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I have a couple of questions about my dog...can anyone please help?

Hello, I have a couple of questions to ask about my dog...

  1. How do I stop my dog from chewing on my hair? As soon as my back is to the floor or the bed he starts chewing my ponytail...

  2. I can't get my dog to "come" when I ask him to. He just stares at him as if he doesn't know what I'm asking him to do. How do I fix this?

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance :D

Comments

You can try yelping when you dog tugs on your hair, its usually how puppies let each other know thats its not ok to be mouthy. As far as training to come, high value treats like freeze dried meat, hot dogs, cheese, etc work well, I would pair it with clicker training, You can find more info online.

thank you for the idea!! I'll look up more info on that.

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"Come" is a tricky one to teach. Remember the dog does not have any understanding of human language, its up to up to teach them that each word sound has meaning. Think of it as if you were teaching someone English, it just takes time.

For the word come only use it when you can guarantee they will come to you and ALWAYS, ALWAYS reward them when they do. For example don't say come if they're sniffing something..... Its not gonna happen. Don't say come and then kennel them. Nothing wrong with kenneling but they just had free rein and now confined. Always give them an amazing special treat like lunch meat or cheese with high praise and excitement. Always do it when they're on their way to you anyways or you have leash on to guarantee they listen.

You want them to connect coming to you with the most positive experience ever. If you do this repeatedly and consistently over a six month period it becomes habit. Keep reinforcing how wonderful it is when they come to and non negotiable it is.

Most people say come and then when dog comes "punish" them ie we at the park running and now owner leashes dog and leaves...uh how many times will the dog come back to you when they figure hey when I come negative things happen? It'll take two or three times and then they're like nope, not doing that! Or owner say it and because they can't follow thru (not leashed so can't guide back to you) dog learns they can ignore it.

So start with long leash. Have them sit stay. Back up one foot and call for come. Keep doing this and gradually build up distance. Gradually add distractions and extra sounds. Mix it up by having them sit stay and walking back to them and then release from stay.

Come is probably one of the most important command to teach a dog. Think what if there's a strange dog roaming or car coming or fireworks or child approaching. All of those situations will come up and its key that they know they need to listen no matter what. In some cases its literally life or death. I've seen many a dog saved because their owner said come to me and it turned them away from going in street and being hit by car. I had a friend who DIDNT teach her 2 year old mastiff that. Sadly she was hit by car and killed. So whether a small or large dog, old or young its super important.

Comments

A little distracting sound, a sweet calling of their name, clap clap, chest clap while calling, progress to a raised hand high (like waving),call out, bring arm down & when they come to you, pat their heads, softly scratch behind their ear, & say "good dog" as you slip them a super yums small treat.

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Hi, dog professional of 12years here.

  1. Teach him 'leave it'. Very easy fix. There are a million different methods, but just YouTube how to teach this command. This behavior is never funny, never allowed, and most definitely an invasion of space.

  2. 20' long line. Walk away and call him. If he comes back, praise and keep walking. DON'T STOP. As soon as he runs in front f you, blows you off, or runs in a different direction, walk in the opposite direction and call him. DON'T STOP. Let the leash do all the work for you. This is called the "Follow me method". Do this 2x/day for a week. It's magic.