Come!......NOW!!!

[Cornfedjenn]

My boxer Mia is extremely stubborn, playful, strong,etc...everything you can think of to describe a boxer. I don't trust her off leash b/c she will not come, not even for a treat or a toy. We did all the puppy classes and she just won't do it. And when she is off leash (we have invisible fence) she goes crazy lady, jumping all over you and practically knocking you over leaving you bruised from her powerful "punches". Any suggestions on training a boxer to listen to Come and Down(or off) She is 2 1/2 yrs old.

 

[elgerdes]

Note: Be careful, posting about any means of electric reinforcement is banned on this site, including invisible fences.

 

[LILYLARUE]

Ignore, ignore, ignore when she jumps up. If you give her ANY type of response, it will just reinforce. When you become boring, and she stops, that's the exact time to praise.

Praise good behavior, ignore the bad behavior.

If she jumps up, turn around, nose to the air, arms folded. Yes, you will be spinning in circles and it will be rough for you, and she may even try harder, jump harder, add some swirling jumps, anything to get your attention, but don't give her any attention until "all four on the floor"! As soon as she is down, praise like heck! She will get it eventually. But she is 2-1/2 and has had 2-1/2 yrs of practice doing what she knows gets her attention. Take away the attention and she will eventually figure out that jumping up means being ignored.

When you praise for her being "four on the floor" that's a great time to treat with a toss of a ball or toy (her being on a long lead). Then when she's gotten it, call her back with the "come" command. If she jumps up, ignore until "four on the floor"......then toss again! It's a multi-tasking training session with ample opps of praising. And ALWAYS praise for good behaviors - ignore the bad. Boxers want to please us....so she will get it.

 

[nalabear]

Do you have any type of treat that she just absolutely loves? Like boiled chicken, Liver, Cheese, Hot dogs...etc.

One reason she may not come to a treat is because she has been taught that to come means her fun is done. We have a new boy who is 2 and he is this way. So we have worked on calling him to us in the house and giving him a treat then sending him away again to enjoy what he was doing, then we started with him in the back yard calling him in and treating him and sending him back out to play. We are now working on this in the front yard and we are having great success. He loves to come now cause he gets a treat and he doesn't know if he will get to continue to play or will have to stop. We also praise him with over the top praise for coming.

The jumping up we have also had a problem with. I have scratches and bruises all over my arms and legs. What we have been working on with that is the command "off" the command "down" means lay down in our home. But every time he comes near I bend over and tell him off and if he keeps his feet on the ground he gets praised and loved on. If any paw comes off the ground I tell him off and if he listens I praise him If not I quit playing with him and turn away. And yes I do get dizzy sometimes.... We are finally getting to the point when we are outside playing and I see him running at me I can say off and he changes directions and jumps in the air next to me but doesn't touch me unless i ask him too, which isn't often until he learns off really well. This has taken some time but being consistent and persistant in his training is paying off.

Now if we could just get the walks to be peacful all would be good