"come" Command

[Guest breakxdownn]

We just got Finley this past Saturday and he's awesome. Yes, he does have some common greyhound issues such as statueing and a little bit of SA right now, etc which I've been reading up on in other threads. However, I have a question I haven't come across.

 

When Finley is sleeping or resting on his bed..or even just standing somewhere in the house and we need to take him out before bed or get him to come to bed with us, he just stares at us, then goes back to sleep. He doesn't respond to the general untrained "c'mon boy!" type of call. Since we still haven't even had him a week, we obviously haven't taught him basic commands like come, down, etc. He likes food a lot but isn't always food motivated. I'm not sure if we just aren't trying the right things, but most of the time, my husband has to physically pick him up and put him on his feet (he has zero sleep aggression and does not mind being picked up). We always try to make it a pleasant thing that he is coming to and praise/treat him if he comes when we say. If we are about to leave, or we just came home, he will follow us everywhere. Any other time, we have this issue.

 

Is this normal for him to not respond to us without training in these situations? Do you have suggestions on this? Or is this answer simply a train your dog to listen to you type of thing?

[Guest greytloves]

Tonight I was really working on the "GO AWAY AND LET ME WALK YOU HEATHENS" command!

 

Teach him "watch me" first, and then go from there.If you think he is not food motivated, do this type of training BEFORE he has ate!

 

He sounds like a lovable lazy bug!

[Sambuca]

I've had Bu for almost 2 years. When I first got him he was almost a spook. He wouldn't leave his crate willingly for close to 2 months. I would put his leash on his while he was laying down and say either "let's go" or "come". After a few weeks I said "let's go" before I put his leash on and got up and out of his crate. I didn't even realize he knew what I meant until then. So my suggestion, is put a leash on him, use a command of your choice, gently tug until he gets up. It takes time. Even commands that are informal, are taught. My boy know a command "stay here". I used to really use it at my parents, but now use it any time and it works well for us. If I'm in a room with Bu and I don't want him leaving the room or an area, I tell him to "stay here" and he knows not to go anywhere, but the room we are in, is fair game for him to explore. That command probably took us months because it is situational. Patience is very important. Good luck.

[OwnedBySummer]

I had to force Summer to come with us, too, just like you. I had to nudge her off the couch or lift her up off the floor. Sometimes I only had the strength to get the front end off the couch and then shoved the back end off. She had absolutely no idea that she should accompany me out the patio doors. But don't fret, it will come. I didn't do any training to get her to come with us, she just finally made the association. It didn't take very long.

[Sambuca]

I had to force Summer to come with us, too, just like you. I had to nudge her off the couch or lift her up off the floor. Sometimes I only had the strength to get the front end off the couch and then shoved the back end off. She had absolutely no idea that she should accompany me out the patio doors. But don't fret, it will come. I didn't do any training to get her to come with us, she just finally made the association. It didn't take very long.

 

 

Those associations are training in use.

[buddibear]

My boy would not budge for anything,except the lead. I could click the closure lock and he would come a running. After some time of "getting to know U" I stopped picking him up,when the whirling mouth of teeth by my face was too close. I think after time a pecking order happens.

[Guest Jubilee251]

Sounds like he is just too lazy and enjoying his nap too much to want to go anywhere!

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Your boy is new, and as you say, he statues sometimes. This means he is unsure of his new environment. He just is not comfortable enough yet. Remember, these hounds dont even know their names when they come off the track (most dont, or have "track" names that are not usually a part of their racing names). Your hound has never been "called" to someone. He has always been led around on a leash, or moved with a pack of hounds. Sounds like he is an only right now, that is a HUGE change for him. What I would suggest is to gently grab his collar when you want him to move, come, go somewhere. I would not suggest you pick him up. He could be fearful and snap. Good luck, things will change.

[Guest lasharp1209]

Blade used to come running at ANY noise, he just had to be with us all the time and was just mostly crazy. He was a total food hog so if he heard food, that was it. NOW, however, even food can't get him out of bed anymore. Sometimes he will get out of bed if he hears the leash or if I open the front door, but not always. I feel like an idiot at times, trying to sound all excited "Come on boy! Come on! Let's go! Want to go outside? Here we go buddy!" and he just stares at me like "Woman, what is your problem?"

 

It's awesome to see people's reactions when I tell them it takes my dog 2 hours to get up in the morning. And it's totally true.

 

I mostly figure, if he doesn't want to go on a walk, I'm not forcing him. As long as I can get him up to pee, I don't care if he eats or walks. If he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to.

Edited September 16, 2010 by lasharp1209

[Guest NeroAmber]

I know you said he wasn't particularly food motivated, but have you tried veyr high value foods? like some raw beef or chicken, or (less icky to touch) dog sausage. Maybe even peanut butter might get him going?

 

If he responds to a particular food, keep it purely for the 'come' command, it should help

[Brindles]

he does have some common greyhound issues such as statueing and a little bit of SA right now

I know you weren't asking us to address this specifically, but I'd argue that the statueing is not a common greyhound trait. In the five years I've owned my dogs I've been actively involved in adoption and I spent a good deal of time working at the track. I've been around well over a thousand greyhounds and very rarely did any statue on leash. If they did it was a spook who was afraid of something. You'll read lots of stories about it here on GT but personally I have yet to see a level-headed greyhound do it.

 

The SA is a common dog trait, not just greyhounds, though they are certainly prone to it.

