Dog trainers say this is the ultimate in safety cues. Just as before, you need your clicker, treats and a quiet place. The clicker and the treats perform the same function as when the puppy was learning his name so this is something familiar to him and to you.

One slight difference though, this time around you put a treat on the floor for your dog to eat and walk to the other side of the room whilst holding another in your hand in full view of your puppy. Call your puppy by his name and say come in a happy tone, click the clicker as he starts to come to you and give him the treat when he completes the command. Don’t forget to praise him all the way and touching his collar when you give him the treat is reassurance for you and him.

If your puppy does not get it the first time don’t worry, just keep at it he’ll get it sooner or later but don’t forget to take breaks in between and start with an environment with little or no distractions.  As time goes by you can change things a bit and instead of holding the treat in your hand you can give it to him from your pocket when he comes to you and eventually this becomes a hand signal for your puppy to come. Increasing the amount of distraction as your puppy gets better at responding to ‘Come’ will help to reinforce the learning and you get to see how well your puppy is doing. Incorporate a lot of these things into games and make it fun learning for both you and your puppy.

Tip One… You should try to remember is to always make coming to you a positive experience.

Tip Two… Always reward your puppy even if he didn’t come the first time you called for him to come.

Like before it may be useful to record how well your puppy is doing on a chart like the one below:

Puppy responds to ‘Come’ or the hand gesture :

Here are some examples of the different levels of distractions:

Low level:

-    You have a toy in your hand or someone else is in the family room

Higher/moderate level:

-          A phone or doorbell is ringing when you call his name

-          You are lying down or facing a different direction when you give the command ‘Come’

-          You are asking in a different area

High level:

-          You have guests visiting

-          You are in a busy place or park

-          Other people or dogs are interacting with your puppy

Family members who take part in the activity can also have their own reward chart and can track their progress. This adds some extra interest for kids in particular and has been proven to improve learning in the same way that rewards improve learning for your puppy.

For more information on how to train your puppy… Click Here