Won't come when called

[LeslieMaxwell]

Sorry if this has been posted before,  I looked a few pages and didn't see anything. We have a 4 month old Bernese mountain puppy and is learning well on some commands except the 'come when called' command.  We have tried different things and nothing works from showing treats that we have for him if he comes in to getting a leash on him after he's been outside and did his business. We've waited a sufficient amount of time and even left the door open a little so he can come in when he's ready.  When we say the command to come, Rex sits down and just looks at us as if to say 'nope not going to listen, come and get me' and when you do try to go up to him he starts bouncing like you're going to start to play. Please help! It's starting to get very frustrating and no one wants to the him out because he won't come in when you know he's finished doing his business. We're open to all ideas.

[JMFS]

Hi Leslie,

Puppies Love Love Love to play chase, whether the chaser or the prey.  At 4 months old, personally, I would have him on leash 100% of the time outside for potty time. There is a "potty on command" lesson on the site that will help with this as well.  After he's done his business you can lead him inside and then lavish him with praise and treats when he enters the house.

That's the short and sweet version.  I'm a member like you, I've just been around for a while and Adrienne's helped me with umpteen questions.  :)

For yard exploration you can put him on a long lead so you still have control while he has a bit of freedom until his recall is more reliable.  I'll leave the elaboration on the details to the professional, but that's a quick look at possible solutions.

I can guarantee there are several threads about recall, each with its own special brand of "I'm not listening," from the pups.  The outside is just far more interesting than we humans which means we have a Lot to compete with.

[FrederykBlot]

Hello

 

I think most of us can hear you, come when called is a life saving one, but also one of the most difficult, and it will get harder with more distractions (ours won't do anything is there are other dogs around), and with the teenage phase... I'm sorry I'm not reassuring :)

 

However, one of the things that mattered the most for us was the choice of the treats : what didn't work with medium value ones, worked far better with high value treats
For our boy, those would be cooked chicken breast, dry liver, or dry smelly stuff like beef larynx / small edible chews, liver paste

 

I'm not sure it's relevant, but when you say "he won't come in when you know he's finished doing his business", it seems that you call him back just once he's done with his business, and that's why he doesn't like it. He'd rather enjoy a little outside time. Maybe letting him enjoy a little outside time may help

[JMFS]

Good points!  Esther used to hold #2 as long as possible to get sniffs in because she knew as soon as she did her business we were going back inside.  Now I let her sniff around for a bit after she does her thing.  Nights are different.  When it's bed time it's bed time and the potty trips are business only.

Not all treats are created equal - totally agree with Frederyk on that one.  Higher value (your chicken, liver, beef) are best reserved for the tougher things to train and recall is up there on that list.  It's probably the toughest for most dogs next to perhaps "leave" or "drop."  They're also among the most important so they get the super duper special treats.

I'm going to add, always praise him for coming.  Even if it took 10 minutes, refrain from negativity.  Say you're late to a friend's house and they greet you enthusiastically and was happy to see you vs arriving at a friend's house and they yell and gripe at you for being late.  Which friend are you going to want to visit again?

I'm about to purchase this: https://www.chewy.com/four-paws-cotton-web-training-dog/dp/52587  so Esther and Gertie can go out and we can work on recall.  If they don't respond I'll slowly reel them in then praise the heck out of them when they get to me.  That makes them Want to come see me.  I was told to cut the handle so it doesn't catch on things and to put knots about every 3' so I have something to grip.  Believe you me, rope burn from these lines Hurts and those knots are helpful in avoiding that.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi Leslie, 

Welcome to the forums, you have received excellent tips!

Awww, what a cutie! Bernies are adorable!

In a nutshell, with recalls, you want to start training in low distraction areas first, before moving outside, so start in the home first. Here is the basic guide in case you have missed it:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/recall/

In the meanwhile, when going potty outside, for now, keep him on leash, take him to his potty area and then once he goes, praise, reward with tasty treats, and then either snap off the leash or snap on a longer leash so that he can explore and play for some time.  This way you are providing a double whammy of reinforcement. Praise/treats for going potty and then some free time to play and explore the yard. 