 

most of the time, my husband has to physically pick him up and put him on his feet (he has zero sleep aggression and does not mind being picked up).

Be careful doing that! That's exactly how Dazzle bit me in the face. He had been with me for three weeks when it happened. If you haven't had problems yet then you probably won't, but I just wanted to say something just in case!

 

Is this normal for him to not respond to us without training in these situations? Do you have suggestions on this? Or is this answer simply a train your dog to listen to you type of thing?

Yes, absolutely normal. Like you said, you've only had him a week. In the kennel he was probably never trained to come. He just followed the pack. He's in sensory overload right now and he's still adjusting to your family and his new routine. It will take time for him to get used to all the vocal commands he hears. Like others have said, try using a leash to get him off his bed. If he really won't budge, you can get behind him and clap. Just make sure there's always a positive association when you call him to you.

 

He sounds to me like he'll come around! I'd much prefer the laid-back personality than the alternatives. Congrats on your new boy!

[Guest breakxdownn]

Thank you for all the responses - they are all really helpful.

 

We have tried the leash thing, all the time. Putting the leash on him while hes lying down, he usually lifts his head up and looks at us, then it's back down on his bed. With food he is more than willing to eat it when you put it near him, but not willing to do something for it while hes lying down if it means getting up. We will keep experimenting with different/higher incentive foods though.

 

A couple of you have brought up the whole "spook" thing. I have not thought of him as a spook, although I don't really know what all qualifies him for that. He loves people and other dogs and is always really interested in noises - he runs from window to window to look out when he hears something. Maybe his not wanting to come for walks/to go out (he sometimes gets stuck on our front porch when we take him out to go potty) is because he's scared of something, but on the same hand, there have been times when I've taken him out/on a walk and he hardly stops at all and seems to love it.

 

It's good to hear from those of you whose dog has had the same issues. We met another greyhound owner at the vets tonight who said their dog did the same thing and after a while he started responding, such as a couple of you have said. It makes sense that he won't understand what we want of him for a while like some of you have said. However, that gives me some hope that a simple "cmon boy" may not have to be a strict trained command. We are going to start training him basic commands now that he's on his way to settling in. In the meantime, we will just feel like idiots trying to get him to come with us

[Guest manders4]

We've had Daisy for a month now, and she only just started coming to us when we jiggle her leash. I think it's probably just something that takes time. He's all comfy inside, why would he want to go out?

[Batmom]

I too would suggest leash. Clip leash on, turn AWAY from the dog, cheerful "Let's go!" and take a nice march-like step away.

[OwnedBySummer]

Oh, I forgot to mention. I don't actually use the command "come" or the word "come" when it's outside time. I use the phrase "let's go pee". Because I'm not calling her to come TO me, I am calling her to go WITH me. "Come" I use as a command to come to me and present herself in front of me for whatever reason I may want her. Enjoy your shoving and lifting -- it will stop eventually once he realizes what you want.

 

As to the statue thing... Summer used to do that as well. It was weird walking her at first because she'd stop and stare at stuff. But no more. If she wants to look at something now, it is always truly interesting and we both just stop and take a look. She seems to really like looking at houses and gardens which are badly maintained.

 

All things will pass. Finley will get there!

[arandomchic]

We've gone through some of this with Molly. For not wanting to get up --- be patient. I just try to remind myself that if I were in a dead sleep and someone wanted me to get up and pee and I didn't really feel like I needed to, I'd be resistant too

 

What we did was put the leash on her, and then gently tug upwards and say "Up!" We've used this also in the yard when she doesn't wan to come in. At the beginning, as soon as she's up we'd give her a yummy treat (she especially likes small hot dog bits or pieces of cooked chicken). Now when we need to do this, she just gets up with a "good girl" and ear scritch for reward.

 

To go out, we unlock the door, jiggle her leash and say "Molly let's go potty!". So if we had to leash her to get her up, we'd do that, walk her to the door and still do the unlock, jiggle, lets go potty thing. Now all we have to do is jiggle the leash, say the phrase and she's usually there in a second.

 

For statuing, we found that if we just stood next to her, letting her side rest against our leg for a minute, she almost always would be ready to move on. After a bit, we'd say "Let's go!" or "We're walking" and she'd start up most of the time. Sometimes she'd need more time to check things out and be comfortable, so we'd wait and try it again in a bit.

 

Just remember, she's learning new rules and it takes time and patience. Finley will get it eventually. Good luck!

[Guest lasharp1209]

It is also still very early, you have had him less than a week. I would suggest not worrying about teaching commands or anything at this point - just give him time to settle in, get used to you and the routines, and take time to observe his personality. I would probably wait a couple months to start any kind of training, but that's my opinion.

[Guest Greyglo]

Tonight I was really working on the "GO AWAY AND LET ME WALK YOU HEATHENS" command!

...

 

[Guest breakxdownn]

I just wanted to update everyone - Finley is doing AWESOME and its only his second week. Towards the end of last week, and definitely beginning this past weekend he started responding to our little "cmon boy" calls as well as his name - we always call him to something good. We've stopped making him go out and take him out every time he goes towards the door which, for the most part, is every time he has to go. We've been making his bathroom trips really quick and limiting them to just our back yard (before we would walk in the field behind our house up a couple houses and back). He's learning all of this SO quickly. As suggested, we haven't started any formal training yet and I do think it's best to wait a little longer for that since he's still getting to know us and respond to us, etc.

 

Keep it up Finley!

[OwnedBySummer]

Way to go, Finley! Good boy!