In training your dog the “Come” command, stand several feet away from him. Bend
down, say his name and then approach him, clapping your hands at the same time.
Do this several times if to get him to come near you. As he starts to understand
this exercise, and as you start to capture his attention, move back a few feet
farther.
Try not to make the mistake of calling him from a long distance when he’s not
focused on you. If he ignores you that means you are training your dog that it
is fine to ignore you. This is totally defeating the purpose of dog
pre-training, which is to pattern him to focus on you and obey you.
The “Fetch” command is another good activity. If you have a breed that is not
a retriever, fetching is a good activity for him to learn. This is an easy and
pleasant way to exercise your dog but is also the basis for several other fun
tasks he can learn later on such as carrying the newspaper.
Training your dog to retrieve is simple and enjoyable if you do not expect an
award winning performance the first few times. Remember, this will not come
naturally to all dogs at the beginning, especially the very independent and the
very shy dogs. The rewards are wonderful. The earlier you begin training your
dog, the easier it will be.
Next, tie a colorful sock and dangle it happily in front of your dog’s mouth.
Encourage him if he begins to lick it or opens his mouth. Throw the sock a
couple of feet in front of the dog. If your dog sniffs it, praise him like never
before! If he picks it up, capture his attention to come back to you by calling
his name and clapping your hands and patting the ground or whatever will
encourage him to come back. Try not to overdo this exercise. A couple of
retrieves at this point is sufficient. If your dog is not too thrilled about it,
once is sufficient.
Slowly add to the length of your throw. If your dog reaches the point where
he actually picks it up and runs with the object, put a cord or string on his
collar and calmly direct him back to you. Some dog owners’ liker using a small
ball. The movement is a good attention grabber. Make sure that you do not toss
the ball too far away to get capture your dog’s attention.
Dog experts suggest using a bright colored ball and rolling it off his little
nose from the top of his head. If the movement of the ball does not appeal to
your dog, face him close to a wall so that the ball will roll back in his
direction again.
After Training Time is Over…
Next comes loving time. Show your dog that regardless of how the come and
fetch training panned out, you have plenty of hugs, kisses and snuggling to
share and often.
