I would be interested in different ways to engage our girl, Emiko in the "Come", her attention span especially outside is hunt, sniff, run and the basics are all OK except the "Come"
When we're in our house, we play tag with our dogs. We get a special treat designated for only this game (like hotdogs), one of us distracts the dogs while the other hides and yells "here dogs!" and they FLY to find the holder of the hot dogs. Then we switch, the distractor hides and the other distracts, repeat. They love it.
Then we move it outside, chase and tag or hide and tag. They get really into it! Keeping just that phrase "here dogs" and just that treat for this game only - the recall game - made a huge difference in our effectiveness to get our dogs to come back.
And it works, late last year a leash malfunctioned and our shiba got away from us... after a momentary panic I yelled "HERE DOGS!" and he came prancing back sniffing for a treat so I could grab him. As @Edgewood could attest, at a shiba meetup a few years ago, he did not have that same attention or desire to come back to me! So this game really does work for us.
Thanks we are starting that but there are not many "favorite" foods, she is not a big eater - that said we will work on that as it seems very intuitive and fun for her.
Find her trigger reward for a drive. Favorite toy will work just as well if you can find that one thing that once she sees it, her energy goes up and her eyes get all buggy-eyed with excitement..
I use a squeaky toy to get my Akita to come. He LOVES a squeaky toy, so it's a good motivator. I taught him the touch command first, so he comes to me and touches my hand with his nose. Then I call him, and get him to touch my hand. I use the squeaky toy to get his attention, and he runs to me, touches my hand, then gets his toy. I use a special toy he doesn't get to play with otherwise.
Of course, this works because he's toy motivated, and would not work on a non-toy motivated dog.
If you find that call-to-come is not working well when outside, then I think it's safe to say the distraction level is too high and that behavior (command) needs to be "proofed" in an environment with less distractions.
Once you have the behavior working well in one environment (with less distraction), up the criteria just a bit by adding some more distraction. Continue upping the distraction level until her call-to-come response is solid under heavy distraction. When you are there, then you should have her "proofed" enough to get good recall outdoors (which represents a very high-level of distraction). Distraction comes in many different forms: smell, sight, sound...
ETA - I posted this in another thread, but I thought it may help here too...
Does he like things like caned salmon or sardines? cooked chicken or beef? Dehydrated liver or cooked liver?
Saya loves string cheese, liver, and canned fish.
Some dogs aren't food motivated, but you can always work with other things.
Does Emiko like a certain toy love playing ball or tug? Maybe having the pup come to you = playing with a special toy she only gets to play with when she comes to you?
Comments
When we're in our house, we play tag with our dogs. We get a special treat designated for only this game (like hotdogs), one of us distracts the dogs while the other hides and yells "here dogs!" and they FLY to find the holder of the hot dogs.
Then we switch, the distractor hides and the other distracts, repeat.
They love it.
Then we move it outside, chase and tag or hide and tag. They get really into it!
Keeping just that phrase "here dogs" and just that treat for this game only - the recall game - made a huge difference in our effectiveness to get our dogs to come back.
And it works, late last year a leash malfunctioned and our shiba got away from us... after a momentary panic I yelled "HERE DOGS!" and he came prancing back sniffing for a treat so I could grab him.
As @Edgewood could attest, at a shiba meetup a few years ago, he did not have that same attention or desire to come back to me! So this game really does work for us.
Jesse
Of course, this works because he's toy motivated, and would not work on a non-toy motivated dog.
Once you have the behavior working well in one environment (with less distraction), up the criteria just a bit by adding some more distraction. Continue upping the distraction level until her call-to-come response is solid under heavy distraction. When you are there, then you should have her "proofed" enough to get good recall outdoors (which represents a very high-level of distraction). Distraction comes in many different forms: smell, sight, sound...
ETA - I posted this in another thread, but I thought it may help here too...
The three D’s of dog training and why you need to know about them
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/three-d%E2%80%99s-dog-training-and-why-you-need-know-about-them
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Saya loves string cheese, liver, and canned fish.
Some dogs aren't food motivated, but you can always work with other things.
Does Emiko like a certain toy love playing ball or tug? Maybe having the pup come to you = playing with a special toy she only gets to play with when she comes to you?