Teaching Your Dog Their Name, Then to Come When Called
One of the first things you should teach your dog to do is to come. Your dog needs to learn that you represent safety and are the source of all rewards. These behaviors are easily achieved using positive training techniques. This type of training motivates dogs to repeat rewarded behavior. Once they understand the response to your cue, they will begin to offer the behavior without your cue at all. This is called throwing out a behavior. Positive reinforcement training methods create a dog who is attentive, enthusiastic and energized.
One of the reasons you should begin with teaching the come and sit is during the process of teaching these behaviors, your dog learns their name and how to learn. They begin to associate your voice with good things.
A dog who has learned how to learn and earn rewards will be far more reliable than one who is forced. A dog who learns how to learn will always seek to learn more and perform at every opportunity. In fact, dogs often throw out other behaviors, such as laying down or offering a paw to see if that will earn rewards, too. This alone shows how much fun your dog will have learning how to learn.
Name Calling
Before you can accomplish any training, your dog needs to learn their name. This is important for the following reasons:
· Individual identification – if there’s more than just you and your dog in your household, your dog will benefit from knowing with whom you’re directing your conversation. Dogs who know their names tend to not respond if they don’t know you are addressing them.
· Attention grabbing – A dog who knows their name will immediately become focused when they hear it spoken. This will be beneficial when you train and communicate with your dog at any time.
· Enjoyment in interaction – Dogs who have positive associations with hearing their names will be happier and enjoy interactions with you.
My Name Is?
It will be important to have a name picked out for your dog within a few days after obtaining them. Many dogs already have a name and it’s a good idea to continue with it, regardless of your dislike for it, or not. Dogs learn from the moment they are born. Familiarity with a name is a form of comfort for them.
You can begin to teach your dog their name through using it when training and when you want to interact with them. It’s always good to say your dog’s name before any behavior cue. For example, “Fido, Come.” Or “Fido Sit.” This grabs your dog’s attention making them ready to respond to the cue.
Learning their names is a great first step to teaching your dog to come when called.
1. Say your dog’s name in a happy tone of voice.
2. The moment they look at you, mark with your unique sound and reward with a treat.
3. Repeat this at least 4 times, until your dog remains looking at you between your saying their name. Now they’re ready to begin learning directional cues, such as sit, come or down.
Teaching your dog to come when called.
Most dogs are very food motivated, especially puppies. The swiftest means of teaching your dog to come to you is to lure them. You’ll want to begin with very short distances, rewarding them for small accomplishments prior to expecting them to come to you from across the room or a yard. This is termed successive approximation. With each successive command, you increase the criteria to earn rewards. This will maintain your dog’s focus and improve their performance.
Note: Be sure your initial training area is free of distractions such as toys, other animals or active people. This will set up your dog for success, which keeps the experience positive.
Through repetition you can shape any behavior in small steps.
1. Show your dog the food in your hand. When they sniff at your hand, say, “Yes”, in an enthusiastic tone of voice and then give them the food. Repeat 3-5 times, or until your dog automatically shows interest in your hand.
2. Show your dog the food in your hand and back up 3 steps. As your dog comes toward you praise them in an enthusiastic tone, then stop say, “Yes!”, and give them the reward. Repeat moving 3 steps, 3-5 times.
3. As your pup achieves the 3-5 steps add more steps backward as your dog comes toward you.
At this point it’s highly likely that your dog is coming toward you quickly. You will need to shuffle backward equally quickly. The more enthusiastic your dog, the more steps you can take backward and begin adding a verbal cue, such as Come or Front, as you move backward. Be sure to only say it once, though, or you will always need to repeat the command.
Teaching your dog to come and sit.
Once your dog understands the Come cue, you can add another behavior, the Sit. Having your dog Come and Sit will offer you more control in the long run and give your dog more direction upon completing the Come. This is termed a behavior chain.
1. Start with having your dog come to you.
2. Then place the treat between your dog’s eyes.
3. As he looks upward, say, “Yes,” and then give him the treat.
4. Repeat this 2-3 times.
5. Then, add the reward criteria of your dog lowering their rear end to the ground or floor. Do not use your sound marker (your Yes!) until your dog lowers his rear end at least halfway into a sit. If he should go all the way into position, wonderful; but if not, take it in smaller steps until he fully understands what you are requesting.
6. When your dog readily responds, add the verbal cue, Sit
If you always pair these two behaviors your dog will automatically sit upon coming to you. This will help in overall communication with your dog as his recall will be reliable and he will arrive and sit instead of arriving and jumping on you or running off.
There are many situations in which your dog can perform this behavior chain.
· When called from the yard.
· Time to come to dinner.
· As a means of redirecting them from being reactive (for example when the doorbell rings and you wish to answer the door without their jumping all over you or the visitor).
· When they’re playing with another dog and their play gets rough.
· When going for a hike and they begin to go too far for your comfort.
There are many life experiences in which the come and sit behaviors will be utilized; though they are not the only reason to begin the training of your dog with these specific cues. Nearly every other behavior you will teach them will be based upon the come and sit, so once you have this foundation, the sky’s the limit!
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