How to Train Your Border Terrier Dog to Come Back

It's never too early to start teaching a terrier recall. Even when your puppy is too young to go out, start his training in the home. This also applies to adult dogs who need work on their recall. The idea here is to take advantage of times when the dog happens to be moving towards you, to praise the dog and make him feel like the center of your world. This makes the dog understand that good things happen when he comes to you, which encourages this action in the future.

Imagine your puppy happens to walk or run in your direction. Make use of this action by calling him in an excited voice and making yourself interesting to the dog. Try slapping your thighs or squeaking a favoirte toy to peak the dog's interest. As he picks up the pace and comes trotting to you, say "Come" in a firm but happy voice. When the dog reaches you, praise him like he's been lost for a year and you've just been reunited. This teaches a strong positive link to the work "Come"

Play games that involve the puppy coming to you. For example, prepare his meal and when he comes trotting over for his food, say "Come". Likewise, call him from another room or squeak a toy and shout "Come" as he moves towards you. Again give him a big reward such as a game with the toy, a big fuss, or a food treat.

Young dogs are programmed to stay close to the security of the mother dog. In a young pup, you take on that protector role. Ironically, you can trigger the pup to move towards you, by backing away from the puppy. Do this is a playful manner, again slapping your thighs or showing the dog a toy. When he comes trotting over say "Come" and then reward him.

With the help of a friend, plays games where you each in turn call the puppy over for a reward. For example, Person A squeaks a toy. As puppy runs over they say "Come". Play with the puppy and as they start to lose interest, Person B squeaks a different toy. Puppy runs over as 'B' says "Come."

With all the exercises suggested above, once the puppy gets the hang of things, start to use the cue word ahead of any other means of getting the dog's attention. Now he links "Come" to moving to you and getting a reward, hopefully he will spontaneously return to your side.

Terriers are independent thinking dogs who are bred to make their own decisions. This can make training difficult if you try to dominate the dog. He may simply decide he has a better idea and stay away. However, when you make recall training fun, he's more likely to be motivated to respond and training will go well. Strategies that will help include keeping the training sessions short and mixing things up a little so each session is slightly different and therefore more interesting to the dog.

Terriers are highly likely to get distracted and run off. Until such a time as the dog has a reliable recall, take steps to keep the dog safe at all times. This means training in a contained space such as a fenced yard or keeping the dog on a longline.

Start with the dog is a sitting position. Take a few step away from him, and then slap your thighs in an excited manner and say "Come". When the dog comes to you, give him lots of praise and a treat. Repeat this several times each training session.

Have the dog sit, as in the previous step. Once he is reliably coming straight to you over a short distance, start moving further away. Gradually build up the distance over which the dog has to travel to come back to you. Each time the dog does well, make him feel super special with lots of praise and a treat. Keep the mood light and fun, so the dog thinks he's taking part in a game, rather than being trained.

Once the dog is returning over a decent distance, start practicing in different places and under different conditions. It may help to up the ante with your treat and offer a super-scrumptious snack that the dog simply can't resist. Now is the time to introduce sausages, cheese, or liver, something the dog is going to be motivated to seek out over and above any distractions around him.

Make yourself instantly attractive to the dog by packing some irresistible treats. Often a dog with a poor recall can be won over when he realizes that it truly is worth his while responding in order to get the treat of his dreams.

No matter how frustrated you feel or how late for work the dog's slow recall has made you, never punish him. Indeed, no matter how long the delay, when he does come to heel, praise him enthusiastically. This is essential if the dog is to learn that coming to your recall is a good thing, and not something that will be punished.

For the independent-minded Border terrier with a dodgy recall, use a longline. This allows him the freedom to sniff and explore, but while keeping him under your control. A longline is preferable to a flexi lead, as the dog has to pull on the flexi lead to get extra line. This teaches him to pull on the leash, which is not something you want to encourage.

If the dog runs off and doesn't answer to recall, stop wasting your breath. Repeated shouting after him will just cause him to tune your voice out and ignore it. Instead, try strategies such as hiding behind a tree, so that when the dog looks round he can't see you. This will often cause the dog to wonder where you are and coming trotting back to investigate. At this point, you can call him excitedly and hope his training clicks in.

As the dog becomes more accomplished at recall, practice in more challenging situations. Also, never rest on your laurels and always keep up training for the those times when he sees a cat and is about to give chase.