My dog won't come when I call him?

Question

We've had our 3 year old westie since march. He was a difficult dog at first, and we've dealt with tummy troubles, bad ears left untreated and difficulties at night time with relative success, with help from an animal behaviourist we visited in May/ June time. He is really beginning to get fabulous in terms of his behaviour, we've worked hard with him as he didn't even respond to his name when we got him. There is just one thing that really bugs me; unless he is 2 metres away and sees my hand delve into the pocket where I keep the treats he will not come when he is called. He dallies and sniffs and plays for time until I'm left wondering if he's deaf or has forgotten where he was going. I think deafness is unlikely- he responds well to other commands, and usually gives us a brief glance when we first call him, but I'm getting downhearted with him and it's beginning to spoil our walks as he often ends up on a lead before necessary as I get frustrated with him. Any further advice

please, we use a clicker and treats on every walk and I only work by rewarding good behaviour, despite my frustration I only ever speak to him with patience and try to use a firm but calm tone which has really reaped rewards on his other 'disciplines'!

sorry its way too long

Answer 1

Wow! You sound like you have a done a great job with this dog and I love that you are using positive clicker training methods to train your dog. It will serve you well in the long run. The problem with "come" when you are out and there are lot of distractions is that sniffing a critters scent may be more exciting than playing with you. I had a very similar problem when my dog was young, and honestly I did not let him off lead until I was relatively sure his recall was consistent (o.k. that was after he chased a squirrel across the street and almost got hit by a car). Practice your recall in less distracting places first. If you have a long hallway have one person at each end of the hall and practice calling him between you of course rewarding him when he comes. Then gradually increase the distance in the house so you are in different rooms, when that is reliable try a small enclosed area outside. When working on recall when he is off leash attach a 15 foot lead to him that he can drag around with him and never be too far from the end. Now when you call him, call him once and then reel him in using the leash and then praise him like it was his idea. My little guy had to carry that lead around with him for several months, but now his recall is at least 98% reliable. Also for skills that are more difficult or challenging you may want to look into getting more interesting food rewards if you are using the same kind of treats for everything you a special liver treat or other highly rewarding food that they don't get any time except when working on recall. My second dog we used sardines and she mastered it in no time. Her recall is 99% reliable and I don't have to carry treats around with me anymore but this whole process was at least a 6-9 month process per dog. So don't give up and keep up the hard work.

Answer 2

The suggestion of an obedience class is an excellent one. Read here https://tr.im/nycqQ
It will help your dog learn to behave around other dogs, and help keep your training moving forward as you'll want to be prepared for the next class. Also, a good instructor can be a wonderful resource, someone to help you with any questions or concerns about your dog. Leash training can take a LOT of time and patience, depending upon the dog. I'm not sure what you mean by 'horrible on a leash' but my basic suggestion is that you take a lot of yummy treats with you on walks. When your dog behaves well on the leash (not pulling) praise her and give her treats. Change direction a lot so that she learns to pay attention to YOU and where you are going. It's also helpful to teach a "Watch Me" command such that whenever your dog looks at you you praise her and give her a treat. About chewing, yes a Kong is a great chew toy. Some dogs also like Nylabone brand bones. I suggest also teaching a "Leave It" command. You use this when she shows interest in chewing on something she shouldn't. Then immediately give her something she is allowed to chew, such as the Kong stuffed with somethig yummy. This same command will be helpful on walks when she wants to sniff or eat something she shouldn't. Again, when she does leave the item alone, be sure to give lots of praise. I would look into an obedience class right away. I think that you'll find that a good obedience class can help enormously! Good luck and enjoy your new dog.

Answer 3

Hiya, Sorry uve maybe tried this but... I trained a dog who, like yours was very responsive to nearly all commands... but recall was a nightmare, what I did was;
Take him out on an extendable lead and let him have a good sniff about/run about, then call him, dont 'bribe' him by letting him see your hand in the pocket, if he ignores your call, then call again, if he ignores again, give a littte tug on the lead- continue the 'come' (or whatever you use) command while gently pulling him in, when he gets to you take his collar and give him a treat. Repeat this several times...though watch he doesn't tire of it. Next time your out do it again, you will know when its time to do it off lead, as he is generally responsive I would think he'll pick it up, the little guy I trained got it in no time, another thing you can try is to call him, turn the other way, and keep shouting, flapping your arms about like a wally! you'll feel silly but you'll be exiting for him. The key is for you to be more exiting to him than everything else, (believe me those smells he's sniffing is exiting) Hope this is of some help to you, and well done for turning his life around, I believe you can do it, whatever way you choose to try x
PS, when training the recall, by calling him, taking his caller, giving the treat then letting him 'go' (though still on extendable) you are letting him see that coming to you is a good thing and does not always result on him being put on the lead. ...sorry huge answer! x

Answer 4

Well done you for your outstanding patience and determination with your dog, you must love him very much. And there lies the answer to your problem, you've spoilt him! Not your fault i know, i think everyone should spoil their little ones, but now yours is taking the biscuit! Literally ha ha. he knows full well that if he waits long enough, he'll get a treat or he'll be put back on the lead and i can bet my life, when he gets home, he'll get dinner and a cuddle and a warm bed? Little sod ha ha. Try this next time you're out, let him off the lead as usual, let him wwalk off and when he ignores you when you call him, walk off in the opposite direction! Make sure he's seen you turn tail, he'll not want to lose sight of you because he loves you first, and knows he's got a good 'un in you second. He'll soon come running after you when you ignore him, dogs hate to be ignored! Good luck and well done again.

