Come: This word could save your dogs life one day.
Never use the magic word "come" for anything the dog perceives as bad or non-rewarding to him. Dogs learn very quickly that the word and the action go together. If you have a young puppy, you can use the "come" cue if they don’t associate anything bad yet. If you have an older or Rescue dog, they may have bad things associated with come, since this word is readily used by most humans.
If you have used "come" to do other things like walking and jerk them towards you saying "come" or "Come here", or stop their fun in the back yard to make them come inside, or use it to give them a bath or trim their nails, etc., you need a new word as your magic "get over here to me" word, something like Aqui’ (ah key, Spanish for here), or "hustle", "front", use it instead of "come".
This word should be kept in a locked box and only used when you know you will be 100% successful and know for a fact they have no option but to come to you. So you can only practice on leash, rope, tether etc. Practice with your regular leash first, then you can add length to this, if you get to a longer lead line, when practicing, if anything distracts your dog, you must become more exciting than the distraction, the line is not to reel your dog in like a fish, it is just to stop them from running to the distraction, your new cue word should not be an option. Plus it should NEVER be used for anything bad, the dog needs to know anytime you say this word they come to you and always get great things, nothing bad is ever going to happen. Eventually you can use other things they love as a reward.
Practice this in a distraction free zone at first and have a jackpot, more than 4 treats ready. With your dog on leash, call their name 1 time and when they look to you, encourage them to move towards you (you can backup fast also if you want more distance), when they move towards you, say "the magic word" one time.
They must be "in the act" of moving towards you for you to use the "magic word". When they get to you (click, or say yes) and give them those treats one at a time, not all at once, the dog sees that as 1 treat, because they don’t count with their tongue ;) also praise them the whole time, in a happy voice as you give each treat.
Play recall game in Hallway: You have control in this area, so leash is not required.
You can also practice this down your hallway, and play a recall game with another person. You both need to have a jackpot of treats and take turns calling the dog to your "magic word" when they are in the act of moving towards you. Say their name, and your magic word, get exciting and make it wonderful to get to you.
Only do this about 4-5 times or the dog will start anticipating your name calling and just start going back and forth with no name calling just to get the treats. Stop so they will want more later. Then practice again later.
***Here are some Different things you can do to get your dog to you without saying "magic word", when you know you have no control* over them, (*if they’re not on a leash or long line, under your control), in other words they are loose outside or loose in the house, many times you can just casually walk to them and get them, or ask them to sit and stay, (if they know these 2 cues, please see the Factoidz on how to teach these).
These work well most of the time, just never use 1 of them all the time to get your dog to stop having fun or putting him away or anything he thinks is no fun. Make it random, sometimes just get them to you then let them "go play" again. Do that about 10 different times, in different areas of the yard, near the bushes, by the compost pile, next to the trash cans, by the elm tree, etc., then the 11th time, take them in the house. This way they never know when or where their activity will end.
Think of this: if you always have the treat bag and rattle it by the back door and your dog comes over and gets a treat, then you grab them and put them into the house, do you think the dog will realize every time you rattle the bag of treats by the back door, it means you’re going to put them into the house? Yes they will, they’ll eventually stop coming to you near the back door, when you rattle the treat bag
Here are the other ways to get them to you without a lead, line, rope or leash on them:
1. One way is to make it a chase game, get their attention and make loud happy, exciting noises and run away from them. Encourage them to follow you.
2. When they aren’t paying attention go behind a tree and let them find you, (this works well with dogs who don’t want you out of their sight).
3.Get on the ground and pretend that you have found the most interesting blade of grass you’ve ever seen, making lots of exciting noises, treat them when they come to investigate.
4. If they respond to the treat can or a whistle, use it and treat when they move towards you.
5. Use a squeaky toy if they like them. Have a couple with you and make it a fun game of take it and get them to play with you.
Optional, if they get out front, (you can use numbers 1 thru 5 out front also if needed) on the street, (you can’t do #6 in the back yard unless it’s big enough to drive in ;)
6. Optional: if they get out front and they love to go "bye bye" in the car, get your car and drive it towards them, get out and act excited and use your "let’s go Bye Bye" voice, a lot of times this is enough to get them to you and if they do jump into your, count your blessings and take them for a ride around the block making it happy time.
"Magic cue word": Just remember to say their name only 1 time and the magic word 1 time, do not keep repeating it over and over they will start tuning it out. Also if you say "magic word" when you have no control on them in the beginning they will not learn to come to you, something distracting can come along and ruin all your practice.
