ORIGINAL POST:
Our 9 month old Berner , Chiara, has started to ignore me when I tell her to come to me. She learned sit, lie down, stay, & come very easily at about 4 months old but she now either doesn't listen to me or acts like I want to play with her when I call her. We are up in the mountains (Davos, Switzerland) every weekend and it would be a real shame if I couldn't let her run around because I'm afraid she won't return when I call her. She does eventually return, but it's when she feels like it. I'm a newcomer to dog training as the dogs I grew up with were already trained. Does anyone have any tips for me?From: "Valerie Rahn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Thanks,Valerie<<<
Well, Valerie, hindsight is always 20-20, so all I can offer you is what is working for me NOW, as I did not do everything correctly when my first Berner was a puppy. My younger one is better, because I did do more things correctly with him, but I still didn't manage to train him as well as I should have.
With my first puppy, what I SHOULD have done is more "come" games between myself and another person, having the puppy run from one to the other of us with loads of treats, hugs, praise, etc. I should have been careful to NEVER call her to come when I was going to do something "unpleasant" (stop playing and go inside, give her a bath, apply medication, etc.). "Come" should always be something positive and lavishly rewarded in every way, and practiced frequently as a puppy. I did do this with Major, and he's considerably more reliable than my first.
So a few months ago I had a rather independent, stubborn adult female who cames ONLY when it suits her, and a pretty obedient but goofy adolescent male who was starting to question my authority. To improve their "recall" (response to a "come" command), I always make sure I have plenty of treats, and when they're romping around doing their thing, I spontaneously call one or both, rewarding them with a treat and lots of praise. During a half-hour romp at the off-leash dog park, I might do this 10 to 12 times. I am now getting almost perfect response to my "come" command under all kinds of circumstances -- playing with another dog, sniffing something particularly interesting, a neighbor's cat.
I'm a novice at any kind of training, but this appears to be working. With my NEXT puppy, I'll be much more diligent about proper and appropriate training and hopefully not have to "retrain" like this.
Good luck!
Vicky Whitney in Bozeman, Montana, with
Blackcoral Divine Miss "M" (Maddie), CD NDD CGC Delta/ITA Therapy Dog
Sascha's Ursa Major, CGC Delta/ITA Therapy Dog
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