Help, she refuses to come in the house!!!

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#1
Polly (lab/shepard mix) has just turned 8 months old and we've had intermittent problems with getting her to come back in the house from being outside doing her business(we do have a fenced in yard). A little coaxing with a treat usually does the job, until last night. It took me over 45 minutes of trying everything to get her inside (this was after midnight) and Polly's dad being a little faster than me finally got ahold of her. She would come up the the back slider and "tease us" and try to initiate some play. For the time being she will be going out on her extendable leash. She's fairly well behaved and finishing her first obedience classes.

Do they go through stubborn streaks? The weather has been kinda nasty so we haven't had a lot of opportunity to walk and stuff the last few days. Is she frustrated that we haven't been able to walk and play?

This is my first dog (@ 32 years old) and not alot of experience.
 

Doberluv

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#2
Well, that is the first step....keep her on a leash. Do not give a command you can't enforce. If you do a search on the training forum, you'll find some tips for teaching a reliable recall. It's good that you're going to obedience class. Hopefully, you can continue that as well as plenty of practice at home, but fairly short, frequent sessions.

How nasty is the weather? If there aren't trees blowing down, I'd get her out for a good run somewhere. Just a walk around the block isn't going to do it for the breed of dog you have. Is there somewhere safe where she can get the zoomies out? Then training works better, not that she's exhuasted and can't concentrate, but that she's not all pent up with energy either.

When you have her on a leash (I recommend a long line...30 ft or whatever you want...a light weight, rope from the hardware store is fine) and you want her to come in, try enticing her to come to you with lots of fun, squeeky, playful noises...run the other way like you're playing with her. Don't use the word, "come." If she comes and is like 2 feet from you, obviously coming, then and only then....say the word, "come." Then praise her like crazy....party time, treat. (only as a last resort if she still won't come, give a little tug on your long line and help her come to you) Then let her romp around some more. Don't bring her right in. Repeat that a few times. Toss a ball...whatever she likes. Then, when you do bring her in, continue the fun inside for a while. Put her through some obedience skills; sit, down, come and make it fun and rewarding. Play a game of tug with her if she understands to "give" when you ask for the toy. Then maybe calm things down with a nice belly rub and massage. In other words, show her that just because she comes in, does not mean the end of all the fun. Make sure that you use motivation and reward for training. It works wonders. Find out what floats her boat and use it to your advantage. Make whatever you want her to do worth her while...there has to be a payoff for behavior you want repeated....and NO payoff for behavior you don't like.

ps...the reason I recommend a long rope or line, as opposed to a retractable leash is that a retractable leash puts tension on the dog's neck most of the time. This encourages pulling. So, when you're teaching your dog to walk nicely on a loose leash or heel, the dog will be more apt to pull and you don't want that. The dog has to see you as it's leader and walk along side or behind you, not in front of you and definitely not pulling you. This needs to be discouraged the first step the dog takes which is pulling you. You stop, don't move or you can make random turns, turn the other direction. Keep the dog on his toes and paying attention. The second there is tension in the leash, the payoff of moving forward needs to be removed. In fact before tension occurs in the leash...when the dog is coming to the end of it. The dog needs to stay along side you. Be very consistant about this.
 
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Dizzy

Sit! Good dog.
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#4
Dogs do go through a 'deaf' teenage phase apparently!

I saw this the other day.

Make sense, but not sure how great an idea it is!!! You could incoroprate these 'tips' into recall training I suppose!!

In your dogs eyes, playing in the garden is a million times more fun than coming back to you and going in the house!

So, you need to get her attention - make a high pitched noise to get her attention.. High pitched sqeaky so eyes are on you!

Also, dog's love to chase, so start running, and she will chase you. (not sure where to go from there!!)

Not sue if that is any help what so ever, but worth noting down what gets your dog ticking and makes you look more attractive than the garden!!
 

aelizilly

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#5
You can try and play a fun long game of fetch in the house some evenings when the weather is really bad. I do this every evening with my Beagle and it works wonders in tiring him out. We also have a 20 minute walk each evening. So he is ready for our cuddle time in the evening b/4 bedtime.
 

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