Question
Star
I have a female Lab mix who has this obsession so to say to run in the street, away or simply put not obeying period. She has this thing where she listens when she wants, she listens to the basic commands but come or stop it is a foreign language to her. She is approximately a year and 4 months, she is also not fixed but soon to be. Please help, she is going to get hit soon or simply put she is going to get taken because I live in city.
AnswerHi Sarah. Coming when called is the most important thing you can teach your dog. First thing - keep Star on leash at all times. While you're training her to come when she's called, she can't be allowed the opportunity to run loose and ignore her name. It's ALL a foreign language to dogs :-) However there are ways to learn to help them understand what we want.
For now, eliminate the word "come" from your vocabulary when you want her. It's become a meaningless word to her. You can add another "recall" word back once you've trained her to respond to her name.
Start re-associating her name with something good happening for her. In a room with few distractions, say her name. When she turns her head to look at you, say "yes!" and give her a small pea-sized treat - something she really likes (not a dry biscuit). "Yes" can be your marker word to let Star know that she's done something good and she's going to get a food reward. Practice this in the house for a few weeks doing a few hundred repetitions until she's really solid on returning to you for her reward each and every time you call her name.
Then take your practice to a fenced yard with a few more distractions. Work until you can get the reliability you had in the house. Set her up to succeed. Don't call her if you think she might not come - if she's chasing a squirrel or sniffing something really interesting in the ground. When you move your practice outdoors, you may have to have higher value treats. Remember that you are now competing with things that could be a lot more interesting to her, so her "pay" may have to increase. When you practice the name recall outside, be sure to let her have some freedom again after she gets her treat. Never call her and then end the outside fun.
After you have reliability in the fenced yard, take her out to a new area on a leash or long line and start the process all over again.
Some things to remember when training, your dog should be hungry - so train before meals. Keep
training sessions short and frequent. Train multiple times per day for 2-3 minutes at a time. Use "yes" as your marker word throughout training for consistency. She'll soon understand that word means she's done something good and she's going to be rewarded for it.
Some other thoughts:
Be sure she's getting enough exercise. If she gets out to walk on leash and is able to explore the neighborhood a couple of times a day, she may be less motivated to take off on her own.
You might consider signing up for a clicker training class so that you can learn ways to get her to pay better attention to you. If you'd like, I can probably recommend a trainer in your area.
Good luck and let me know if you have follow up questions or comments.
Young Moodle Trouble
Question
Moodle, male, 10 - 11
I have a two question.
Dog aggression
Question
The 3 of them
I have 3 spayed female do
dog training.
Question
Brutis
I have a 6 month old german shepherd/la
scratching carpet
QuestionQUESTION: Why has our 4 year-old female red hee
Adult Greyhound Howling
Question
Lisette
Hello Kathleen,
Thank you for taking
