Behavior Question:“No, Come!”

Dog Age: 12 weeks

Dog Sex: Female

Neutered? No

Dog Breed: Yellow lab

Training History: Received the pup at 8 weeks. For the most part we use positive training techniques (praise, treats) but also use "NO" or a scruff shake. She now responds to "come, sit, stay, watch me, and shake".

Number of Humans in household: 2 humans ages 25 & 60

Other Pet Info: No other pets

How Long Owned: 4 weeks

Other Info: From the first day, we have experienced submissive urination. I have read your website’s recommendations about that problem and we are starting to work on that.

Question: Frequently, if our pup knows she's done something wrong, or suspects she's in trouble, she will run from us or won't come when commanded. An example: She starts chewing on a rug. I tell her "NO". She continues to chew. After the second "NO", I move toward her to scruff shake her or to just take the rug away from her and she runs from me. She also may run under the table and hide or hide in another place that I will have difficulty reaching her.

When I use the command "NO", I expect her to stop what she's doing. I understand she needs things to chew on. I provide her with plenty of chew toys and she understands what a chew toy is and what she's not supposed to chew on. I also know to replace the rug with a chew toy. Chewing isn't the problem, it's running away when I move toward her when she's misbehaving. Or not responding to "come". How do I get her to stop running away or to stop hiding, or to stop ignoring the "come" command when she knows she's misbehaved?

When Problem Arise: After three weeks ago.

How Often Does Problem Occur: Frequently. If she hasn't been doing anything wrong, she usually "comes" on command. It mostly happens when she has been doing something wrong.

How have you attempted to solve this problem? I understand that it's a bad training technique to command a dog to "come" and then discipline the dog when the dog obeys the "come" command. I don't do that. But, if I say, "NO, COME", I expect the dog to stop doing what she's doing and obey the "COME" command. If I say, "NO, COME", she knows she's done something wrong and won't "come". She will run away from me instead.

When she does "come" after a "NO,COME" command I praise or reward her.

I have had other dogs before this one. When they were not responding to "NO" and I would move toward them to scruff shake them, they would stay still and not run. This pup responds differently and I don't know how to correct it's behavior or my behavior.

Daily Food Intake: Approx 1 1/2 cups dry dog food twice daily. The vet says she's at her proper weight and is very healthy.

Type of Foods: dry Iams dog food

Answer

Your pup knows she's going to get a scruff shake when she hears the word NO more than once, so even though you aren't punishing her when she does come, you actually are expecting her to understand more than she really can (at least at this age).  Once she hears "No" I wouldn't expect her to come, so combining the words "no" and "come" is both ineffective and confusing to her. 

As a matter of fact you may now have to do some remedial "Come" work with her to regain her trust of the word/you when you say it.  While she is still learning (3-6 months of age), "Come" needs to always be uttered happily, enthusiastically, and always be followed with praise and treats.  This may not have been the case with your other dogs and it's always a joy to have a dog who is naturally "good" but in this case you'll have to do this, particularly now that she's wary of the word because of its association with punishment of "no".

What to do when she's chewing the carpet?  I don't know what kind of chew toys you have but kibble-stuffed Kongs are about the only thing I know of that actually TRAIN puppies what to chew and what not to chew.  I recommend 4-5 kongs per pup, and if you're having success with housetraining you can even feed her all of her meals out of kongs - this really works to get her away from other inappropriate chewables. 

You concurrently need to limit and/or vigilantly supervise all of her time around inappropriate chewables; it's either watch her or put her in the crate (and putting her in the crate doesn't really train her, it just stops her from continuing her chewing habit and getting you upset.)  Go to the Chewing section of our Mouth Training page at http://www.dogdaysusa.com/mouthtraining.cfmand read it carefully.  All pups need to be proactively trained what's OK and what's not OK to chew, so you may even have to sprinkle some dry pepper (whatever color your rug is) on the rug for a while, and I'd strongly recommend you get some taste deterrant from your local pet store before she discovers the joys of baseboards. 

Now, scruff shakes are fine once in a while but it sounds like you're using it more as a default than for the truly despicable infractions.  I'd back off on those for a while until you've really set her up to have nothing but success for a few weeks.  In other words, do not let her out of your sight indoors unless she is very actively involved with her stuffed kongs and you will only stop watching for a few minutes. 

When you can't watch her for more than 10 minutes, put her in her crate or a puppy-proofed bathroom or kitchen until you can again monitor her activities.  If she's never in trouble, you can praise her almost continually, certainly any time she even looks at a kong.  You shouldn't have to use the word No at all during this time.  You’re simply not going to allow her the opportunity to get into trouble; you're managing the situation so that there is no cause for punishment, physical or verbal.  This is not only going to allow her to regain her trust of you (extremely important, not only for Come but for everything else) but it's going to teach you to praise her for anything good she does (i.e., anything she does that's not chewing) instead of saying "no" for the wrong behaviors. 

Suzanne L. Harris, BSc, CPDT
Dog Days Behavior Center
www.dogdaysUSA.com

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