Come comman,is he too young? i need help plz

[Dario]

its a Golden retriver,12 weeks now.

He knows sit,when i ay sit,hell walk in front of me and sit,no mater were he is
But "come" is a different story.
hell come if hes in the house,or no distractions. untill were in the yard,and he NOWS hes not on a leash,he runs towards the woods,and when i say Simba Come,he looks back for couple seconds then keeps going, even IF i say it several times. He knows hes being bad,hell run further if i walk towards him,so i always end up grabbing him and carrying him right in. I practice sit and come with treats. But when theres distractons around,and i say come, it does not work. I take him off the leash because i want him to learn commands off the leash as soon as possible. So what are your suggestions and does he knwo hes beng punished if i run/walk after him pick him up and put him inside ?

[Zoom]

The first simple step is DON'T TAKE HIM OFF LEASH. He's not ready for it and by pushing him to do something he's not ready for, you are both setting him up for failure and teaching him to ignore you, two things that will come back to bite you, hopefully just figuratively, in the future.

What I would do is A) ditch the word "come". You've worn it out already and taught him that it doesn't mean any thing particularly special. Switch to a different word; I use "here". It's higher in pitch and sounds happy, which is one very good thing to entice your dog to come to you.

Now, for the groundwork. With your puppy on a regular flat collar (no chokes, prongs, halti's, etc), put the dog in a sit and you walk out to the end of your leash. Have a bunch of yummy yummy treats on hand, then say "Puppy, HERE!" and walk backwards at a fast enough pace that there is a bit of pressure helping the dog run towards you, but not so much that you're dragging him; just a couple of steps will do. When the dog reaches you, praise like crazy and give him a bunch of treats "Gooood here! Yes! Good dog!"

Practice this under low distractions at first, in your living room or basement. When the dog is focused on you like a hawk, add in a distraction or two. Go out onto your patio/porch/deck whatver and start over. Then add another level of distraction--go out onto your driveway or into the yard or whereever you have to move to.

When you find the dog is zeroed in on you with the 6 foot recall, add in a long line. Start back at the 6 foot mark, then slowly add in the distance. Remember, you want to set your pup up for success at all times! When you are getting a quick recall at the end of the long line, add in someone walking around the dog, walking another dog nearby, something to try and draw the dogs attention away from you for even just a split second. When you see his eyes cut away, or his head turn even just a fraction, that's when you give the command and run backwards, reeling in the dog at the same time.

When the dog seems to have a rock-solid recall at the end of a 30 foot long line under a fairly high level of distraction, (when there are other dogs playing, a cat running by, running past a treat tossed on the ground without stopping to pick it up) go back to the very beginning in your low distraction living room and take off the leash. Start all over, slowly slowly adding in the level of distractions.

I would not recommend taking off the leash for a few months or so, just so that you can always ALWAYS enforce your recall command. NEVER EVER give a command you can't enforce immediately. There will be plenty of time for your pup to learn off-leash commands, but make sure he's very proficient in his on-leash ones first! He's still pretty young and will go through a "do-do bird" phase and the last thing you want is for him to get hurt because you took the leash off too fast.

Being a Golden, he should pick this up pretty quickly, but treats, praise and setting up for success are key here! Good luck and keep us posted (sorry for the novel)!!

[BostonBanker]

I'm not sure where I read this analogy (Culture Clash, maybe?), but I love it.

Teaching a dog to come when called isn't like teaching a kid to count to ten; i.e., they either know it or they don't. It's more like learning how to lift weights. If I use a five pound dumbell and do some arm curls, it doesn't mean I can say, "Oh, I know how to lift weights now" and pick up a 25 dumbell and do the same thing. You have to build up to it.

If your puppy will come when called in the house (light weight), it doesn't automatically mean he can come back when he is chasing something in the woods (very heavy weight). You build up his "strength" in recall the same way you do with weightlifting; lots and lots of reps at a lower weight, and gradually increase to a heavy weight (more distractions).

Here's my story to go along with it. My first dog was a Bedlington Terrier. He had a very strong prey drive, and could be possessive of whatever little animals he caught. When he was about 12, I started teaching dog training classes. And every night when I got home, I'd have a handful of treats in my pocket. Just for fun, we would practice "come" from room to room in the house. I didn't really expect him to learn anything at that point, and didn't really care. About six months later, he was out in the yard slowly killing a chipmunk. It was making a horrible squeaking sound, but I didn't want to get bit trying to grab him. Without thinking about it, I said "Medley, come!". And darn it if he didn't drop the rodent and come tearing into the house without a second thought (where I promptly gave him all the hamburg in the fridge). Lots and lots of easy reps pays off.

