Puppy Pre-school..advice Please On "come" Command

[Mushaka]

I have my pup in pre school mainly just for socialization. But i do have a few Q's.

I asked about the "come" command. She doesnt teach that till week 3 apparently. My baby is well under way with her "come" command as i feel its more important than the "sit" command that she taught week 1..mind u my pup is good there too...

But i asked what to do if she doesnt come when called. She said "at this age,Nothing"..

does this sound right?

[haven]

I would definately use punishment in this situation!

Any person who puts their pup in a position to fail any exercise during the teaching phase deserves good a wack with a rolled up newspaper

[Tonymc]

Lewis,how old is the Pup? Tony

[Erny]

I agree with Tony. Set the pup up to 'win' every time. (ie avoid re-calling unless you know it will occur). By what you've written L&L, you're only going to be teaching the pup it's ok to ignore the re-call when it suits.

[Mushaka]

pup is now 13wks old..

i TOTALLY agree Erny.. I only call if i know she will come,and if she doesnt come,i go to her and call come and run away so she chases..Is this ok to do?..what do u suggest

[JulesP]

In the beginning you don't say come until the pup is coming. So get someone to hold her, call her name in a very excited voice and then get the person to let go, as she bolts towards you then say come. Or have her on lead and wait unti she has gone to the end of the lead and then call her name and come. Or you run backwards and call.

You don't want them to learn they have an option.

[poodlesplus]

I think that we can all think that our puppies are all a bit special . I know mine are. I have the most precious older Lab in the world, and my poodle is just ridiculously bright, bold and beautiful. But when we take classes, a plan is set out to suit all comers . Sit is taught first because it is often a default behaviour . Then some other behaviours are taught.I am actually fond of teaching stand fairly early on, because it is useful at the vets. Recalls are actually a bit complex. The dogs actions for a recall take a few sentences. Some of the responses to unsuccesful recalls are tricky. IMHO as an instructor I will not give a unifom set of instructions for a recall. The requirements say for a shy chi cross are very different for an exuberant Lab.

While you might be very pleased with your pups responses now, the issues often develop downstream when the outside world becomes alive. Then the solid unhurried foundation that you are doing now really begins to take hold.