1) Always use the same command. I use ?come? because it is simple to use and is unlike any other command word. Remember your dog will not understand ?get over here? if you usually say ?come?.

2) Always praise the dog for coming to you. This is particularly important for puppies who will learn extremely well if they are praised and loved every time they do something right! Come should be the dog's favourite word, and should make them want to run to you straight away.

3) Never call the dog to you for punishment, or to do something unpleasant. Remember love and praise every time!

4) Your body language is important. A dog stands stiff legged and looks into the eyes of another dog to be aggressive and threatening. You will find it much more effective to crouch or bend, slap your legs and don't make eye contact. Keep your voice high pitched and cheerful. Your dog may come to you without you giving the command word when you adopt this position.

5) It is essential that your dog doesn't learn to ignore the ?come? command. Use any trick that you can to get the dog to come to you ? running away will make him chase you, for instance. A particularly useful trick I use is to do something totally out of character, like falling to the ground and pretending to cry or laugh loudly. Your dog will come to investigate. However embarrassed you are, praise the dog for coming ? any punishment will ruin your work so far, and you will be back to square one.

6) An adult dog that doesn't come on command has already learnt that the command word is meaningless. It is much easier to choose a different word than to try and correct a corrupted one. Choose ?here?, ?to me? or any other simple word that you fancy!

Remember that however well your dog is trained, he may still get lost or stolen. I always recommend that any dog should be micro-chipped ? a simple process whereby a microchip with personal information is injected under the dogs skin. Should he become lost, any dog pound / police handler will scan the dog for a chip, and be able to return him to his owner.