Answer 5

Possibly you need to think about how you treat him at home. Perhaps he feels that he doesn't need to come to you when he is called because he is higher in the pack than you. As dogs are pack animals they expect humans to be too, so in his world, your a member of his pack, NOT his owner.

There are many ways to get your pet to learn that you are infact the boss. I'm not an expert on this, I've just seen it on the telly but here's a few things I remember.

> When you arrive home, DO NOT fuss your dog straight away. When you give in to his command for attention seeking you are admitting that he is more important than you. Sit down, have a cup of tea and wait to fuss him when you feel like you want to. Also, if you want to fuss or play with your dog, call it to you (in the home it can't be too far away) rather than going over to it. If it will not come to you in the house then try calling it several times, firstly gently, then with more authority, and then try pulling your dog by it's collar (or carrying it) to wherever you had been calling it from, and then fuss it.

> The clicker thing should work - it's a very sucessful way in training most dogs.

> I can't really remember anything else, but try not to lose heart. Have a look on the web and you might find something else. Or find a dog behavioural therapist and ask them some questions. :)

Answer 6

One thing that all dog trainers suggest is, when they do do what you want, hold the collar, and make a mega fuss of him, cuddles, strokes, tone of voice being really pleased and happy. As another member said, hold his collar also when giving him his treat. Some dogs are just like kids, they will not come until the very last second, its just playful behaviour to them, but really annoying to us. Try retraining him using one of those extending leads, that way you have the control until he starts to get it right with you. I wouldnt let it spoil your walks, if you stop taking him out then when he does get out he WILL misbehave. Start with the extending lead at quite short lengths, still carry on with the calling/training, and reward in the same ways as stated before, then when he comes to you, he has been praised and made a fuss of, then let the lead out a little bit more, then repeat again for good behaviour. Be patient, he will get the hang of it eventually, he may be just a little bit willful.

Answer 7

This used to happen with our Bullmastiff. Now i use a whistle and a really nice treat and it works every time! Never ever use the whistle to call the dog in from the garden or to get him to come to you for no reason (or he'll see it as punishment or pointless). Another good one if the whistle fails in an emergency situation is to blow the whistle or call the dogs name as soon as the dog looks starts running in the opposite direction, the dog will give chase to you! ps> sit in the living room, blow whistle every few minutes, give the dog a treat. This will show him that the whistle is for tasty treats and then try when you are out. Good luck xx

Answer 8

maybe use the clicker when you call him? and always give him a treat when he comes... eventually he will come without the treat.

a good idea is to cut or break treats up into smaller pieces, so that you can stretch them! The dog will be happy with whatever he receives.

i'm sure you know by now it takes consistency. i have a black lab who wont' even come for a treat! So i have to watch her like a hawk, because i'm scared she will bolt and run into traffic. So i'm working on the same thing.

Found a lot of websites by doing a yahoo search for HOW TO GET DOG TO COME WHEN I CALL HIM. and there is a lot more info than i listed below.

I wish you all the best.

Answer 9

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!

We have a gundog breed, and one of our dogs in particular has a severe case of selective deafness. If you call him and he wants to come he will do, if he doesn't he won't!

It is really frustrating when we are standing on the edge of a field waiting to go home with the other dogs sitting at heel and the other one is running around like a mad thing, always keeping one eye on us to see what he is doing. We don't punish him for not coming immediately as that would make the issue worse. What we now do is take some treat that is really really smelly with us - something like hot dog sausage or smelly cheese. Dogs 'taste' an awful lot with their nose and smelly treats are more exciting for them than bits of chicken or dog treats.

Now for the fun bit!

You say your dog will come if he sees you putting your hand in your pocket - let your dog off lead, let him get just a few yards away then call him back. He must come first time. If he does give him the smelly treat. Do this a few times, then let him wander further away. Call him back. The chances are he will now know that you have something much more interesting in your pocket, something he wants more than running around playing. If he comes first time, reward him. If he doesn't come first time send him away again to play. He MUST come first time to be rewarded. If he won't come to you when you need him to, never chase him - he will think its a game and may stay away from you on purpose, to instigate the game of chase he wants to play with you. Instead, walk away. He will soon come running!

We have been working on our dog with this for just a few days and have been seeing great results. The downside is one of the other dogs won't leave my side if she smells hot dog sausage in my pocket. Still, she does now walk lovely off the lead, lol.

Hope you have success, whichever method you try.

Answer 10

I would ween off the treat reward and try a good pat or good boy. That is the down fall of treats, you won't always have them.
Did you try house training having him come to you? Using the leash inside? I would keep him leashed up and not let him off of it til he learned how to come

. If your calling him more then once, and expecting him to come the first time your calling him, that can be a problem too. Keep the rule one dog one command in mind.

I would get off the treats, use verbal praise. Keep working with him, starting in the house, keep him on a leash. You will get there it just sounds like it will take some time.