How To Get Your Dog To Come When You Call

It’s the most important thing they learn. Don’t make these 3 mistakes.

Lisa Daum
4 min readMar 5, 2020
My good girl. Photo by Lisa Daum

I was having a relaxing walk in the off leash park with my dog. It was a beautiful sunny summer day. I heard him before I saw him.

“Plywood!! Plywood!!! PLYWOOD!!!! Goddammit!!! Get back here!!!!”

He had his hands cupped around his mouth, yelling at the top of his lungs.

It made me wonder. First of all, what kind of person names their dog Plywood. Secondly, what was going to happen to poor Plywood once he showed up?

I see it in the dog park and I see it with some of my neighbours — Dogs that don’t come when they’re called. People blame the dogs, but it’s not actually the dogs’ fault. The owners are making mistakes that pretty much guarantee their dogs will not show up when they call their name.

Mistake #1
When you first get your dog, not doing anything to teach them their name.If you want your dog to come when you call them make sure they know who they are. Talk to them. Like children, that’s how they learn. For example, when you go to feed them say, “Jake, here’s your food,” (or whatever your dog’s name happens to be.) When it’s time for a walk say, “Jake, let’s go for a walk.” Whenever you pay attention to them call them by…

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Lisa Daum
Lisa Daum

Written by Lisa Daum

I love animals, reading, and writing. Also a student of human nature. People are weird, but it makes us interesting. Email me: clean@thedailytidy.com