. Be patient, persistant, gentle and kind, try to do a little obedience work each day for no more than 5 minutes for now since like human babies, puppy attention span is short. Generally, within a short time they look forward to the obedience work since they know they get one on one attention from you and that there is a reward when they do what you want them to do.

What can also work is using the phrase, "Where are you?", like JennyWI suggests, use a higher pitched voice than usual with a questioning tone to your voice. It usually piques their interest just enough where they'll quickly come to you to see what's up and then of course, treat, praise & love 'em up like crazy. We've done this with all our dogs and it works like a charm 99% of the time. You'll finally get to the point where just praise works as the reward when you ask, "Where are you" and they come find you.

We use a combination of voice & hand signals (made up ones that work for us) and snap our fingers (instead of a clicker since it isn't always something you have close to hand) to get their attention and to let them know they need to pay attention to you. For "come", we'll say the word and gesture with our full hand or index finger, "sit" is a closed fist brought from waist to chin sharply (like you're giving the leash a pop), "down" is snap your fingers, point index finger to floor, "watch me" is snap your fingers and tap your forehead with index finger.

Hope this helps,
Penny

Hope this helps,
Penny

 

[cb977]

Lots of praise when she does come to you, treats work very well, don't EVER call her by name or say "come here" when she's been "bad" (for lack of a better word), and most of all, you must have patience and be consistent and persistant in your commands. With Sammi, once she came when called, I'd praise her and give a little treat, then I'd move to a different spot and repeat the same actions. It took no time at all. As a matter of fact, that's the ONE command she immediately responds to. The rest, depends on her mood! Brat that she is! But she is SO loved...