An Easy Way to Train a Dog to Come Inside From the Back Yard

For this Omaha dog training session we worked with 1 year old Shih Tzu mix Finn and 3 year-old Jack Russell Terrier O’Malley, sharing tips to get a dog to easily come in from outside.

I have found that when dogs don’t come when they are called, it’s usually a result of one of two things; the dogs weren’t properly motivated or trained to come or the dogs have learned that when they come to their humans, that represents the end of fun. This is usually the result of people calling their dogs in from outside when they are barking to make sure they do not disturb the neighbors. To the dog, come = end of fun.

Stopping a dog from ignoring a come command is all about making sure it has proper motivation. I had our amazing booking coordinator Addy drop off some warm chipotle chicken so that I could show the guardians an easy way to get a dog to come when called. If you have a dog who refuses to listen when you ask it to come, you may wanna check out the free positive dog training video below.

It was wonderful to see how well the dogs responded to this positive dog training exercise. I recommended that the guardian practice this tip to get dogs to come when called a few times a day when they do not need to call the dogs inside. This will ensure that the dogs don’t associate the come command word with the end of fun. After some practice, the dogs will understand that they need to come when called to get tasty rewards.

After we shot the video, I showed the guardian a few other secrets to get dogs to come when you call them. One of these exercises involved the guardians using a lure and the other one is something that they can practice when they have guests come over. The guardian should also make an effort to mark and reward the dogs every time they come to them on their own. We like to call this passive training but some dog trainers call it capturing.

Whatever the name, rewarding a dog when it does things you like is a very effective way to get a dog to do anything. The more you give your dog attention for an activity, the more the dog will repeat that activity in the future. So petting your dog when it comes when you don’t call is a sneaky easy habit to get into. It may be the easiest way to train a dog to come when called.

Fixing a dog barking problem involves identifying why a dog is barking in the first place and then address the root cause.

In this situation, Finn was adopted during coronavirus and due to the shut down was not properly socialized. As a result he is very barky; barking at people walking by the house, sounds he hears outside the door, when the neighbor comes outside into their yard, etc.

I shared a number of dog behavior tips to help him feel more comfortable as well as ways for the guardians to address his physical and mental needs. I’d like them to work on increasing his exercise, providing mental stimulation as well as doing some basic training for a month or so to see how that impacts his barking behavior.

If he continues to bark at things outside the home, we may need to set up a follow up session to do some counter conditioning and help him learn that sounds are not things that he needs to bark at.

To help the guardians remember all the dog behavior tips I shared with them in this in home Omaha dog training session, we filmed a roadmap to success video that you can watch below.