Then for getting him to come inside, don't use your recall yet as he's likely not ready for that level of distraction. If you recall a dog too much with no response, you risk de-valuating your recall turning into something irrelevant when instead you want to power it up as much as possible. As Jennifer suggested, you can have him chase you inside, and you can work on making coming inside the home super duper fun and reinforcing.

Here are some general tips:

-Make the indoors fun. Many dogs find the outdoors very stimulating and entertaining. There are scents to explore, room to romp, and enticing sights such as birds, bugs and other stimuli. Dogs thrive on mental stimulation as well, and it's best if this comes from you, through games, interactive toys and fun training sessions. These indoor activities will help increase the bond between dog and owner and also create positive associations with being inside.

-Don't lure your dog inside with a treat and then quickly close the door behind him. If you show the treat to your dog to entice him to come inside, he'll likely take the treat and try running outside with it or he may panic the moment he eats the treat and sees you close the door. In this case, you may be stuck with a dog that will enter only when he sees a treat or you may be stuck with a dog who senses that the treat is a trap,  so next time he'll feel extra wary and reluctant to take it. That little bit of trust is soon gone.

Instead, throughout the day, when he's by the doorway, toss treats to the ground, sit nearby and let him eat them and don't close the door. Since you are sitting, he will know it's not your intent to close the door behind, and since the door is open he won't feel trapped. Do this several times so he learns that inside is a great place and not a trap. Day after day, your dog should come more and more inside to check for goodies.

-Break any bad associations. Dogs learn through associations and can chain events. If every day, you call your dog and then get frustrated and go grab your dog by the collar to pull him inside, he'll soon learn that when you call him and move towards him, you are about to grab that collar and then bring him inside. This can also trigger dogs to sit down as a calming signal or dogs who may start escaping from you because he knows what's about to happen. Instead, do something totally different. Snap the leash  on and feed him some treats and then go for a brief walk around the yard, scatter some treats to search for in a treasure hunt fashion, and then head inside and give him more treats. This way you break the negative associations and create new ones. From "every time my owner calls me and grabs me by the collar, he pulls me inside" it should turn into "every time my owner walks towards me, he puts the leash on, and we go on a fun walk and then once home  I get treats".

Here is a general guide on making collar grabs and leash attachments more pleasant: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/

-Make your home comfortable and rewarding. If certain noises startle your dog, do everything possible to reduce them or muffle them with some white noise. Keep your home at a comfortable temperature. If you have boisterous kids, make sure your pup has a quiet place to retreat where the kids won't bother him. No yelling, physical corrections or showing frustration. Provide toys, let your dog engage in fun brain games, provide toys and feed him his meals inside.

-Leave your recall at the door. If you call your pup to come inside and he doesn't listen, stop calling him and making the cue irrelevant or worse "poisoning the cue." We poison the cue when we cause a cue like a recall to become a predictor of negative things such as bath time, being grabbed by collar or just us us getting angry or frustrated. 

 Instead, do other things that will attract your dog inside and that your dog looks forward to do. Walk inside and go straight to the kitchen to unwrap a tasty goodie for him  or give access to toy he hasn't seen for some time (rotate toys so to keep the interest alive). Run inside if your dog loves chasing you. Get a flirt pole and entice him to chase it inside. Make sure though to let these activities last a bit so your dog won't go into thinking that these events are just another trap to get him inside. Keep him entertained or he'll soon want to go back out. Use the recall only once he responds to it reliably indoors and has "powered up" enough so he has learned that it's a predictor of good things. 

