Come when Called-Sit

Teaching your dog to 

Come when Called and Sit

One of the most asked questions in dog training is;

how do I train my dog to come?

This is one of the most important actions your dog should learn.

Calling your dog to you may save your dog's life if they are running into traffic.


You will never be as fast as your dog on foot so forget about chasing a dog, other then to keep them in sight or out of harm's way by stopping the cars.

If there's no traffic or a harmful situation in the nearby area and your dog will not come to you, turn around with your back to your dog and walk away calling your dog to go "along" with you.

You are not telling the dog to come to you but to go along with you.

If you make this really interesting like "oh let's see this" and stop to pick at something on the ground, throw a leaf or two, toss some gravel in the air, or dance around a little. You can even run a few steps to make your dog wonder what you are doing and come to see.

Gotcha kido! 

Do NOT then lead your dog away like you are mad at them.

Make sure your dog knows how happy you are that they joined you in seeing what was going on and they'll be more excited to come see next time, lots of petting and good dog praise.

When you feed your dog always make sure to incorporate the word "come" with the dog’s name. If they sit near by, take them out of the room before and until you have the food ready then bring the dog back in by saying , "come”,  using their name, ” lets eat".

Another time to reinforce come is when the dog is running around the yard, practice calling them to you in a playful, encouraging way. Squat down at first so you are at the dog’s level and not as threatening.

Praise and pet, praise, praise.

Always make come the most enjoyable experience your dog has with you and they'll look forward to coming to you.

Never ever, ever call a dog to you and punish them.

Remember 

If a dog is doing something bad, like chewing a sock or getting into the trash, one of the best ways to stop them is to get their toy and say "hey, look what I have."

Play with their toy and see how long they stay with your sock.

Doggie will want the toy you have because you make what you are doing more fun the what they are doing.

Put your sock away, give them their toy instead and play a little with them to show them this makes you happy.

Keep in mind the floor is the dog's world.

You live above them other then your feet, most everything on the floor they may think of as their own until they learn what belongs to you.

Your dog might think you left that sock there just for him and wasn't that nice of you.

He'll wonder how come you came in and all of a sudden yelled at him.

Why did you take his sock away, some friend you are.

Always make come the best thing your dog can do for you and they will come every time when they are called.

To teach your dog to come while using a leash when you are walking by you suddenly stepping backwards quickly with your right leg first if your dog is on your left side.

Continue stepping backwards as you call your dog to come to you. At first your dog will be surprised because you were just walking next to them and now your gone, stepping backwards.

This is good because it helps your dog learn you might move so they should pay attention. As you step backwards and call your dog, you will gently use the leash and praise to call your dog to sit in front of you as you stop about 10 paces back.

When you stop, gently lead your dog to stop in front of you and ask them to sit.

This can be done any time you have space while walking your dog. Do this often and soon your dog will be coming to you when they are called on and off leash to sit in front of you.

Always praise, praise and praise.

Always say your dogs name before you use a command or ask them to do anything except stay or wait.

All other commands should begin with your dog's name so they know you are talking to them and not the other dog or person in the room.

A Trick for a Sit

We have all heard of using pressure points in the body to relieve pain. This dog training trick uses pressure points instead of force to teach a dog to sit.

With your dog standing beside you rub your hand down the top line of his back, all the way from his shoulders to his tail.

Do it again and feel where the dog's hips join the body.

Now rub your dog's back starting before the hips to the tail, feel where the two bones are that stick up from the hips?

These bones will be well before the tail and behind the stomach on the overweight guys and girls.

Look after you feel and you should be able to see the 2 bones at the top of the hips on most dogs.

Using your free hand with your thumb and middle finger...place your hand on the bone area with the thumb Behind one bone and the middle finger Behind the other bone.

Then press your fingers gently down and a little bit together then see what happens.

There are 2 pressure points right there behind those two hip bones on the dog's back.

This is actually safer on the kidneys of dogs then pressing or pushing the dog down to a sitting position.

Especially if you are working with an older dog.

With large strong dogs and the well padded dogs you may have to use more pressure for them to respond. On small breeds, do not push them down at all, just pinch gently but firm enough to feel.

Now, if you praise the dog right away for sitting when you pinch the pressure point, the dog will be sitting in no time.

If you do not praise the dog, and get them sitting without having to use the pressure point often they will learn to wiggle out from under you and get away from sitting.

Your fault not your dog’s; do not get mad at them.

Timing is everything in dog training.

Have fun, lots of praise, pet them once they are in the sit position and not unless they are.

Coming after the next Obedience posts; how to teach your family dog to alert you to fire and emergencies at home.