Why do people train their dogs not to come when called without even realizing it's their fault and not the dog

Question

The #1 training problem I have seen throughout my life with any breed or mutt dog is failure to come when called. The owners involved almost always say something like "my dog is stupid and purposely doesnt come when I call because he likes to get revenge" or "my dog doesnt listen to me because he is bad and likes to run away".... Meanwhile they dont even realize that they themselves actually trained the dog not to come when called. They never ask Why doesnt my dog come when I call him/her, they assume it is because the dog is stupid, vengeful, or just likes to ignore them. The fact is in 99.99% of these cases the owner has caused and continues to reinforce the behaviour... usually it all goes back to the original training. Example... a dog escapes the yard, the owner calls the dog and then when the dog comes, the owner punishes the dog for running away in the first place. Doesnt matter what kind of punishment, yelling, hitting, squirting, restraining(leash, crate, chain) its all

negative to the dog. The dog then associates negative consequences with coming when called, and learns to avoid coming when called because it results in punishment. The dog doesnt understand that it is being punished for running away or not coming right away when called, the dog thinks he/she getting punished for coming when called. Then to make it even worse the owner continues to punish the dog whenever it does finally come back home after running away or whatever and the owner actually reinforces the training to not come when called. Its illogical that humans cant see their own fallacy.... I mean would you come to someone if everytime you did they pinched you or hit you?? Its stupid, but I have seen it so many times and when I explain that a dog should be rewarded when he comes to your call no matter what, people still dont get it I literally have to say "come here and when they do I pinch them and then I say come here again and they realize they dont want to because they might get

pinched... finally a light comes on and they understand. But why do people do this in the first place? What happened to logic and common sense?

Noota, my premise is not flawed as I am talking about the dogs I have encountered in my lifetime with the problem. In all cases I saw the dog being trained not to come by negative reinforcement. Yes some dogs dont come because they dont take their owners seriously as the boss but the dogs I am speaking of do it because of negative consequences to coming when called.

Answer 1

Because people anthropomorphize & refuse to believe a dog does NOT think like a human. They never understand that punishing the dog when it finally comes to them is wrong. I hear this over & over in basic obedience classes, but by that time the owner has already made the dog avoid them when it gets loose, and then they have to work extra hard to undo the damage THEY caused. I wish someone would come up with pre-ownership dog classes for things just like this - and to inform people so they stop buying from backyard breeders & 'puppy mill outlets' - pet stores & internet websites.

Wouldn't THAT be something GREAT?

Answer 2

I understand what you are saying. It's natural to get annoyed with a dog but it does not help in the long run. It's hard though to stay calm when your dog has done something annoying - Especially when it could have hurt the dog. My Akita bolted on me twice and both times he ran out into a busy road.
I have learnt that the best way to get a dog to come back is to actually run in the other direction to dog and make a game out of it. All dogs like to play and chase and it tricks the dog into running after you thinking it's a game. Also giving good treats when outside helps like chicken or cheese. Dogs come to you for the treats alone. That said - Sometimes a lesson has to be learnt even by us humans. Were not all perfect, and I'm sure you have made mistakes aswell?

Answer 3

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Answer 4

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Answer 5

Your premise is flawed, the majority of the time, a dog doesn't respond because it doesn't have to. In these cases the dog is in the dominant position in the relationship. Do you suppose a king would come if a peasant called?

Most people let their dogs rule them.

The second most common reason is that the dog lacks exercise and is so wound up there are behaviour issues. Think of it as a child with ADHD and no outlet, help or medication, how well does that child listen.

If it was as you said, negative reinforcement, the dog would also not come when in the house, and most do.

As a side note, I wish people would stop being prejudice about pet stores. I work for one and our puppies come with full medical care, some training (depending on age), socialization with people, children and cats and are registrable if people choose to pay for that. To continue to cast down every pet store because SOME are not responsible is the exact same as saying "Oh, there is a black guy in jail somewhere, all black guys are criminals." NOT acceptable.

Answer 6

Because it seems as though most humans lack common sense these days.

The way I like to put it so people actually get the point is; If I called you over to me and then yelled, hit, kicked, locked you up or whatever, would you think twice about coming the next time I called you? Dam right you would, and your dog does too.

Answer 7

And also the people that will keep taking their dog offlead when they know he runs away, like maybe *this* time, he won't. Each time the dog goes running amok it is a reinforcement for running away, much better than a pat on the head.

Answer 8

I agree. Dogs should not be punished for coming back when they are called, by then they have forgotten if they had even done anything wrong. My 16 weeks old Lab comes everytime we call her name because we worked with her to understand to do so and did it by positive reinforcement, not punishing for not coming when called.

Answer 9

i totaly agree with you 100%

Answer 10

Get a blog. This is not a question.