You need to train, not punish, this dog. All those behaviors are outshoots of a lack of REALLY GOOD reward EVERY time the dog comes NO MATTER HOW MAD YOU ARE at him.
The Reall Reliable Recall book or video is EXCELLENT. Atka comes running for "come here" and comes flying for her Really Reliable Recall word, which is NOW.
So, going back to square one you can use a clicker of the word YES. Start by clicking or saying YES and then giving the dog a bit of food. for food use a hot dog.. cut it in quarters long way and then cross ways and you get about 40 treats. With the dog on a leash at home, say "YES" give a treat. do it 20 times.
Move away from the dog about 3 feet (at home where you are in a fenced yard or indoors) and if the dog looks at you, say "YES" and give a treat. Don't go to the dog.. dog had to come to you for a treat. If the dog does not move towards you, move in closer. If you have to go back next to her and do the "yes" and treat (yes or click will work) and do the 20 more yes's and treats, do it.
Eventually, as the dog comes to you for a tteat start to add the word you want to use for come here. I say just that... "come here." Keep the dog on a line or a leash everywhere she might disobey. Do not give the dog the opprtunity to fail or to make you angry.
With a few weeks of work, and NEVER doing something with the dog she won't like, she will start to come to you reliably.
The Really Reliable Recall is a different word and is used on those rare occaisions when you need to dog to come NO MATTER WHAT (like if she is headed for the busy hiway).
I posted this on two other threads on creating a really reliable recall for a poster who had a dog that took off whenever off leash. You may find this helpful.
Really Reliable Recall
I posted this in response to someone having difficulty getting their dog to come when called. You teach "come here" just like you teach a really reliable recall. I use a clicker and I recommend you give that a try (
www.clickertraining.com). In the response belooe the dog had learned to ignore the command "come here."
I would suggest first and foremost to get this dog charged on a clicker. Use a food that he really cannot get enough of (tho as, mentioned before me, he may be more toy oriented so you can use a toy and a very short game of tug and the clicker instead).
Teach him something NOT "come here." (Fact is, I would not even use that word when you get to 'come here' since he has learned not to pay any attention to it when he is distracted). Teach him to look at your face.. and pay attention.. but do not start with a command. Instead, while in the house, every time he looks at you clcik and treat with various treats. Click and treat for just hanging out with you.
YOU have to be ther "best game in town" and that is easy at home or in the house where you are the ONLY game in town. Next, on leash, start adding distractions. If he starts to pay attention to other things and not want to hang out with you, go back the the earlier threshold and stay there for awhile before upping the distractions again.
The trick here is to BECOME the best game in Town no matter WHAT the distraction is. Would I use the snap or tug on his collar? I think, for this dog, it might prove to be counterproductive. Fact is, I am learning (and have learned) that aversives don't generally work. He understand that coming when called is what to do when he cannot get away but the minute he no longer HAS to come when called, he simply does NOT, which is often one of the signs that aversives have been used in training...
The dog thinks, "well, I will do it because I have no other choice and so I HAVE to" when he is in an place where he cannot run off. However, the minute he CAN run off he does because he no longer HAS to come when called and running off is self rewarding to the dog.. and a lot more fun than coming back on a recall.
The better way to get the dog to think is , "I am going to come to this person no matter what because I WANT to.." Getting him to WANT to be with you is the trick. You need to make coming to you the best thing he can do.. way better than running off.
I think that you need to teach this dog to respond to the clicker and then you need to try to put a Really Reliable Recall on him. I will tell you how I did that with my dog and you can try it with yours.
First of all, I used the clicker and my dog knew that EVERY time I clicked she would get a reward. Getting 'em clicker charged is essential. the reward was high end treats.. cooked liver and cut up hot dogs do it for my dog..
When I was out in the yard, if the dog looked at me I would click and she would come to me for the reward (no command is in this yet). It did not matter if she was 3 feet away or 30 feet away and she had no leash on her. I used a High End Treat (not a biscuit, but small, the half of a dime size, bits of cooked liver or hot dog or tiny pieces of cheese.. you know.. the stuff they would kill to get to eat!). I did not go to the dog. She was charged and she knew that the click meant I had a reward and it was really good. Only click once and timing is critical. If you clcik when she is looking away or moving away you have just indicated that is the desired behavior.
When, no matter where you are in a safe, fenced, place (b4 adding distractions), when that dog looks at you and reliably comes for the treat, add a word. I use the word "NOW!" but you can use anything.. "SOCKS!" will work too. Use the word after you click and before you treat. Pretty soon.. and it may take awhile, your dog will come for the word.. what ever it is. Don't forget to reward every time. NEVER ask the dog to come and then do anything but reward and praise. Never follow coming when called by anything unpleasant to the dog.
Next, choose another word and three times a day, at random intervals, using the clicker and reward method, use THAT word instead. It can be any word but I recommend it NOT be the word you are using right now.. you know.. the one that doesn't work. I would use the word "HEY!" or something that is used for no other behavior the dog does.
When the dog looks at you , click and say the NEW word as she is coming to you. When she gets to you, no matter what the circumstances, spend at least 30 seconds praising her and feeding her little pieces of the very highest end food you have.. I mean.. really praise her and pet her and tell her what a wonderful dog she is no matter how silly it makes YOU look. This is your really reliable recall word.
Three times a day you replace the standard come here command of NOW! with the other word HEY! and give her this really super dooper special reward. The clicker folks call it a "jack pot." I call it a gold mine for dogs. LOL The dog ought to eventually come running at your when you say this word (mine does.. I think she would go thru a wall of fire when I say her RRR word!).
Do this for three weeks.. again.. three times a day randomly every day for three weeks. This is a special word and is different than the standard come here word (NOW!) and you should see a different response. the Really Realiable Recall (RRR) should be really fast by this time and should get her attention NO MATTER WHAT.
All you are going to work on is the dog coming to you, and wanting to hang out with you. You are going to become the BEST GAME IN TOWN. Your dog ought to be looking at you and HOPING you will click that thing and/or say one of those words by the end of this time.
NOW add distractions (still in a safe enviromnment) and see what happens. If the dog still runs off, then go back and continue the work. Do the work on a long line where the distractions exist. Do not reel the dog in.. let coming to you be the dog's idea and then click, feed and praise. Clcik and feed and praise any time the dog looks at you.. and every time when in a distracting environment. Stick with the jack pots for the "Hey!" word and stick with the three times randomly (not all of those times need be at the distracting place). Also use the other word for recall that is still rewarded but not with a jack pot.
Eventually, you should be able to cut the Really Reliable Recall word down to three times a week (and you do it three times a week with a jack pot EVERY TIME for the rest of the dog's life). You may have to intermittently food or toy reward this dog for coming when called for the other word the rest of his life as well, since he has learned a behavior that is undesirable. Behavior is not static. Once learned it still need occaisional reinforcement.
Come back here and let us know how it goes with you.
If you need better instructions than the ones I have offered, put Karen Pryor or Clicker training or Really Reliabel Recall for dogs in a search engine and read about it there. Jean Donaldson has books that are excellent as well, and I would look at her book "Dogs are from Neptune" or her newer book, "The Culture Clash."
BTW, if your dog is smart enough to play catch me if you can. your dog is smart enough to know when she has the E collar on or not.. so it won't help long term IMO
Keep Positive, and work towards being More Confident, and it WILL show in your dog.
