Sheltie-wise, good enough; posting to a site, no idea what I'm doing

[mainesheltie]

Hello, I'm here in Maine and it's cold. My almost-5-month old sheltie loves it; I'm over 5 months old, and I don't. He will stay in "Brodie's Yard" if I let him out for potties, but I have a hard time getting him to come in. We walk, we play in the yard, we play in the house, he will sit and will lie down pretty often on command. He just won't respond to 'come'. I reward with pats, rubs and toys, but don't do treats. (My previous sheltie got too many from "Dad", and got fat (like Dad), so they are banned). Anyone have any other suggestions on how to get him to come in from the yard when I want him to? Or, will he 'get it' soon?

[calgal]

Hello and welcome to GP. Well my suggestion would be to tie a long rope to his collar and when you say the word "come" reel him in if he ignores you and then praise like crazy. A few times a day of this till he comes each time without being reeled in.

[mainesheltie]

Thank you so much. I'll try teaching him to come with a clothesline (since I only get to use it during summer; ie. August here in ME). If I'm right that Sweet-Chi is your 'baby', what a cutie. Pic reminds me of a doll from '60's (?) called "Littlest Angel".

[Sheltiemama]

Helllo
Welcome to the wonderful world of shelties. You will need to work on his reliable recall. Do that inside, not outside of the house until you are certain that he will come to you no matter what.
Start out by calling his name after you show him a treat reinforce his good behavior by giving him very tiny bits of treat as you walk backwards making him move toward you for more treats for a full minute.
If you can't get him to leave you so you can call him, throw some of the treat as far away from you as you can, when he goes for the treat call him back to you and treat again for a full minute still moving backwards so he has to keep coming to you as you treat him. Continue to do this every day for 10 minutes for a full month. All this time do not call him to you outside, use the tether on him whenever you take him outside. Never call him when he's outside until you are sure that he will come (he'll learn to blow you off if you do) The treats can be chicken hotdogs, low fat string cheese or anything your dog will love to eat. Don't make the mistake of using his food or those large training treats. Use something you can break up into almost crumbs so he doesn't get too much at any one time.

After he has the idea (which won't take very long) start putting barriers in front of you so he has to walk around things or go into another room so he can learn to come to your voice as well as your body language. It takes work and reinforcement every once in a while to remind them who is boss, but it is a very good practice to have your dog on a really reliable recall.

Judy

[calgal]

Yes, that's Delsi. She just turned 15 December 11th. She has no eyes now and doesn't walk around much, but she's healthy and happy just the same.

[Sugardog]

Hi and welcome to GP!

You could try cutting back on her kibble a little so you can use treats without over feeding her. There are low calorie treats available as well. Charlee Bear liver treats only have 1 calorie per treat. It can sometimes be hard to train a dog without food treats, especially if the dog is more food motivated than praise motivated or toy motivated.

I have other family members who constantly give the dogs treats all day. My 90 pound GSD/Akita mix ony gets one 13.5 ounce can filled with kibble twice a day to keep her slim, which is very important because she is 11 years old and has hip displaysia.

[keekers]

agree use treats, kibble, or broken pieces of little treats. it works.. : )

[Sugardog]

Actually you could very well use kibble if your dog loves his food!

I had a basenji/pitbull/border collie mix that I clicker trained. I used his whole mealtime as a training lesson. His treat after the click was a small handfull of kibble. We'd do this until the kibble ran out and by the time we were done, not only had he learned a new command or two, he ate his dinner as well!

[Sheltiemama]

You could use the dog's kibble as a treat but the idea here is to make this recall a super special event in the dog's mind. If you want it to be an ordinary thing, feed him an ordinary treat. If it's to be super special and really imprint on his mind that something good will happen when he comes to you then feed a super special treat. It goes without saying that these treats should be incorporated into his daily ration of food. Over feeding because of training defeats your good management of his healty care.

[mainesheltie]

Thank you everyone. I have gotten some wonderful ideas on training Brodie to come. I tried one idea about tethering him and pulling him toward me with the command 'come'. As soon as I walked away, he was already 'herding' me. So, another idea is to keep it all indoors (see sheltiemama's thread for details if your trying to train to this command). I'll be back with results, which I expect to be positive. As the old saying goes, "Old age and treachery (me), shall overcome youth and skill (Brodie)".

[mainesheltie]

Oboy, Oboy...this treat training is working superbly. I remember it worked well with my previous Sheltie; but, he had full sized treats whether he was being rewarded or just because he begged. Brodie went out to do his 2nd round of potties, and came right to me when I asked him to come. And the treat was no bigger than the end of my pinkie finger. He's frisky and we have to go play now. No fat on this doggie.....