 |
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||
Come and Sit
Lead Choice: 6’ Review Lesson 6. From the 6’ Stay, stand upright and say in a cheerful firm voice “Sparky Come” and quickly, grasp the lead as close to your dog as you can reach and pull inward towards you and pull up to your chin. This will lead you right into the sit correction. Give the Sit command. Count to 5. Release “okay” and praise a lot. The Sit at the end of the Come command is part of the Come command. It is the ‘stop motion’ phase. It should be done quickly so that the sit becomes second nature and is an actual part of Come. If this isn’t reinforced, in real life, he will come and then fly right by you and continue on his merry jaunt. For the short distance Come, you may back up a few steps while you reel him in to simulate distance. Be cheerful, especially if he’s apprehensive. A high pitched ‘come, come, come, good boy, come’ is great. Follow this with hugs and kisses.
Lead Choice: 15’ Review Lesson 7. From the 10’ Stay, stand upright and say “Sparky, Come”. Reel the lead in hand over hand quickly until you have your dog in front of you in the ‘toe to toe’ position. Ask him to Sit. Pull up on the lead and place him. Count to 5. Release “Okay” and praise a lot.
Come should always be a happy command. He can never get in trouble for this. Yes, that includes the times you have just chased him for two hours around the neighborhood. Take the attitude that you should never issue a command that you can’t follow through with.
If running away is a problem, review the attention training exercise outlined in Lesson 1. You should still be practicing this lesson. This is the base of all lessons and will always have a place regardless of what training level you achieve.
To adapt Lesson 1 to the Come command, find a good distraction and allow him to partake in it. i.e., a favorite friend petting him. Move to the far end of the 15’ lead without him realizing it. Say “Sparky Come” and reel him in quickly, giving him a ‘check’ if necessary. Place him in a Sit and praise bunches. Release him and again call him out of the blue. Make him choose you over any distraction. No second chances. One Come command and start reeling and praising.
Common Problems with Come
Dog won’t come and puts on the brakes. This is the ‘my legs are broken and I can’t walk’ test. To get through this, remember Come must always be a happy command. Be cheerful and inviting but firm. In other words, use small reinforcing checks as you reel him in, but praise the entire time. If he chooses to drag, it’s okay as long as you are giving him checks and you keep bringing him in. When he does finally arrive, skip the ‘sit’ for now and shower him with love and pats until he realizes that Come is not a bad thing.
Breaks the sit before I say Come. Check your body language first. If you lean forward before you say come, or gather the lead before you say come, or stiffen up to straighten before you say come, your dog will consider these “ a tell” and anticipate the command. Place him back in the sit with the sit correction and reissue the Sit -Stay command. Be quick, firm and place him exactly where he was. Dogs are very smart and will learn that by breaking he will get negative attention. Be quick and get away so he won’t get this idea. It is important that you place him in his original position. He will also figure out that by breaking the Sit Stay, he can make forward progress, a crawl if you will.
He goes off in another direction when I say Come. Practice the come at a short distance first before you practice the longer ones. Take up all the slack prior to issuing the command and reel the lead in faster so he must make a straight line. Praise, praise, praise.
Intro to Practical Application Obedience / Attention Training / Heel Command & Sit Placement / Automatic Sit with Heel / Sit Stay / Down Placement / Sit Stay 6' / Sit Stay 10' / Come and Sit / Finish Command