The Most Important Command You Need to Teach Your Dog

This post is devoted to the most important command you will ever teach your dog. This is one of the most neglected commands as well because it can be difficult to teach to a dog. The command of course, is the "Come" command. The importance of the "Come" command is because you will often use it in situations where your dog's performance of the command can mean the difference between life and death. If you live in an urban area and your dog escapes from the yard, they can easily be killed by a car, lost and even end up in the pound. In a rural area they can also be killed and face a greater temptation to run over open ground.

So here's the basic ground rules for teaching this command.
Rule #1
Never Never Never Never use your dog name to discipline the dog or even use their name in a negative way. Calling a dog to you to displine him cause the dog to associate his name with punishment. So the next time you call his name instead of eagerly coming to you, he shys away. This is a natural thing for people to want to do.

"But I want to displine him. He ate my loafers/chewed the paper/peed on the rug" you might say.

Well unless you catch him in the act, it's really too late to discipline him. Even the most intelligent of dogs only has a ten second association period. That means they can really only remember the last ten seconds in association with an action on their part. So anything outside that window, they are unable to associate it with either positive or negative reinforcement.

"But he knows he did something wrong. His tail is between his legs and he won't make eye contact" you might say.

No, he's not feeling guilt. He's really reacting to your tone of voice and body language. Remember that dogs have nearly 135,000 years of living with humans. They have gotten very adapt at reading humans, mimicing emotions and responding to humans. We are after all their meal ticket. The goal is to make sure in all training that the dog only associates positive things with their name.

Correcting a dog while he is doing something he shouldn't is easy enough. A deep throated "Ungh Ungh" should do it. This happened this morning with my large Tibtan Mastiff male. We purchased a rug for the living room. It has tassels on the end of it which are appealing to any dog for chewing and tearing. As Bodhi pounced on the tassel and began to tear, I issued a deep throated "Ungh Ungh." He looked up, clearly non plussed that I had declare the rug off limits. He however stopped and decided to pounce on a chew on the rug instead. Simply by looking at Bodhi and telling "Ungh Ungh," he learned the rug was off limits. I looked at him while making the sound so the other dogs and he knew that he was the one being corrected (There were four other dogs in the room at the time.)

With this basic ground rule in mind, grab the treats. Grab the dog. Grab someone else to help (make sure this person has the equally tasty treats). Head for a niced quiet area that is enclosed. Let him run loose. This can be your own back yard but the dog needs to be alone with no other canine companions around. With the treats in hand, call your dog's name with the command "Come." Initially the command will not mean anything to dog. When he comes trotting up. Praise him generously, and treat him.

Now it's your partner's turn. Have them call your dog's name with the command, "Come." It may help if you hide your treats so that your dog doesn't simply beg from you. ;-)

When the dog arrives at your partner, lavish praise and treats should flow. Repeat this exercise until the dog is reliably coming to you in your enclosed area.
Gradually increase the distance so that he is coming the full length of the yard.

The next step is to make a game of it. If there is a place in the yard where you can "hide," so that you are out of your dog's line of site, do so and then call him. Make sure when he "finds" you that lavish praise and treats follow. You can also play this game in the house when you are in different rooms. Clearly if you have a large dog, this might be problematic! This serves to reinforce the "Come" command and adds a little enjoyment for the dog.

Over time try different enclosed environments and different distractions for this command. You need to make sure the dog is still able to execute this command while distracted, smelling someone else's pee, or running loose. Running loose is really the situation we are trying to avoid. The instructions I have given here will work with most dogs. Most dogs are naturally pack directed and want to be near you. If the dog is loose, do NOT chase after it screaming. You need to remain calm. When my Tibetan Mastiff male has gotten loose, I have often headed in the opposite direction calling his name. Most of the time he has turned around and joined me for a "walk," allowing me to leash him.

There are certain dogs for whom these instructions will not work. Greyhounds are notorious runners once they see open terrain. Certain primitive breeds such as my beloved Tibetan Mastiff will simply ignore the food and continue on their merry way if in a sufficiently interesting environment.

For my Bodhi I have carried steak wth me while training on off leash. Instead of coming to me, he simply settles for simply remaining in visual range of me. He has no interest in food, no matter how good. So this means a lot of work on my part in an enclosed environment where he is interested in treats. I am still working with him on it. For Bodhi's off leash walks I make sure he is the only dog unleashed with me. The natural dog reaction is to stay in a pack no matter how small. By adding another dog off leash you can reinforce their tendency to run.

Off leash walking is a often a difficult thing to do as it requires you to be set the direction. When I initially trained my dogs in off leash walking, I did so in the trails in the San Gabriel mountains above Pasadena. This limited the area the dog could run (the trails are too steep) and when the dog stopped to smell something, I continued walking. He would quickly catch up with me and stay near me. I will continue working with him. For my other dogs (including my TM female) I have found the above method quite effective.