Three Keys to Coming when Called

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA

Dog trainers like to say that coming-when-called is an odds game. If you called your dog right now, what are the odds he’d come? Would you place a bet on it? How much? Now, what if your dog was outside, or playing with another dog, or sniffing a lamp post?

Our job, yours and mine, is to stack the odds in our favor, to make it so we’d be willing to place a big bet that our dog will come when we call him every time anytime. Here are the keys.

Use a clear and consistent cue. I say “Stella, come!” (My dog’s name is Stella). I call it in a clear-throated voice, loudly. There’s a bit of lilt and lyricism to the call. It’s strong but not intimidating. I think of coming when called as an invitation not a demand. Avoid having a conversation with your dog. Don’t repeat the cue over and over. Don’t give multiple cues.
Watch to see if your dog moves toward you. As soon as he does, start smiling, and praising him. Cheer him on as he comes to you (but don’t repeat the cue).
Reinforce generously. Use the highest value reinforcer you can think of and give more than one treat (I recommend 3-4 in sequence). Then, if possible return your dog to play or whatever it was he was enjoying before you called him.

Repeat the process often, at different times, and in different places. In the early stages of training (all stages really) help your dog win the game. Set up your training so that he can succeed. I taught Stella coming-when-called using games. The process was fun for both of us, and easy as a result. We also mixed up the games to keep them interesting. I call Stella to me often when she leasts expects it and I reinforce it with a variety of things: food, play, access to fun activities. (See: Psyching Out Your Dog).

Practice throughout your dog’s lifetime to keep the behavior strong. It’s a powerful skill for keeping your dog safe from harm. But really, it’s nice just to show off that your dog is under some sort of control. How cool, right? My bet is that you’re going to love seeing your dog running towards you with that big goofy grin. Yeah, I’d put my money on that any day.

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA teaches dog training in Houston, TX

Speed Up Your Training

We want stuff fast: food, coffee (definitely coffee), replies to our emails – the faster the better, right? We want to feel better quickly, advance in our careers quickly, stop being sad and get happy – quickly. We’re in a hurry, zipping, weaving, taking short cuts and cutting people off (not you, I know). But here’s the thing about fast. It’s often sloppy. And a lot of the time it actually slows us down when we hurry up.

Here’s my advice, especially when it comes to working with your dog: Slow down. It will help you speed up your training. That’s a great paradox, isn’t it? It’s sort of like jumbo shrimp but, it’s true. If we dial back the rush and get out of our own way (and our dog’s way) we can actually step up the rate of our success.

We’re all guilty of this (me too). We want to teach a task, let’s say coming when called, and it feels like we’re on some sort of time crunch. So, we do two or three reps with our dog in the house and we get bored. Let’s go to the dog park and practice there. We call and call and call and she doesn’t come. Then we get frustrated. This isn’t working. We blame the dog. But, it’s not her fault. We’re rushing.

Here’s how you really speed things up. Break down all your training goals into small steps. For coming when called we may begin by reinforcing our dog for looking when we call her name – just a look (click/treat). Then we build to her coming short distances inside – then longer distances – then out in the back yard – and so on.

We do this when we teach our dog to lie on a mat. We reinforce her for looking at it, then stepping towards it, then stepping on it, then sitting, then lying. Those are all small steps with clicks and treats along the way. We could actually break down the steps even smaller to progress even quicker. That’s how you can train your dog to lie on mat in a matter of days – sometimes faster.

Breaking the task down may seem cumbersome and even boring. But, don’t be fooled. The key is to keep the process moving forward. As our dog masters each small task, we advance to the next one. Let’s not go too slowly and get stuck reinforcing one step for too long. But, let’s not move too fast and leave our dog in the dust either. Better to stay mindful and keep our dog (and ourselves) engaged and progressing. We can move very quickly that way.

Okay, but what if training falls a part and our dog just isn’t getting it? Tap the breaks. Go back to an earlier easy step at which your dog was successful. Jump start the process. Show her how to win again. Motor forward. Before long you’re building some speed once more.

