Dogs Who Don't Come Back When Called

Whether your dog is a puppy, an older dog, happy-go-lucky or incredibly nervous, the one thing that all dog owners have in common is that they want more than anything for their dog to come back to them when they are called! The funny thing is, most people are also really good about teaching their dog NOT to come back to them when they are called! That may sound strange but it’s true. Think about it, when do people call their dogs? When they want to see them? When they are about to go for a walk? Maybe. But a large majority of the time it’s when they want their dog to come inside! Dogs see patterns more than anything, so if every morning they are allowed to go out for a little while, only to get called back in before you leave for the day, it won’t take long before they catch on and start to resist! This is especially true if they still have pent up energy and are not ready to go sleep the day away (more on that in another post!).

So, what’s the solution? Change the pattern! Call your dog back to you in the house. Give him some love. Call him back again, give him a treat. Go outside with him, call him a few times and change up what you do when he comes back (hint – don’t be afraid to hold out on the treats and keep him guessing!). Give him lots of treats on a particularly good recall ! Not only does this get his brain thinking which burns mental energy, it will strengthen your bond AND change the pattern so he has no idea when you’ll call him in for good. He can’t resist coming inside if he doesn’t know when it will happen! If you’re always changing the pattern, he will have to keep paying attention to you to know what you want. Versus, if you constantly do the same thing over and over again, he can read you like a book and easily make his own decision about what he wants to do (which will probably not be what YOU want him to do).

Teach your dog to love coming back to you! And if this tip helped you, let us know :)