Come and Fetch

Grizzley is understanding the command "come". I have treats by the back door and when I yell "Grizzley Come!" he runs for the back door to get a treat. All three of my dogs do that AND they always get a treat.

"Come" is a command for emergencies. If one of the dogs gets out and they are by a street or something dangerous - I can yell "Come" and they will come right to me. I may not have a treat to give them but the rewards I've been giving them over the years will pay off at that moment.

We actually have treat jars in three places in our house; by the back door, on a table at the top of the stairs, and next to the kennels.

With my dog Kiya - "come" meant nothing but "now I have to go inside." She never came to that word. I started giving her treats everytime she came inside when I yelled "Come!" and now she comes everytime.

Grizzley is excellent at fetch. He picks up things all the time and carries them around until another dog takes it from him. He loves to retrieve back to you something you throw. We try to throw as many different objects as we can; fake cell phones, reading glasses, empty pill bottle, various kids toys, etc. Really anything but dog toys. He fetches those great. It's the things that dogs usually get scolded for that we work on.

Plus with fetch, we NEVER scold the dogs for anything they pick up - even if it's something they aren't supposed to have. We ask them to bring it to us and when they do they get a treat. If they were destroying it - then we'd probably scold them but picking things up is wonderful!