Here Boy!

"How come my dog won't come when I call him?" This is a common question and probably tops the list of what people want their dogs to do. Come when I call. This is an easy thing to teach. The reason most dogs won't come is because their owners break the one rule that would give them a dog that comes when he is called.

The rule is always praise him whenever he approaches you and never, never, never correct him if he comes when you call. I don't care if he swallowed the remote control right in the middle of the super bowl and the channels keep changing ever time he sits down. You're soooo mad, "Max come here!" he does and you correct him. WRONG! You may think he understands that you are correcting him for eating the remote, not so. Instead he thinks it was for coming to you that he got punished. Surely not what you intended.

Instead, call him to you calmly and say "good boy", play with him a little and put him in his crate preferably out of the range of the TV. At the next commercial clean up the mess or extract the remote and he won't associate anything unpleasant with coming when called. To teach a pup his name and to come when he hears it, play this game with him and your family or friends. Give each person a bunch of treats (cooked liver works great) then each one take turns calling the pup. When he comes give him a treat. He will love this game and learn that great things happen when he comes when called. As time goes on you can substitute his favorite toy or play for the food treat.