Episode #216 Teaching Your Dog to Come Doesn’t Have to BE STRESSFUL

If you’ve ever called your dog and they’ve completely ignored you, you’re not alone! Most of us accidentally teach our dogs that “come” means “the fun is over”… but don’t worry, we’re going to fix that! In this episode, I'll teach you how to make recall training FUN, EASY, and super REWARDING for your pup. 🚀

🔹 Why We Ruin the Word "Come" (and how to fix it!)
🔹 Common Recall Mistakes (and what to do instead)
🔹 The 10-1 Rule – A simple trick to make your dog LOVE coming to you
🔹 Fun Recall Games! 🎾 (Round Robin Recall + Hide and Seek)
🔹 Essential Training Tools – Harnesses, long lines, and high-value treats

💡 PRO TIP: Never chase your dog if they run away! Instead, run AWAY from them—most dogs will instinctively chase after you!

👉 Ready to turn your dog’s recall into a game they can’t resist? Watch the full video on YouTube @baxterandbella and try these tips out! Let us know in the comments how your training is going!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Teaching your dog to come does not have to be
stressful.
Have you ever called your dogto come and then they look at
you like, nah, I'm good.
Then this episode is for you.
Welcome to the Puppy TrainingPodcast.
I'm Amy Jensen, founder ofBaxter Bella, the online puppy
school.
Here we are all about helpingyou create the best possible

(00:23):
experience raising a puppy, fromtraining tips to practical
tricks, all aimed at fostering ahappy, well-behaved dog who
truly feels like part of thefamily.
So if you are ready to enjoythe journey and strengthen the
bond with your dog, let's getstarted.
Hey you guys, welcome to thepodcast.

(00:45):
Thanks for listening.
I appreciate you being here.
Today.
We're going to have a littlefun with cum.
So this audio comes from myYouTube channel at Baxter and
Bella.
You can head over there to seethe visual of it, but today you
get the audio.
It's kind of fun.
Go with it and let's see if youcan learn a few things about
recall.
If I'm always putting my dog ona leash and the fun is ending

(01:06):
every time I say come, why onearth would I ever think they
would actually come?
Because who wants to hang outwith somebody?
That's no fun anyway.
I know I don't.
Today I'm going to teach youhow to make come easy, fun and
stress-free, because, let's behonest, right now, your dog
probably thinks come means theparty is over.

(01:27):
And I can teach you how to fixthat.
Buddy come, hey, come hereright now.
Buddy, here, buddy, let's go.
Buddy, hey, buddy, buddy, whatare you doing?
No, buddy, not that way.
Buddy, come.
We tend to ruin the word come bymaking it boring or not very
positive for our dogs,unfortunately.
So they hear the word andthey're like, yeah, no, I don't

(01:48):
think so.
We say come when we want ourdog to come inside.
We say come when it's time toput the leash on and we leave
the park.
We say come when we're going toput their leash on and take
them into the bath or the shower, and all of these things equate
to negative for our dog.
They don't want to listen tothe word come.
It means something that theydon't want to do is about to

(02:11):
happen.
Basically, every time we saycome, it's bad news.
And guess what?
Your dog is smart and theyfigure it out really quickly
that this pattern does not workfor them.
So when they hear that wordcome, no thanks, human.
I think I'll just keep sniffingthis bush.
Here are a few common mistakes Isee for you to avoid.
Number one calling your dogonly when the fun ends.
Number two repeating the cue amillion times.

(02:34):
Number three chasing your dogif they don't come.
News flash.
Your dog loves being chased.
Instead of chasing them, youbecome the chase.
Turn and run the other way andguess what I bet your dog
follows.
Now that we've talked about thecommon mistakes, how can we
change them?
Don't stress about it.
Here's how you're going tochange it.
We're going to make it so thatyour dog loves coming to you.

(02:58):
It's called the 10 to 1 ruleand here's how it works.
I'm going to call my dog to me.
I'm going to reward them andthen send them off to play again
.
10 times for every one time.
That, okay.
Yeah, it's time to go that way.
We are overloading the positive.
More often than not, my dog'scoming to me, checking in,
getting a yummy food, reward andbeing sent back to do what they

(03:20):
love doing, like sniffing orplaying, et cetera.
Right, and then that one time,yeah, the leash goes on and we
have to leave.
But because 10 times, somethinggood is happening more often
than not, come to them meansparty.
Go check in with Amy.
She feeds me something good andI get to go back and play.
But Amy, I don't have time forthat.
Yes, you do, it doesn't takelong.

