|
|
|
Dog Training
|
One Command That Could Save Your Dog's Life
Even if you never intend to let your dog off lead in public it is
essential that it comes back each and every time you call (the first time!).
Dogs that run off or won't come back can cause accidents, get lost, frighten or annoy people or other animals and may even be viewed as dangerously out of
control.
To teach your dog to respond reliably to a recall command you should first teach it to respond promptly to their name:
Say your dog's name; encourage eye contact and give a food reward when it looks at you.
Once your dog knows and understands when you are talking to them you can start training the recall. If you have used a recall command previously that has been ineffective or unreliable you may wish to choose a new command but don't worry, old dogs can and do learn new tricks.
Now complete the following steps with your dog, ensuring that it is responding promptly and reliably before moving on.
With your dog in sight, get its attention (show a food or toy reward, his or her dinner will do just fine). Call your dog's name. When it responds use the command 'come' as it is coming towards you. Reward your dog for one step at a time towards you if necessary initially but do not be tricked into going back to it! Running backwards from your dog may encourage it to speed up a bit and always remember only to call your dog for good things. (If your dog does not come to you readily, change the reward to something it likes better.)
At home let your dog see that you have a reward that it really wants and go out of sight. Call your dog's name and when it responds correctly use the command 'come' as it is coming towards you. As your dog gets better at this start making it more difficult to find you.
When you are outside, walk your dog on an extending lead or long line (a washing line will do), calling your dog frequently and only using the command 'come' when it is coming towards you. Reward profusely for a good response.
Call your dog as before but do not show the reward. When your dog gets to you sometimes clip the lead on before giving the reward, keep rewarding it for this exercise.
When outside keep walking your dog on an extending lead or long line to prevent it practising running away. Call your dog back frequently, take hold of the collar, reward and then let go of the collar.
Have lots of recall sessions practising off lead around the house, from person to person and in the garden, always ensuring that you reward your dog but now sometimes the reward can be verbal praise.
Now train your dog any time, any place and anywhere but dogs do not generalise very well and you will need to train in a variety of situations. Start building up the level of distractions and increase the value of reward as you increase the difficulty of the exercise. Don't forget that if your dog will not come back to you straight away at home or on lead you should not expect it to come back outside or off lead.
When you have 100% prompt response to your recall command off lead at home and on lead on a walk, with distractions, you may wish to consider letting your dog off lead in a safe area with no distractions but if he or she 'goes deaf' practise on lead for a while longer.
Finally, regardless of how well trained your dog is, do not let it off lead in an area that is not safe and never allow your dog to run at or otherwise approach other dogs or people without their permission especially if the other dog(s) is on lead as obviously this can cause problems for all parties even if your dog is friendly.
Liz Jakeman MBIPDT MAPDT (00934) DipCABT
Animal Warden
|
|
