Why won't my puppy come when I call her and then run away when I try to go to her?
by Alice
(Aurora,IL USA)
My puppy won’t come to me when I call her and then when I try to go to her she runs away. She even has run all the way into the street.
What can I do to make her stop running away from me? I think she thinks that it is a game or something. Help!!! We live on a fairly busy street.
Our Response
Hi Alice, this is such a common problem so don’t panic. Your Puppy thinks that you are still trying to play – she is still a baby so does not really understand the whole obedience training concept.
You need to start training her so that she learns to respond to your dog training commands – and the ‘come’ command is one of the most important. Go to the navigation bar on the left and click on ‘Dog Training Tips’ and then go to the bottom and click on training a dog to come and this may help. But lets cover a few things here now that may help you…
1. Start by attaching a retractable leash to your puppy – this is so important as it keeps you in control – but also gives your puppy some space. A leash is great for recall training and also house training.
2. As previously mentioned your puppy is wanting to play and is very easily distracted – (this is very normal)!
3. Use a treat to persuade your playful puppy to come to you when you call ‘Come’. Still attached to the leash. As soon as she starts to come towards the treat – get down on your knees and open your arms wide to welcome your puppy.
4. As soon as she starts to come – keep calling the come comamnd and then give her a treat when she gets there. Reward based training works so well – keep practicing until it is second nature to your puppy.
Let me know how you get on.
