Sounds easy, right? Teaching your dog how to come on command is an easy trick that will be very useful for you. A well-trained dog will stop ANYTHING and come to you when you call.
One note: when you are first teaching this trick, don’t tell your dog to come to you for an unpleasant reason. This will teach him to associate the command with something bad and can make him hesitant to come to you at all. Keep things positive when you are first teaching this trick!
- Stand a short distance away from your dog with a special treat or a favorite toy in your hand.
- Call your dog’s name.
- As he starts to walk towards you, say COME (or whatever phrase you have decided on for this trick). Add a hand signal if you like; when I ask my dogs to come, I say “come over here” and point to the floor at my feet.
- When your dog reaches you, celebrate his cleverness! Dance around, give him pats and praise, and definitely give him that treat.
You can practice this trick even more easily if your dog already knows how to sit or lay down. Ask him to sit first, then walk away and call him. Some dogs will just follow you around, which can make it frustrating when you are trying to teach them to come!
Repeat the practice a few times. Don’t make your training sessions more than five or ten minutes long — you’ll both start to lose interest. Keep them short and sweet and always end on a positive note. Stop after your pup successfully completes the task, or go back to an old trick that you’ve mastered. This way, you’ll both feel good and will look forward to your next practice session!
Eventually, you won’t need the treat or toy to get your dog to come. That doesn’t mean you should stop with the pets and praise! Always reward your dog in some way when he does something you’ve asked. This helps reinforce the idea that obedience is a Good Thing.