Stubborn w/"Come" at the Back Door

[sevenshoes]

Annie, my 5 month old brindle, is quite a handful. It really is funny how different she is from Riot, my 3 year old male. We have been working on the "come" command and most times she does pretty well...throughout the house, around the backyard, not so great at the puppy park, but she was excited. The one thing, though, that we are having problems with is coming in through the back door. We just moved to a much bigger backyard, and it has lots of fun places to hide in bushes and things. I know she loves it out there, and when I call her, she comes running up onto the deck, but then just STOPS, and when I call her again, she just sits down. I am not going to force her in, but I am not going to stand there in the doorway all night waiting for her highness to make up her mind, so I have been one of two things: A) Get out some treats and call her, she knows the sound of the bag opening or B) After she stares at me for 2 minutes, I just shut the door, then she wines, and I wont open it, but I wait until she stops whining to let her in. Am I going to confuse her? I just want her to know that I am in control, she seems to be a very dominant little girl. Any advise?

 

[Jan]

By all means use treats. You need to make yourself more interesting than the great outdoors. It's a good idea to never use the "come" command unless you are sure that she is going to come. It sounds like she has already learned to ignore it, so it would be a good idea to use a different word, like "here"

 

[ssgtmrs]

I know this feeling ALL TOO WELL! My sweet little monster Chester, is fascinated with any type of "light" -- a car drives by, makes a relfection on the ceiling and that boy sees it from anywhere in the house, laser light - LOVES IT, flashlight, whatever, you name it.

So, here's the problem.... from late morning till early afternoon the sun shines in the back yard, which, of course, reflects off the back storm door. Here's the routine, let Chester out, he does his business, then comes and knocks on the back door to come in. As soon as he sees you at the door, he immediately turns his back to see where the reflection will be in the yard when you open the door. So, open the door to let him in - off he goes chasing the light. Call him, no response, he's waiting for the light to move again. Give up, close the door go inside, sit down -- you got it -- all over again -- he knocks, you get up, he chases the reflection.

I have to admit that he is getting better, we have used treats to entice him - it just has to be the RIGHT treat! Good Luck!

Vicki