September 09, 2002
Monday

Dr Fran's puppy mantra is that it's always, always, always easier to teach a puppy something, than it will be to try to teach it to him as an adult. That's because that's the puppy's job: to learn.

The command 'come' is definitely the command that will be the hardest to play catch-up on, if you don't start teaching it now. A warning to owners of Arctic Circle breeds - Siberian Huskies,

--- Peppy Le Pew Digital photo by Gigi Pilcher ---

Alaskan Malamutes, Alsations, Akitas - these are dogs that tend to forget everything they've ever learned when they get off-leash, including their names and who you are. Teach these guys to come NOW.

It's never too soon.

Right now, you have a little eight week old bundle of curiosity, who wants nothing more than to be near you, to see what you're doing, to play with you. Let's use that. As an Advanced Dog Trainer and Treat Dispenser, you, of course, always have doggy treats in one pocket

So keep an eye on little Rover, and every time you see him heading toward you, you reach for a treat in your pocket at the same time you call out "Rover, Come " and when he gets to you, he gets presented with a little yummy treat, and an enthusiastic "Good come, Rover" with ear scratches and belly thumps to complete the exercise.

He was coming to you anyway.

You just took advantage of the behavior you wanted, to let him know you wanted it, and to name it for him. Now you'll have him so he's keeping one eye on you just to look for the opportunity to come to you. 'Cause, remember, he gets good stuff for doing that.

Once he's got it down though, and he really steps up the pace when you say 'Come', you're going to make it a little tougher, telling him it was a 'Good come, Rover', but only giving him a treat if there weren't any detours or distractions along the way. Remember, you're a treat slot machine, not a treat Coke machine.

Right now, coming to you is the reason for his existence. We want to hardwire that message into his psyche, rather than letting it slide away unnoticed. This is one that needs to be taught now, so don't put it off til later. Later might be too late. An Arctic Circle breed pup that hasn't been taught that coming is more fun by the time he's ten weeks old than what he might find just around the corner, is one that will need to be on a leash for the rest of his life. Quite a price to pay for procrastinating, isn't it?

Next: Call-aways and surviving the Terrible Twos

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