Pyrenees won't come ~ What else is new? :)

Fergie · 06-09-2008, 11:15 AM

Hello folks,

Nice to join in with you. My wife and I raised sheep for several years. We had a wonderful and dedicated female Great Pynenees gaurding them. We were so amazed at how she "adopted" these sheep and became their constant companion. Other than the ocassional pat on the head at feeding time we had basically no contact with her. The sheep are now gone and the Pyr is on a new sheep ranch...happily doing what she was born to do.

Meanwhile we were given a gorgeous Pyrenees pup about a year ago. We have no sheep...so we've made a pet of Sally. I'd always heard how independent this breed could be if one was attempting to train them...but I had no Idea!! To avoid the ingrained Pyrenees habit of barking all night..we have always kept her on our mud room/back porch at night. This is a beautiful loving dog...absolutely sweet...but she WILL NOT COME WHEN CALLED

...nope...ain't gonna happen. So when we go out to bring her in at night, it's often a drawn out affair...she's been brought in every single night of her life, but has to be caught to be brought in. She doesn't run away, but if she's an eighth of a mile away..you'll have to walk the whole distance to get her...while she kind of smiles and wags her tail. Frustrating on a cold rainy winter's night!

OK...long post. The Short version is..I hear Pyrenees are about bottom of the list for likely obedience training canidates...how can we get our 1yr old Pyr to come when she's called?

Thanks

BoxMeIn21 · 06-09-2008, 11:26 AM

You need to give her an incentive to come to you.

Is she food motivated? Is there a particular treat that she really flips over?

IslandMutts · 06-09-2008, 11:41 AM

expecting her to come from long distances outside (without training "come") is expecting too much from any breed.

pick a word for the "come" command, and always use it. Something like "C'mere!" is usually more pleasant since your voice goes up at the end. If your dog always responds to something already, like "ball!" or "treats!" use that (just make sure you actually give the dog the ball or treats everytime she comes).

start by training inside or in a small closed off area. you and your wife can make a game out of this for your dog. Both of you should have really rewarding treats (don't let the dog see you getting them, and keep them behind your back). Put two chairs about 10 ft apart or so. Take turns calling the dog using your chosen word, and when the dog comes, have a puppy party! feed her a treat and pet her and tell her she's a good girl. Gradually you can increase the distance that you can expect her to come, but always start off small, where there dog will definitely succeed.

Don't ever call the dog to you for something negative, like "come - look at this mess you made!" If you're calling the dog in from playing outside, make sure you give her lots of treats or toss the ball a few times before bringing her in. If she learns that "come" means the end of play-time, she will be less likely to respond, so you need to counter that with something she enjoys, then have her follow you inside.

the key here is to start training her in small areas, where you *know* she will come to you, and reward her heavily so she learns the command. it's probably the most important thing your dog can learn.

doggymommy · 06-09-2008, 01:21 PM

we looked long and hard at this beautiful breed for about 5 years and after huge amounts of research, talking to breeder after breeder and owner after owner, the conclusion we came to was...they are not going to come if called!

Although most breeders and owners and books about Pyr's had some different opinions on some issues with the breed, all said..."They will not come when called"

Personally, that would drive me nuts, so we decided not to get one. I do think they are magnificent dogs, so beautiful and regal. I just would not have the patience to have a dog that wouldn't listen to me. ( I am too much of a control freak

)

InverseLogic · 06-09-2008, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doggymommy

all said..."They will not come when called"

That's what they say about huskies too. Ringo comes when called most of the time, but only cause he knows I'm going to give him a good treat or a lot of praise. All dogs are different, and how you train them makes a ton of difference.

SMoore · 06-09-2008, 01:38 PM

I think any dog regardless of breed will come when called if you find what motivates them to do so! I would walk around with a snack in your pocket, randomly throughout the day call your dog to you just for a reward, or attention or something the dog likes. Eventually when you call your dog in at night she will come because of the chance a reward migth be given.

If your dog is already not responding, he/she may very well not know what "come" means. Maybe start inside the house a few feet from your dog and then call her to you and reward, once this gets easy try from a different room and then from the back porch to inside the house and gradually increase the distance until you build a solid recall. Remember in the learning stage to reward as much as possible for a behavior you want. Eventually you can phase out the treats.

doggymommy · 06-09-2008, 02:07 PM

Don't take my word for it, check out this link for the Great Pyrenees Club of America

http://clubs.akc.org/gpca/

The OP knows what he is talking about!

Fergie · 06-09-2008, 04:11 PM

I certainly want to thank everyone for your responses. I think this will take a good concerted effort and the gradually increased distance idea most of you suggested. She is one of the sweetest animals I've ever been around and it's almost funny to see her sit and kind of smile as you call her. Every once in awhile...after a minute or two of being called...she'll break loose and come running over to you like it was her idea

90% of articles about Pyrs will include at least a passing comment about this "won't come when called" issue.

She seems to be a text book Pyr in every way....so patience and perseverence are no doubt the operative words here.

