Preliminary Guidelines for Teaching Your Dog to Come When Called

Dogs that come when called are a pleasure to own, but more importantly, dogs that come when called are less likely to be injured or killed in dangerous situations.  To teach your dog to reliably obey the “come” command, begin by adopting the following preliminary guidelines.

First, as a general rule, never call your dog to you, even in a casual way, and then proceed to give him a bath, clip his nails, or take him to the veterinarian!  Instead, when it’s time for those unpleasant tasks, simply go get him in a matter-of-fact manner, and lead him to his fate!

Equally important, never call your dog to you and then chastise him for a wrongdoing.  For example, you come home and find that the dog has been in the garbage, so you point to your feet and tell the dog in an angry voice, “Get over here, Rover.  What did you do?”, which causes the dog to slink over to you.  Many owners think that their pet’s submissive response indicates the dog “knows what he did”, and therefore he’s “acting guilty” for his actions.  In reality, the dog doesn’t connect his foray through the garbage with your foul mood.  Instead, the dog believes that you’re really unhappy when you come home, and you’re taking it out on him.  Even worse, your tirade has caused the dog to think that coming to you is certainly no fun, and definitely something to avoid-- a dangerous precedent to set.  Therefore, if the dog does something wrong in your absence, simply clean it up in silence, then vow to give the dog more exercise and to leave him with less temptation next time!

Second, if you’ve developed the habit of excessively using the word “come” in an attempt to coerce your dog to return to you, as in “Rover come!  Here boy, come!  Come Rover!  Come!  Aw, c’mon, come!”,  and your pleas have fallen on “selectively deaf” canine ears, then it’s important that you change the command so you can begin anew by teaching the proper response instead of trying to overcome the incorrect response.  A popular alternative to the word “come” is the word “here” because it’s brief and easy to say.

Finally, once you begin to follow a prescribed training plan, treat your new command as if it were the emergency  “911” code.   In other words, don’t use the word as haphazardly as you used “come”; use it only when you are in control of the situation, or if it’s a real emergency.  “In control” means that the dog is on a leash; the leash is a crucial tool which empowers you to make the dog comply upon hearing your command.  “Emergency” means the dog is in immediate danger and could be killed or seriously injured if you don’t do something; at such times, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  For all other situations, call the dog to you in an informal manner such as “Hey Rover, time for dinner!  Hurry up, boy!”; be careful not to slip in your new command by mistake.

Now you and your pet are ready to begin a formalized come-when-called training program.  If you’re unsure how to do so, seek help from a professional.