Teach Dog To Come When Called

One of the earliest basic dog training skills that most people want to master with their new dog or puppy is how to teach her to come when called. This is a very important command for any dog owner to master.
An obedient dog who comes when called by her owner is much more likely to stay out of all sorts of trouble. You can prevent her from getting into fights with other dogs, frightening children, getting dirty in situation where you do not want that, and you can often keep her off the road and out of danger simply by calling her to you at the right moment.

It seems that this basic dog training skill would be a very simple thing to teach your dog. However, there are many reasons why dogs and puppies do not want to leave whatever interesting thing they were doing and come to you whenever you call. They love to explore and to check out all of the fascinating scents that they come across when they are taking a walk.
This means that in order to teach the dog to come every time, instead of only when she has nothing better to do, you will need to set up some kind of reward. The idea of rewarding dogs for the right behavior is common to all basic dog training techniques.
The main types of reward that you can use with a dog are praise or other forms of positive attention, and treats. When you start out with basic dog training you will want to minimize the distractions so that your puppy understands the connection between coming to you when called and getting a treat.
The fewer distractions you have, the faster she will learn that these two events are not happening together by pure chance. So it is best to start training her in the house in a one-on-one situation when there is nobody else around. You can start out giving her praise and a treat.
When she understands that ‘Come’ or ‘Come here’ means she should come to you, you can move the training to outside. You may find it useful to start by putting her on a long leash. This will stop her going so far away that she cannot hear you clearly.
When she has learned the skill thoroughly, you can stop giving the treats. But never stop giving the praise. Even when she is 20 years old you should still praise her for coming to you when she is called.
Make sure that you only reward her in this special way for coming when you call her, and not for coming to you at other times. You have to be the one who is in charge.
Remember that a dog does not have a long attention span for most things. The lessons need to be short so that the dog does not become bored or frustrated.
Another thing to watch out for is your tone of voice. People have a habit of speaking to dogs in a serious or stern voice when they are trying to train them. This is not great because the dog may think you are angry before you even start. This will make the training stressful for her. So try to use your normal voice most of the time when you are starting with basic dog training.