Dog Training in New York City: Coming When Called, 101
3 Fun Exercises to Get Your Dog to Come When Called, No Matter What!
Chase Me, Dance With Me, & Hide-and-Seek
"I'm Coming!"
The most important behavior you can teach your dog is to come when called, no matter what. This means that even when the dog is actively running away from you, toward something really interesting, like a squirrel or another dog he likes, your dog will turn on a dime and come running back even harder and faster than before.
But how do you achieve that goal?
Attraction & Resistance
Before we get into the 3 exercises that will lay the groundwork for getting your dog to come, no matter what, it’s important to realize that one of the most important innovations Kevin Behan made when he developed Natural Dog Training is that all social behavior in dogs is a product of either attraction or resistance.
Social attraction is where a dog comes running to the door when you come home or pulls you happily toward the dog run. The cool thing about seeing dogs from this perspective is that you’re always able to tell how a dog is feeling at any given moment. Dogs who have strong feelings of attraction will move in the straightest line possible toward something or someone. If they have any resistance, they will either move away from something or someone, or move toward them but in a more curvilinear fashion.
This is illustrated clearly in the behaviors of 2 dogs I worked with years ago. Their owner was studying to become a dog trainer with me. He had a friend who could get my student's dogs to come to him when they were in Central Park by using a threatening, dominant tone of voice. And while the dogs were clearly unhappy about coming toward this person, they almost always did come to him, though their demeanor and body language (heads and tails down) was anything but happy. And it took a lot of yelling and threatening them with physical violence before they would "obey." Plus it took forever (seemingly) before they finally came all the way back.
Once I taught my student about social attraction and social resistance, and gave him some fun training games to play with his dogs, whenever he called they would stop whatever they were doing and come running back to him, heads and tails held high, no fear no resistance. (It didn't hurt that he also stopped hanging out with that particular friend, at least when he was in the park with his dogs.)
This shows that any form of dominance, threatening the dog, punishing or scolding the dog will always have undesired negative consequences. This is one reason I tell my clients to never scold, threaten or punish their puppies for anything. And it isn't just puppies. No dog should be trained through overt punishment or threats. It will always increase a dog's feelings of social resistance while inhibiting his natural feelings of social attraction.
Fostering social attraction is the most fundamental and most important tool for training your dog to do anything, especially to come when called, no matter what.
Chase Me
The best place to start increasing your dog's social attraction is to play "Chase Me!" when your dog is still a puppy.
Tease your pup with a toy, making it move like a wounded bird, urging the pup to bite it, then run away while praising your pup in a high, silly voice. The chase should last only about 5 - 10 seconds before you either let your puppy grab the toy and play a brief game of tug with you (where you let her win), or throw it for her to chase and, hopefully, bring back to you for another game. If she doesn't bring the toy back it means she's still feeling some social resistance toward you, so you need to get low to the ground. In fact, whenever I do this exercise with dogs I'll either invite them to jump up on me to grab the toy, or I'll fall onto the ground and let them jump on top of me while biting the toy.
This will actually accomplish two goals. It will increase your dog's feelings of social attraction to you (and reduce his feelings of social resistance) and, as a result, it will make you a more interesting play partner than other dogs.
Dance With Me
This is a simple game where you invite your dog to jump up to one knee, using a treat or a toy as an inducement. Then, while the dog is up on her back legs, using you as a balancing point, you begin walking backwards, keeping the treat or toy under her nose.
Initially, the dog will only be able to sustain this kind of contact for a few feet. The goal is to keep increasing the distance until you can get her to stay up for about ten yards or so.
Then play tug-of-war and fetch/tug, where you occasionally win, and then throw the tug toy for her to chase, and she brings it back to you.
By the way, any time a dog doesn't bring back the toy, it indicates that she has more resistance than attraction. So you either need to get low to the ground or you need to go back and do some more "Chase Me" games.