So what are your suggestions and does he knwo hes beng punished if i run/walk after him pick him up and put him inside ?

No, he doesn't know he's being punished for not coming. What he knows is that when you come up to him, his fun ends. I'd be very careful you don't teach him to play keep away!

[whatszmatter]

Great advice, and the number one thing should be DO NOT TAKE HIM OFF LEASH. put a 15 foot drag line on him, and don't call him till you have it in your hand EVER. That way he can never "disobey" your command and in time, his recall will become so automatic that even if he when you say come he won't even think, he'll just come running. That is unless he has lots of sucess ignoring your commands.

[RedyreRottweilers]

The number one rule with training puppies and dogs is, do NOT name the command unless the dog is DOING it. DO NOT call your puppy if he is not coming towards you, or unless you can help him.

If you call him while he is running away from you, guess what you have associated your call command with?

:D

Here is one of my favorite links on teaching the recall....

RECALL TRAINING (http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/Lesson6.html)

And here is one game I play with puppies to build the recall response.....

The Recall Game

Having a dog who will reliably come when called is one of the best
things in life. This means FREEDOM for your dog. Here is how to teach
your dog to RUN to you each time you call it.

1) NEVER call your dog unless you are CERTAIN you can enforce
the command. Each time you call your dog and he does not immediately
come to you to receive a food reward, you take a step backwards in
his learning to come when you call. It is important not to make
mistakes when teaching the recall. DO NOT CALL YOUR DOG if there is
ANY chance you cannot enforce the command. EVER.
2) NEVER call your dog to you for anything unpleasant. If you
need to interrupt a play session, or you are going to trim nails, or
if you are about to do anything to your dog that he does not enjoy,
GO GET THE DOG. Do not call him to you.
3) FOOD REWARD every single recall. EVERY SINGLE ONE. This
means keeping treats in your pockets at all times.
4) Smiles are required equipment when calling your dog. NEVER
EVER call your dog in anything but a praise tone of voice. Correction
will NEVER help a recall. Your dog must WANT to come when you call.

To play the game you need at least 2 people, and several is great.
Each person is given a handful of very small soft treats. I prefer
tiny pieces of hotdogs or string cheese. Pieces should be VERY small,
even for a larger dog or puppy. I slice a hotdog in half and cut the
pieces the size of a nickle. Once people have their treats, they
should take a seat around the room with as much room between them as
the room will allow.

One person takes the puppy or dog and points him towards the person
who is going to begin the game. This person may do anything to get
the puppy to come towards him except say the word COME. Clap hands,
smile, laugh, show the treat, call PUPPPY PUPPPPY PUPPPPY, or the
dog's name. When it is CLEAR that the pup is committed to going to
the person, and ONLY THEN, say the pup's name, and come. For example,
Bailey, COME! It does not matter if the puppy is almost to you, as
long as the pup hears his name and the word COME while he is going
TOWARDS the person calling.

Hold the hand with the food right up next to your body so that the
puppy has to come all the way up to you and touch you to get the
treat. Do not feed the treat until you are holding the puppy's
collar. This prevents the "snatch and run" game. Praise and pet the
puppy cheerfully while he is getting his treat. Once the pup has had
his little tiny treat, it's time to point him towards another person
who does the same thing.

It is extremely important that the participants understand they are
NOT to say the word COME unless the puppy is already doing just that.

Play as long as the pup is interested. Main rules, Do not say COME
unless the puppy IS coming, hold the treat up CLOSE to your body, and
you must be holding the collar to feed the treat.

This simple game does more to build a reliable recall than any other
training you can do. Your pup will quickly learn that his name and
the word come means TREAT. Each time you call the pup and reward him
for coming quickly to you, you build a more ingrained and reliable
response. If you are consistent and train this game at least 2 to 3
times per week, you will have a dog who will ALWAYS come when you
call it. Most owners list this as a top priority for their dogs. Here
is a fun and simple way to attain this goal.

Practice often! Your pup will love this game, and so will your friends.

[BostonBanker]

Do not feed the treat until you are holding the puppy's
collar.

Thank you! I used to house-sit for a golden who could come beautifully - to about a foot in front of you. If you tried to reach for him, he was gone. I would spend literally 45 minutes trying to catch him, even though he was never more than 5 feet away. The "collar touch" is one of those things I wish everyone knew about. I love how your version of the recall game focuses on actually getting the dog to expect it.