If your dog doesn’t know its name yet, work on that in training sessions. Getting a dog to learn its name will help with all future training.
Using anger and aggressiveness to deal with a dog’s misbehavior will only make the problem worse. Punishment is often misunderstood by dogs and it just makes them mistrust you. [2] X Research source Use an excited tone of voice with your dog. Your dog is more likely to engage with you if they think they’re missing out on something exciting.
Use a treat consistently when you say the dog’s name until it comes right away every time you say its name. Then you can start to wean the dog off the treats and just give it a pet or say “good dog” to it when it comes to you.
The word you use could be “come” but it could also be a different word, such as “here,” “now,” or any word you like. A hand gesture that is often used is to straighten your arm down by your side with your palm facing forward and then bend your arm straight up from the elbow.
Using a leash that has a long line works best. They allow the dog to get 15 or 20 feet away from you before you call them back.
If the dog doesn’t show any sign that it heard you, you can do the cue again right away. However, it is likely that the dog is choosing to ignore you and you need to give it an incentive to come to you.
Hand feeding your dog is a good way to help build up his focus on you. [10] X Expert Source Osama MaghawriProfessional Dog Trainer Expert Interview. 9 September 2020.
If your dog is not excited about food, use something else that it’s excited about. You could pet it, play with it, or offer it a toy that it loves. Giving treats also reinforces the dog’s good behavior. The goal is to make the dog remember that it will get a treat when it does what you want it to do.
You don’t want your dog exhausted before training but you also don’t want it wild and crazy because it hasn’t done any physical activity all day. Try to be somewhere in the middle when training.
Vary your training sessions so your dog doesn’t get bored. This is especially important for highly intelligent and motivated breeds, such as retrievers.
To eliminate distractions, try to do training sessions in a private yard or in your home. Once your dog is responding to you reliably, introduce distractions into your training program. The goal should be to have your dog respond to you no matter what distractions are around.
The good news is that with some work and patience, you and your dog can figure out how to communicate.
