Dog training: Come

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Call your puppy, "Rover, Come Here," praise it each step of the way, take hold of its collar and scratch its ear with one hand, and give it a treat with the other. It's as easy as that! Most puppies will approach their owners at the drop of a hat. Ordinarily, most three-month-old pups will approach virtually anything that has a pulse. A typical Labrador pup, for example, would run up and introduce itself to a fallen leaf.

Why praise and rewards work

Praising your pup is common human courtesy, in appreciation of the common canine courtesy of complying with your wishes. During early training, it is important to praise your pup all the time it approaches, because a young puppy may not come all the way to claim its reward. For example, if your pup comes 90% of the way and then becomes distracted, it will receive no reward for 90% of good recall. And 90% isn't that bad of a score. In fact, human nature being what it is, most likely the owner will become irritated and reprimand the pup when it arrives. Now, most puppies have a simple solution for this dilemma: "What if I just don't come at all!" The pup came most of the way when called, and it deserves to be rewarded most of the time. Do not think of a puppy-recall as an all-or-none response with the idea of reserving the reward for when the puppy gets to you. Instead, especially reward your puppy's first step towards you, and then continue to reward the pup all the time it approaches. Then, the next time, perhaps it will come 95% of the way. Hey! We're getting there!

At some time in its life, your puppy will: 1) start towards you but run off when it sees a distraction, 2) run off when you reach for its collar and 3) not even bother to come at all. Later on in training, we will reprimand the pup if it tries to run off, however, punishing the pup during early training would only decrease its tendency to come when called. Also, it would be unfair to reprimand the pup for doing something wrong, if we have not previously praised the pup for doing what is right. And so, for the meantime, praise your puppy all the time it is headed in your direction. If the pup does not come or if it reverses direction mid-recall, immediately get the pup's attention by shouting its name, and then quickly run away from the pup. Immediately begin praising your pup as soon as it is headed towards you once more.

Why give the pup a treat? Well, eventually, we want to consider a recall an all-or-none response and  [Continued]

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