You cannot consider your dog properly trained unless he instantly obeys your command to come. There must be no hesitation on his part; come means come.
In addition to wanting to please you, the pup also wants to come to you. In fact, it's all he can do to restrain himself from dashing over to you. Fine. This makes a good place to start. Later, you will want him to come from any position and place.
Before starting the "Come" lesson, give the pup a warm-up. Run him through the sit-stay a few times to get him into the spirit of the lessons.
Next, give him the command or hand signal to sit, follow it with stay, then move off about twenty feet. Now, give the sharp, clear command "Come!" (or use his name), at the same time slapping your knees as you bend over.
If the pup dawdles or bolts away for a romp, go to him, issue a reprimand and give him the sit-stay commands. Move back from him and repeat the command "Come!" If he still insists on giving you the "you-chase-me" treatment, go to him, chastize him, and make him sit-stay again.
This time fasten a twenty-foot rope to his collar. Walk to the end of the rope, turn around and give the command "Come!" As you give the command, tug on the rope. If he digs in, haul him toward you and keep repeating the command.
He'll come to you when you pull him, albeit very unwillingly. But when he gets hauled over to you three or four times, he'll prefer to come without the rope. Try him. If he goes astray, put him back on the rope.
Some trainers use a hand signal for "Come!" This hand signal has its uses, mostly in the field. But even in the field it is limited, especially when you are out of sight of the dog. For general use, the voice command is best or you can use a "silent" whistle.