Hide and Seek
When your pup's adult teeth start coming in, she will go through an "indpendence phase," where she gradually becomes less and interested in listening and less focused on you in general. I liken this to a circus tent. In the beginning the pup gravitates toward the center pole (that's you). Then as she becomes more and more independent she'll start to make bigger and wider circles around that pole. Some breeds will even head for the tent's exit!
Take your puppy for a walk in the park, and let her get ahead of you. Initially she'll keep looking back to see if you're still behind her. Over a period of several days or so, you'll see her start to reference you less and less, and move further and further ahead.
When that happens, hide behind a tree or boulder (there are lots of boulders in Central Park). Wait for her to turn around to reference you. When she doesn't see you, she'll become a bit concerned and start scanning the park to find you. Let her look for you for a few seconds, then jump out from your hiding place, make a loud, happy sound, like "Whoo - hoo!" and run away, encouraging her to chase you. If necessary, pick up a stick or show her a treat or a toy as you run away.
When she gets to you, invite her to jump up for a quick game of tug and/or fetch.
As you continue this game over the course of a few weeks, you'll find that your dog has stopped moving toward the tent's exit and stays much closer to the center pole (that's you)!
Coming When Called at the Dog Run
Whenever you take your dog to the dog run, always bring along some treats and the squeaker from a squeaky toy. Always pay close attention to your dog. When she’s not interacting with other dogs, or not sniffing around, and seems to need something to do, give a loud whistle, or clap your hands, or squeak the squeaker. (If I’m in a big dog run I’ll sometimes use an actual ref’s whistle.)
When she looks at you, show her the treat. BUT DON’T CALL HER TO YOU YET! Wait until she starts running toward you. Then, while she’s already in the process of coming, say “Rosie, come!” in an excited voice. Then reward her with the treat and a lot of praise.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to jump up and act happy and get her to chase you around a little too. This will probably excite not only your dog but several other dogs in the vicinity, so let things settle down a little, and the dogs will start playing again. Wait until there’s another lull in the action, and repeat.
Do this every time you go to the dog run, and within a few weeks, you’ll have a dog who loves running back to you whenever you call!
Another cool trick is to play a modified version of “hide and seek.” When your dog isn’t paying attention to you, go stand or sit somewhere else. Then, when she looks back to where you were and can’t see you, she’ll suddenly have a strong desire to find you. When she does, wave a treat and run away. She’ll come flying toward you as fast as she can. As she does, say, “Rosie, come!” in an excited voice, then reward her with the treat and a little bit of chase. (Most dog runs frown on people getting dogs to chase them around like this, so you have to keep it to minimum.)
After a few days of doing these exercises, your dog will automatically start looking for you whenever there’s a lull in the action. She’ll even start coming back to check in with you from time to time. It’s vitally important during this stage, that every time she comes back to you on her own, without any direction, that you praise her and either give her a tasty treat or play a bit of tug, if possible.
For the Dog Who Won't Leave the Dog Run
One other important bit of advice, if your dog is in the habit of running away when it’s time to leave the run and go home, never stand there with the leash in your hand and call her! Have the leash hidden, and put it on your dog while she’s distracted by eating a treat out of your hand. Another good tip: after you leash her up, take her for a brisk walk, a game of chase and tug, while running or jogging around or near the dog run. Then take her back inside and let her loose again.
If your dog has as much fun playing with you as she does with the other dogs, you may find that when you get back inside the dog run she’ll actually hang around you for a while before she finally runs off and throws himself into the tumble of dogs waiting for her.
The really cool thing is, after just a few weeks of playing with her like this, you can simply show her the leash and she’ll come running over to be leashed up. You won't need to keep doing this every day, either. Nor will you have to keep giving her treats every time she comes to you.
So those are the three exercises that will help you start on the road to getting your dog to come when called, no matter what. Most of these exercises can be found in Kevin Behan's book Natural Dog Training.
Lee Charles Kelley
"Life Is an Adventure--Where Will Your Dog Take You?"