Thanks again

I should mention also, as part of introducing myself, that we also have a 2 yr. old Schnoodle, Beau Beau...who allows us to live with him

BoxMeIn21 · 06-09-2008, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fergie

I certainly want to thank everyone for your responses. I think this will take a good concerted effort and the gradually increased distance idea most of you suggested. She is one of the sweetest animals I've ever been around and it's almost funny to see her sit and kind of smile as you call her. Every once in awhile...after a minute or two of being called...she'll break loose and come running over to you like it was her idea

90% of articles about Pyrs will include at least a passing comment about this "won't come when called" issue.

She seems to be a text book Pyr in every way....so patience and perseverence are no doubt the operative words here.

Thanks again

I should mention also, as part of introducing myself, that we also have a 2 yr. old Schnoodle, Beau Beau...who allows us to live with him

Good luck in training her! I didn't know that Pyrs were that independant! For what it's worth, here is good training article that helps with recalls.
http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti...002/recall.htm

Welcome to DF!

IslandMutts · 06-09-2008, 05:45 PM

Good luck, Fergie! Have fun working with your dog

I used to have neighbors with a Pyr, and the dog would always escape the yard to come hang out with my Bernese Mountain Dog. They were such a cute pair. I think Pyrs are just gorgeous.

Welcome to dog forums!

melgrj7 · 06-09-2008, 08:16 PM

How I trained my dogs to come is this:

Have them on a leash, let them sniff and get really into sniffing something, then stick a piece of chicken or steak in their nose, lure them around to face you, once they are facing you, say "Come" and continue to lure them to you and into a sit, then say "good" and give them a piece of chicken/steak/whatever you have that is extremely high value. Do this a few hundred times over the course of a week or two.

Then try it with a low distraction and without luring them to you. If they come and sit in front of you "Good!" and give them a treat, or throw a ball, play tug (whatever they like better). Do this many times, as well as still doing the first step still, for a couple of weeks (keep distractions very low). Once they are doing this well you increase the distance between you and the dog (keep a long line on them).

My instructor said if they aren't listening to you, and are facing away from you, give them a sharp, quick correction and turn and run the other way, once the dog is coming at you, turn and face the dog and say come and lure them into a sit in front of you, then give them a treat. I didn't ever need to do this though as my dogs listened, I went very slowly through the steps to ensure they knew what it meant.

Coming to you must always be fun, so don't call the dog to you just to put it up for the night, call the dog to you and play for a few minutes, and then put the dog to bed.

Fergie · 06-10-2008, 01:25 AM

Thanks again everyone....good stuff. I knew I'd find friendly and enthusiastic folks on a dog forum

ps..Mellisa, you have a dog named Lloyd!!?...I love it

melgrj7 · 06-10-2008, 04:04 PM

Yep, his name is Lloyd

It fits him very well too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fergie

Thanks again everyone....good stuff. I knew I'd find friendly and enthusiastic folks on a dog forum

ps..Mellisa, you have a dog named Lloyd!!?...I love it

reverend_maynard · 06-10-2008, 04:25 PM

On "It's Me or the Dog" once, she used a whistle (not a dog whistle, just a regular one). First she kind of charged it like charging a clicker. Dog sitting in front of her, whistle, treat, whistle, treat, etc. 10-20 times. Then she waited for the dog to start paying attention to something else, whistle, the dog looks back at her, treat. Repeat several times. Then she waited 'til the dog had actually walked away a few feet, whistle, dog comes back, treat. She let the dog go a little longer/farther each time, blew the whistle, the dog came back for the treat every time.

If it works, once you've got him coming regularly you can start mixing up the reward, be it some play time, a rub down, whatever. Try to never use it to get the dog to come for bad things, but if you must, reward and treat for several minutes before crating, putting on porch, whatever.

Might be worth a try.

Above all, and this goes for any method of training recall, no matter why you're calling him, or how long it takes for him to come, never, ever scold the dog once it has come to you.

melgrj7 · 06-10-2008, 04:31 PM

Another thing you can do is use a command for going into the house. My dogs both know In The House. I say it and they start to head towards our door. That way I don't have to use "come" and create a negative association with it. In the house is really easy to teach, every time you head into the house with your dog, just say "Lets go in the house" and then give the dog a treat as you enter the house.

alphadoginthehouse · 06-10-2008, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by melgrj7

Another thing you can do is use a command for going into the house. My dogs both know In The House. I say it and they start to head towards our door. That way I don't have to use "come" and create a negative association with it. In the house is really easy to teach, every time you head into the house with your dog, just say "Lets go in the house" and then give the dog a treat as you enter the house.

I do the same thing when I brining the dogs back from the dog park. It's the only time they are not on a leash and they have learned "up to the house" means, wait for mom at the door and she'll give us a "good puppy treat" when we get inside. It always works and I'm happy to give them a very small treat.

Good luck the the Pyrs. I too, think they are gorgeous.