(03:42):
This can be throughout the dayrandomly.
Just call your dog to you, feedthem something great and send
them back on their way.
You're doing it throughout theday so that you're getting in
those repetitions and the nexttime that you actually need to
say the word come, your dog islike yeah, let's do this.
So call your dog to you Bigpraise, throw a party Food
reward, awesome stuff, awesomesauce, belly rubs, whatever they

(04:05):
love, right, throw their toyfor them.
That's great, make it a bigdeal, but send them off to play.
Okay, go play.
And you guess what?
Just turn and walk away.
Pretty soon, your dog's goingto be following you around
saying well, wait, where are yougoing?
Well, wait, where are you going.
The problem then will begetting them to leave you alone,
and that's what we want.
That's how you'll know it'sworking.
This makes cum a super fun word.

(04:27):
Instead of thinking, oh, no, mylife is over, your dog's going
to say, yeah, I'm going to gocheck in, get a food reward and
go back to play Huge win.
Next, let's make training a game.
The first game I'm going toteach you for recall is round
robin recall.
So you're going to need a groupof friends.
You all stand in a circle.
Every person gets three to fivefood rewards about the size of

(04:50):
your pinky finger now, so nothuge but good and then person
one's going to call the dog tothem.
I like to have the dog sit.
When they get to me, I like tohold their collar so that they
get used to me reaching in tohold their collar and they don't
play this little catch me ifyou can game, if you know what
I'm talking about, you know.
So they sit, I hold theircollar, I feed them a food
reward and then I become astatue.
As soon as I become a statue,the next person across the

(05:13):
circle and this can be totallyrandom they call the dog and the
dog does the same behavior.
They sit, they hold theircollar, they get a food reward.
Then the next person calls thedog.
So the dog's essentiallyrunning this way and then
running that way.
They're ping-ponging back andforth across that circle,
greeting people politely butalso practicing a really awesome
recall.
The more fun and exciting youmake this game, the faster your

(05:35):
dog's going to respond when youcall and bonus.
It gets them tired too.
Physical exercise is necessary.
This game gives it to your dog.
Want to make it even more funPlay hide and seek with your dog
.
With your dog in a down stay orsomeone else holding them on
leash, you go hide and then letyour dog search for you.
So call them, make a noise,squeak a toy and let them search

(05:58):
.
That's so much fun for them andgood mental exercise.
Once they find you, big rewardThrow a party.
This game builds drive in yourdog to check in with you more
often, especially in distractingenvironments.
Playing these games is greatindoors, but eventually we also
want to take it outside.
So once you head outside, makesure your dog's wearing a
harness.

(06:19):
I like to use a long line.
This one's about 20 feet long.
I clip it to the back of mydog's harness and then we head
out to the backyard or to thepark to play these games there
too.
So if you're worried that yourdog will just take off, make
sure they have a harness and along line on them before you
play these games.
Wait, don't forget about food.
Food makes a great reward and atraining tool for recall.

(06:42):
So make sure you pick somethingyour dog is going to drool over
.
These are from Pawtreefreeze-dried turkey.
This is beef liver medallionsDoesn't sound good to us, but it
sure is drool worthy to ourdogs.
Remember the idea is that we arefun, we are exciting and when
my dog comes to me a partyhappens.

(07:02):
Something really good happens.
So picking good food that yourdog loves will just make their
recall all the stronger.
Just imagine your dog sees asquirrel that your dog loves
will just make their recall allthe stronger.
Just imagine your dog sees asquirrel.
Your dog sees a bike.
Maybe they see another dogzooming by.
How are you going to get themto come back to you?
If you want a strong recall, tryplaying these games.
Bring high value food, use thatharness and long line and

(07:25):
you'll have a solid recall in notime, no matter the
distractions.
Okay, pop quiz time.
How many times are you going tocall your dog to you?
For every one time that theleash goes on and the fun ends?
That's right, at least 10.
Does it have to be that?
Exactly no, but it needs to beway more than the one time that
the fun ends.

(07:45):
Remember, you want to be thegood, exciting, fun party way
more often than okay, yeah, wegot to go take a bath.
Or yeah, we're leaving the dogpark now 10 times to every one
time.
10 times the dog comes, theyget to go play.
And then that one time, yeah,sorry, the fun's over.
I promise that is the fastestway to fix your dog's recall,

(08:07):
and that's it.
Teaching your dog to come doesnot have to be stressful.
In fact, it's going to be fun.
I'm excited to hear how it goesat your house.
So drop in the comments a gameyou played with your dog or how
that 10 to 1 rule worked for you, and then hit like, hit,
subscribe.
And if you'd like to see more,head on over to our YouTube
channel at Baxter and Bella.
Thanks for tuning in to thepuppy training podcast.

(08:30):
I hope today's tips help youfeel more confident and excited
about raising your dog.
Remember, with a littlepatience and consistency, you
can create a loving bond and awell-behaved pup who's a joy to
have in your family.
If you found this episodehelpful, be sure to subscribe,
leave a review and share it withfellow puppy parents.
For more resources, visitBaxter and Bella online.

(08:53):
Until next time, happy training.