Many clients come to dog trainers with one goal in mind, "I just want my dog to come when I call him off leash!"
While this is an important goal, what many people do not realize is that a solid foundation needs to be built first in the basics: sit, down, heel (walk on a loose leash at one's side), stay. As new dog owners scour the internet on methods of training, it can be quite overwhelming and contradictory on actually how to train these behaviors. This is why it is important to find a qualified trainer that you and your dog click with; one who sees each dog and owner as a unique team and customizes the training as the lessons progress.
There are many ways to teach a dog the foundation behaviors. I prefer a method that uses motivational techniques coupled with fair consequences. In my experience, the dog learns exactly what I want from him (and how to get his reward) this way.
Breed considerations need to be taken into account. My German shepherd learned a lot quicker what I wanted than my shih tzu mix. Does that mean he's smarter? Not necessarily (and the topic of a future blog). I trained both dogs in the basics using food (and a clicker for my GSD). Once it was clear they knew the behavior, food/clicker was phased out and I introduced fair consequences (in my case, the word 'no, with a pop on the collar). This is how I achieved reliable obedience the first time I asked for a sit or down, etc.
Once these behaviors were solid (and this is where patience, time and commitment come in...I trained several times a day for very short sessions...first starting in non distracting environments and building up to more distracting environments over the course of several months), it was time to introduce the recall command (come).
(Check out the Association of Pet Dog Professionals and International Association for Canine Professionals for a qualified dog trainer in your area)
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