Training Your Dog to Come when Called

Training should start inside or within an enclosed area. Attach a long (20-40 feet), light weight, strong, nylon line to your dogs collar. Let your dog explore on their own for a few minutes, then kneel down and call your dog in a happy voice. If they don't move towards you, gently tug on the leash, and call once more, praising as they come towards you. When your dog gets to you, give lots of praise and a small treat as rewards.

Repeat the exercise two or three times, keeping the session to 10-15 minutes; you don't want to bore your dog and have them focus on other things in preference to you. Practice a couple of times a day, and also periodically just call your dog and reward them when they come to you.

When you have a reliable recall (recall is another term for "come"), try to distract your dog. Distractions should include any situation your dog would come across, for example traffic driving by, children playing, and loud noises. Remember to keep your dog on the nylon line so you can get their attention with a small pull if necessary.

Once your dog comes reliably every time even with distractions, it is time to train off leash. First go back to your enclosed area. Let your dog off lead and let them play, sniff the area for for a few minutes before calling to them. If your dog doesn't come, then try calling them as you run away from them in the opposite direction, or bring out a high value item such as a favorite toy. Even if it takes several minutes for them to get to you, praise your dog when they finally do. Here your dog does not understand the command fully, so you should go back to basics, put them back on the nylon line and restart training from the beginning.

Remember, training your dog to come when called should always be a positive experience, and mean that something good will happen, even if the dog is misbehaving. If you punish your dog after they have come to you they will quickly learn that returning to you results in an unpleasant experience.