Imagine your recall as an investment.  Every time you call your dog and he comes to you, you are getting some money back. More and more successful recalls make your money start piling up. You are powering up your recall. Every time he doesn't listen though, you are losing some money, and if you cause some negative associations with it like by getting frustrated (dogs can be very sensitive to our moods) and/or  grabbing him by the collar, you are losing piles of money and that creates setbacks. 

-Don't stick by the doorway. The door way will remind him of going back outside and he'll be asking out soon. Instead take him to a central room where he can temporarily forget all about the outdoors with all its enticing sights and smells. Again, keep him entertained and stimulated.

-After your pup goes potty, let him spend some quality time outside with you. Keep a treat pouch attached to your belt and reward your pup when he comes near you. These voluntary check-ins, increase your bond with your pup and teaches your dog to stick by your side and bond with you more. Also, by spending some more time outdoors, the outdoors becomes less salient so when you take him inside he should have satiated some of his desire to explore. So try to strategically take him inside when he starts acting a bit bored of being out maybe even a bit thirsty. If you take him inside right when he's exploring and having fun, the yard will become more intriguing. That's after all the concept behind making training sessions super fun. We stop the training session when the dog is having fun so we build up more anticipation and eagerness in being trained. 

-Once your pup is doing better, put going inside on cue and make it a fun, super duper happy event. When you are out with your dog, say something like "let's go inside!" in a happy, enthusiastic tone of voice to build up some anticipation and then let a rainfall of treats and kibble fall to the ground as you close the door. He should go hunting down all these goodies and then you can entice him to follow you to play some fun indoor games. 

[FrederykBlot]

I'm going to add, always praise him for coming.  Even if it took 10 minutes, refrain from negativity.  Say you're late to a friend's house and they greet you enthusiastically and was happy to see you vs arriving at a friend's house and they yell and gripe at you for being late.  Which friend are you going to want to visit again?

Cannot agree more on this one, even if it's difficult, and specially for us during the teenage phase : last experience : we were walking, and he was with a doggie friend, we let them loose to play fully in a field, which is next to the forest... the 2 rascals started to play next to us normally and at some point, they decided having an adventure in the forest was much more fun... they fled like bullets deep in the forest... and took almost half an hour to come back... Emotional roller coaster. Just pissed at first, then annoyed, then angry, then afraid something happened, then sad because we thought of the end... 

And then they came back to us, just happy... I would have killed him on the spot for the emotional ride, and the total absence of obedience... but we praised and rewarded the coming back, otherwise he would quickly think "when I come back I get grounded / scholded".... punishment was ending the walk on short leash while he's usually on long leash

 

[JMFS]

How terrifying that must have been!  Like, at what point do you go home to make posters instead of calling and calling and calling . . .?  So glad they came back!

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Cannot agree more on this one, even if it's difficult, and specially for us during the teenage phase : last experience : we were walking, and he was with a doggie friend, we let them loose to play fully in a field, which is next to the forest... the 2 rascals started to play next to us normally and at some point, they decided having an adventure in the forest was much more fun... they fled like bullets deep in the forest... and took almost half an hour to come back... Emotional roller coaster. Just pissed at first, then annoyed, then angry, then afraid something happened, then sad because we thought of the end... 

And then they came back to us, just happy... I would have killed him on the spot for the emotional ride, and the total absence of obedience... but we praised and rewarded the coming back, otherwise he would quickly think "when I come back I get grounded / scholded".... punishment was ending the walk on short leash while he's usually on long leash.

Kudos to you for keeping your cool in such a worrisome, intense situation! Yes, it's so important never to show frustration when dogs are approaching and coming back to us. This can be a recall's biggest killer, along with calling dogs for unpleasant things like baths or nail trims (if dogs hate them) or calling a dog at the park, then snapping the leash on to make all the fun end. 

The tough part is that even if we *try* to hide our feelings, dog can still perceive/read our body language/tension so we may something in words, when our bodies say something totally opposite. So we need to be coherent, connecting brain and body, and the best way is to really feel the joy and celebrating the return with no hard feelings.