how can I train my Dog to not run away and come to me when I call?

Question

My dog got out of the house yesterday and it was terrible. How can I get her to come back inwhen I call without having to chase her.

She is a 6 month old German Shephard

Answer 1

Find a treat that she absolutely loves. Go to an enclosed area, such as a fenced back yard. Let her loose and call her to you, using whatever word you want to use for this command, (ie. COME) It make a take awhile for her to return to you, but when she does, treat right away and praise, praise, praise.

Do this over and over until she "gets" that when she come's to you on command she gets a yummy treat. It may take awhile, so be patient, but German Sheppards are generally very intelligent dogs who catch on fast.

When she will do this consistently, start phasing out the food treat, for just praise.

It is a good practice to do this in training sessions periodically even after she "gets it", to make sure, she will always come back to you when you call.

Never call her to you using this command, for anything negative. For example, if she has done something wrong, and you want to punish or scold her, that is not the time to use the "come" command. That way, "come" is associated with only positive experiences, ensuring that she will come when called.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

You need overall obedience training and a behavior called "recall." For recall you associate a word (say banana) with a handful of delicious treats (chicken, ham, cheese, cooked pasta, hotdogs), the dog will "recall" that every time you say banana, she gets a handful of treats and lots of praise. This only works with food motivated dogs. You must practice with two people. Person A is the handler and holds the dog, Person B is the caller. The handler holds the dog on a leash in your front yard. The caller (you) walks up to the dog shows them all the goodies he has in his hands, then turns around, runs away a few meters, turns towards the dogs, crouches down and in a super happy way yells the dog's name and the recall command, "banana." The dog at this point should be dying to come towards you, the handler then runs with the dog towards the caller and the caller gives the dogs all these treats while happily praising the dog in a higher pitched voice. If the dog isn't dying to to get to you during the first practice run, she may at the second or third. A few rules about recall. Never ask your dog to come to you to punish it. This isn't incentive for the dog to come to you again. When the dog runs away, don't angrily tell it to come back, again, this is no incentive for the dog to come to you. Never practice recall if you don't have the yummy treats to back it up. Consistency is key, so you don't have to use the word banana = ) but you do have to pick a word and stick with it. Don't use the word "come" since that one has been tainted already, you have to use a new word she doesn't often hear. Do not use recall unless its an emergency, like the dog getting out. It's not for when you just want the dog to come to you. You have to put an end to this escaping business, if you use recall everyday or often, even the appeal of recall will mean nothing to your dog and it'll go away. Recall has to be seen as an opportunity your dog won't want to miss. Practice recall every day at least 4 times a day until you are absolutely positive she relates the word banana with a handful of treats. Then practice it once or twice a week for the rest of the dog's life. Obedience training will help reinforce recall and will teach you a bit more about your dog's behavior. Your local PETCO or Petsmart will do fine. Whatever you do, don't buy into this whole "pack leader, dominance" thing. If you want to know why, I'll be glad to give you two tons of scientific information including some from the father of pack theory himself, David Mech. Bottom line is before training the dog, you need to secure the area by putting up a fence, a dog run or putting down a stake found at your local PETCO. Good luck.

Answer 3

I would seriously consider taking up some basic obedience classes first and foremost. There's nothing that beats a good trainer to help you learn how to train your dog properly.

But here is what we learned in our training class on how to teach your dog to "come".

Things you need:
1-Soft treats, really good treats, like beef cooked hotdogs cut into small pieces... only to be used for training purposes and the cooking increases their smell for the dog.
2- A really happy friendly, can't wait to see you, voice! You always have to be happy about it, even if you're mad at your dog and you should NEVER call your dog for the purpose of discipline as your dog will decide coming to you when called has a negative result.
3- A friend or family member to help you the first day.

How...
1- Okay, you start in a large room in your home. You and a friend/family member are both armed with hot dog treats, cut up small, as a little treat goes a long way.
2- When puppy is busy doing something, say her name and the command "come" following. The very second puppy looks at you say "YES". All of this done in a happy voice. Don't use the treat to lure the puppy either, keep them hidden, in hand or pocket, until the appropriate time to reward.
3- When puppy gets to you, praise excitedly and give a treat.
4- Then have your helper do exactly the same thing for your puppy.
5- Repeat several times in one session, maybe a 10 minute session at most, but try to do a session 2-3 times each day.

Basically, it's playing Ping Pong Puppy and you are teaching your pup that coming, when called gets a yummy reward and lots of praise.

Once your puppy "gets this" then do it by yourself randomly thru the day. Even try it when your puppy is in a different room. Once you have this down, take your training outside to an enclosed area and work on it some more. You may have to step up the treats to something like cooked cubed chicken, but remember, if your dog runs off in front of a car, you want her to turn on a dime to come back to you and what you reward with will greatly help her to want to.

Eventually, you will be able to phase out the treats, but don't do this for a while. You really want the command set in good into puppy's head. My hubby stopped after 2 weeks and our puppy regressed and we had to start over again.

A proper obedience class will have some benefits for you and puppy, tho. The big one is getting puppy used to the distraction factor, which will be hard to do at home. In a class, you work your puppy with distractions and get her used to listening to you in a distracting environment.

Good luck, hope this helps!

Answer 4

it is basic obedience i use a very long leash like a lunge line for a horse and lots of treats,take your dog out on this long line in and open area where there are plenty of good things to smell and catch her attention,let her go to the end of the line,and call her back,give her a treat and a good petting and lots of good girls and let her go to the end of the line again,do this over and over for about half hour a day till you think she has gotten the concept of coming when called then try her off leash in a very large safe enclosed area like a fenced in dog park,when you first start the lessons she may not come back the first few times she is called she may just ignore you completely give the line a bit of a jerk,not so hard it hurts her of course but just to get her attention and call her again,if she ignores you still,reel her in and call her at the same time when she gets to you give her her treats and such,Shepards are amazingly smart dogs she will catch on after a couple lessons,another good thing to do is to have her sit each time she comes to you it is good manners and helps with the jumping up on people

Answer 5

Put her in an obedience class. Keep her on a leash when she is in the house and if she tries to get out, pull the leash and say NO. Repetition will help accomplish this training. They are very intelligent dogs and YOU have to be the pack leader, not her.
Good luck.

Answer 6

Call Caesar, The Dog Whisperer!

Answer 7

First, I would suggest enrolling both of you in an obedience class.

You'll learn the answer to your problem is in training her to "come" on command. First she needs to understand "sit" and "stay". Then, with a long lead, you can get her to "stay", then back up while holding the lead, and command her to "come". Have a treat to reward her when she does, and gently pull her towards you using the lead to let her know what you want.

Good luck.

Answer 8

Ill tell you what we did .You get a long rope and put it on her Collier and take her for a walk.When she get out in front of you you call her and gave the rope a little pull . Do this as mean times it take her to get the idea that she so to come to you when you call her. Done this mean times to dogs and it dose work and it don't hurt them.

Answer 9

Hiya
Just keep some treats with you and train her it the house first before you take her out. Worked for my dog

Answer 10

I'm no expert but I've noticed that physical punishment has to be given, and strongly, for some dogs to get the understanding of what is expected of them. I'm a dog lover, so don't misunderstand me. I said strong punishment, not abuse!