This command is the basic stone of comfortable life with a dog. Dog, which canīt
be called back, we either canīt release from the leash (which means for him to
spend whole life on the leash), or we are risking problems caused by the dog,
in worse case some damage and in the worst case the dog can even die (under wheels
of cars or being shot by some angry hunter).
On the other side, this command is one of the most difficult, because probably
doesnīt exist a dog, which 100% listens on the command "come here" (itīs living
creature, not a machine). There always can appear unexpected circumstances, which
can affect the dogīs acting in the individual situation. From these reasons, to
build a solid fetch requests a lot of consistence, patience, neverending repeating
and not in the last place also our foresight.
The most ideal is to start training this trick in the very young age of the puppy,
when the dog is very bind on his owner and it has natural tendency to stay near
the other pack members (which should be people, be aware of the pup to get bind
on another dog in the family). The partner No.1 must be human, not dog, unless
the puppy will in future always preffer dogs instead of you. Release then your
puppy off leash as much as you can (on safe places, of course!), because the puppy
will normally run to you always, when the distance between you and him increases
too much. This eyeblick you have to use and always praise the puppy and cheer
him up. When it comes, play with him and give him some treat (always have pockets
full of good treats) and let the dog go again. You can also hide in front of the
dog (from your shelter call or whistle), in case the puppy is very interested
in something else, then make him notice you by making some noise (clasping your
hands, whistling) and run away from the puppy. Of course, when the puppy comes
to you or finds you, you must welcome him wildly, praise him a lot and give him
a good treat. I also recommend to squat when you call the dog to come to you -
you become more acceptable by your size and you donīt seem that authoritative.
All this acting has the only goal - to teach your dog, that he has to watch you
and if he comes to you, there will something great follow. Also this way you make
a good contact between you two, which is mandatory for all the next training.
Never try to hunt dog, which doesnīt want to come to you. Sometimes there is recommended
at small pups, that owner can hunt them, catch them and make them to obey this
way. However, the small Czechoslovakian wolfdogs can be catched only for a very
short period of their childhood, so you better never try, if you are still faster
than your dog or not (the change can come from day to day - i am speaking from
my own experiences :o) ).
The command "be free !"
The part of the fetch on the place by command "come here!" and also when
walking, is the command "be free !". In normal life, there is of course
no need to give this command to the dog, because on the walk is so much things
to check, that the dog will run away automatically when it is unleashed. However,
for the test form of fetch it is usually neccessary to train this command (the
dog has to go away at least for 10 steps). Curiously, this command is very often
a problem and for the inadequate distance from the whipper the refferee usually
gives less points.
Again, important is to avoid stereotype. If you train with the dog the same
way all the time - walking - running free - calling the dog back, the dog after
some time stops to run away, because it awaits to be called back. Thus you have
to change the environment, change the intervals between the commands, give to
the dog only free time and then play with him, but donīt call him back etc.
If you need to prolonge the distance of running away, you can throw something
to the dog. The gesture of throwing away some thing or treat is similar like
the gesture of showing the way to run at command "be free!". Of course you canīt
throw the things the top way.
Command "be free !" is mostly supported by gesture of showing the way
to run.
Helena
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