Breaking things down as a key to winning is not a new concept. Trainer educator Laura Van Arendonk-Baugh (no relation) talks about it a great deal in her book, Fired Up Frantic and Freaked Out. Clicker training is all about teaching skills quickly (sometimes very quickly) in incremental steps. It works well for us humans too. Psychologist Angela Duckworth researches grit, that human quality that keeps us passionate and persistent in our life goals. She’s found that the grittiest of very successful people split their big goals in to many smaller ones. They thin-slice tasks and push speedily towards their own personal finish lines. I highly recommend Duckworth’s book, Grit: the Power of Passion and Perseverance.

Now a quick note about urgent dog behavior matters, the ones in which people and other dogs might be in danger. Dog who bite need to stop biting, right now. The same is true of dogs who might be a danger to themselves. We can take action to prevent dangerous behavior that can stem the problem right away. Baby gates, closed doors, leashes, and such all play a role. That kind of management of our dog’s environment is, in fact, essential. It’s an quick fix but, still, it’s not sufficient.

Training and behavior change plans complete the story. Can we teach our dogs to behave differently (better)? Yes, of course. Can we do it quickly? Yes, if we’re willing to slow down. When create a plan that breaks our big objective down into smaller ones, we speed up the process – one task at a time – one win at a time. All the while we are narrowing the distance to our goal, faster than we might have ever imagined.

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA teaches dog training in Houston, TX. He specializes in behavior problems related to fear and aggression.

Five Training Fouls to Avoid

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT

We do our best teaching (training) when we set our dogs up to succeed. We make it easy for our dogs to get it right – to perform the tasks we want to reinforce. Once we build some momentum we increase the difficulty, but not before.

As trainers, we want to do the same thing for ourselves. Let’s set ourselves up to succeed by eliminating the stuff that get in the way of good solid learning. They are the distractions and interference that slow us down or even derail our teaching efforts. I call them training fouls. Here’s my short (but not exhaustive) list of the worst culprits of training fouls. Don’t fall victim and, please, don’t get flagged for a training foul yourself.

The Session Thief. This is perhaps one of the most common fouls. A trainer is in a session with her dog. Perhaps the dog is a bit slow to respond to a cue. Then, another well-meaning person jumps in with another cue and steals the session. You can see how this would confuse our dog and frustrate the first trainer. Don’t be that person. And, don’t let others foul you in this way.

The Dog Shamer. Nothing kills training like someone making you feel bad about how you are raising your dog. This foul may come as a surprise. After all, it’s my job to help get folks back on course with teaching their dogs. But, giving professional advice and guidance isn’t the same as making someone feel like an idiot. Don’t shame your fellow dog lovers – they are doing the best they can with the information they currently have. And if you want to be helpful to someone else, be helpful. Leave the criticism and same on the other side of the foul line.

Whispering Uncle Buddy. We all have a friend or relative like this. Our dog is sensitive to new people he doesn’t know well. Maybe he’s even bitten before. But our kind-hearted (but bumbling) friend or relative is certain our dog will love him anyway. “I have a way with dogs.” “All dogs love me.” “I’ve had dogs all my life.” Sigh. These are most often the folks who get bitten. They feel bad. We feel bad. They are walking, talking, smiling, training fouls. Certainly don’t be that person. And keep that person away from your dog.

The Alpha “Expert”. This guy (and it’s usually a guy, sorry) might also be an Uncle Buddy (see above). He may not a dog trainer by profession, but he’s seen lots of TV shows on dog training and maybe a few YouTube videos. He knows how to show a dog who is boss – how to make him mind – and he certainly knows more that the trainer you’re working with. Foul. I already know you are not that person. Don’t let The Alpha “Expert” confuse you about how to teach your dog. And please, don’t let him hurt your dog in the name of training.

The One-More-Timer. This is a training foul we most often do to ourselves. A learning session is going exceptionally well. Our dog seems to be grasping the concept and that last rep was perfect. We’re so proud we want to see it just “one more time.” Stop. Record the win and take a break. “One more time” is the curse of great trainers worldwide. Don’t foul your dog (or yourself). Celebrate the success and end on that note for the time being.

Most of these folks are just humans, like you and me, trying their best. Be firm with them, but kind. Help them become better teachers and dog lovers, just as you have become. We are all learning. And we all know the learning comes faster and easier when the humans involved are patient, relaxed, and clear thinking.

Learn. Smile. Breathe. Teach. Repeat.

Michael Baugh teaches dog training in Houston, TX. He specializes in behavior related to fear and aggression in dogs.