Teaching "Here"

[Cashiers]

I have a 5 month old male German Wirehaired pointer pup that knows the "here' command and also knows to come to the whistle. However, when I take him for a walk in the woods and he gets exposed to lots of different scents, he ignores both the "here" command and the whistle and just follows his nose.

I taught him "here" and to come to the whistle using treats and in a controlled environment he responds immediately to both and comes directly to me.

What is the best way to reinforce the "here" command so that he won't just come when he wants to? I think I may need basic instruction on teaching "here". Do I go back to the beginning and teach him on a checkcord? I have a shock collar, but haven't used it on the pup yet, because I thought he might be too young.

I also have a 7 year old male German Shorthair and I found the shock collar to be very effective in reinforcing the "here" command with him.

[BluffCountryOutdoors]

I was a big advocate of the check cord. I would go out to open prairie or open areas with trees and let him run with the check cord and then I would get ready to give him the "here" command I would find the end of the rope and say "Here" and step on the end of the chord. It would stop him and make him realize, "Oh right.. I'm being called."

I did start using a e-collar at about 9-10months. I just made sure that we walked around with it and kept it extremely low. I also tested it on myself just to understand what it felt like. We would walk in a line and I would give a "sit" command and hit him as I said "sit." Once he understood this he then realized when the bark collar was on that he needed to listen and I haven't had a problem really since.

Hope that helps in anyway.

-Mky & Odin

[MikeB]

You pretty much answered your own question. You trained your dog to HERE under a controled low distraction enviornment. So now put back on the check cord and work with your treats if you want under real life conditions for a while. Don't let the dog off the line until you know he will HERE no matter what is going on or what he is smelling. Use LOTS of praise before you give the treat. Use the whistle at the same time too using the check cord so you can correct him when he doesn't turn in your direction and start running to you when you say HERE.

[Ron R]

Cashiers, I would use a different approach than those mentioned thus far. Not that theres anything wrong with those methods. If you are 100% for sure that your dog knows what here means I would start him on the e-collar on a low setting and if needed raise it. It souds like it might be time he understands that here is a command and that you are not asking him to come to you but commanding him. I also would'nt over praise him for doing whats expected of him. A simple pat on the head and a good boy here should sufice. You could introduce him to the collar in your yard with here befor you go to the field if you like, but either way should work rather quickly. I hope this helps and good luck.

[Cashiers]

I have an e-collar with a pager/vibrator function. I may try using this with the pup, rather than the shock feature, to see if it gets results. I have no previous experience with using a pager with a dog, so I am not sure whether or not it will be effective.

[birddogger]

Cashiers, I would use a different approach than those mentioned thus far. Not that theres anything wrong with those methods. If you are 100% for sure that your dog knows what here means I would start him on the e-collar on a low setting and if needed raise it. It souds like it might be time he understands that here is a command and that you are not asking him to come to you but commanding him. I also would'nt over praise him for doing whats expected of him. A simple pat on the head and a good boy here should sufice. You could introduce him to the collar in your yard with here befor you go to the field if you like, but either way should work rather quickly. I hope this helps and good luck.

What he said x 2. As Ron R said, this is not a request, it is a command. Every dog will test you, but you must win every single time. If you follow this advise, I would bet your problem will be solved after a couple of times with the e-collar. It sounds like you are reluctant to use the collar, but it is the best and most humane way to reinforce a command if used properly. Your puppy isn't doing anything that all of them don't do. It is an easy fix. Good luck.

Charlie

[BoJack]

Like already stated-start overlaying the Here Command with the e-collar.H'es already showed you he know s what Here means.Start with low stimulation and move up if neccesary.

[kylenicholas02]

Cashiers, I would use a different approach than those mentioned thus far. Not that theres anything wrong with those methods. If you are 100% for sure that your dog knows what here means I would start him on the e-collar on a low setting and if needed raise it. It souds like it might be time he understands that here is a command and that you are not asking him to come to you but commanding him. I also would'nt over praise him for doing whats expected of him. A simple pat on the head and a good boy here should sufice. You could introduce him to the collar in your yard with here befor you go to the field if you like, but either way should work rather quickly. I hope this helps and good luck.

What he said x 2. As Ron R said, this is not a request, it is a command. Every dog will test you, but you must win every single time. If you follow this advise, I would bet your problem will be solved after a couple of times with the e-collar. It sounds like you are reluctant to use the collar, but it is the best and most humane way to reinforce a command if used properly. Your puppy isn't doing anything that all of them don't do. It is an easy fix. Good luck.

Charlie

What they said x 3...

[kylenicholas02]

Cashiers, I would use a different approach than those mentioned thus far. Not that theres anything wrong with those methods. If you are 100% for sure that your dog knows what here means I would start him on the e-collar on a low setting and if needed raise it. It souds like it might be time he understands that here is a command and that you are not asking him to come to you but commanding him. I also would'nt over praise him for doing whats expected of him. A simple pat on the head and a good boy here should sufice. You could introduce him to the collar in your yard with here befor you go to the field if you like, but either way should work rather quickly. I hope this helps and good luck.

What he said x 2. As Ron R said, this is not a request, it is a command. Every dog will test you, but you must win every single time. If you follow this advise, I would bet your problem will be solved after a couple of times with the e-collar. It sounds like you are reluctant to use the collar, but it is the best and most humane way to reinforce a command if used properly. Your puppy isn't doing anything that all of them don't do. It is an easy fix. Good luck.

Charlie

What they said x 3...

[Cashiers]

I was somewhat reluctant to use the e-collar because my pup is not quite 6 months old, but I followed Ron R's advice and used a Dogtra 1602 NCP collar to reinforce the "Here" command. After only two 20 minute sessions with the collar my GWP pup is coming consistently to "here" and the whistle mostly without any stimulation. The only problem that I had is that the contact probes on this collar are only 5/8" long and the GWP's coat is heavy, so I had to put the collar on really tight to be able to stimulate the dog. I ended up using the pager function instead of the "nick" function, but the results were really dramatic. This collar is a great training aid.

[Scott Linden]

Check cord, e-collar, both work. But before you get too frustrated, remember the transition from "yard" work to a park or wherever should be very gradual. Baby steps are best when introducing distractions ... first from a distance and very few, then closer, then obvious and blatant, etc. I've used my yard fence, literally, as the border between my pup and new distractions ... just a little bit to start, then more, then move out of the yard but barely, and so on. It's the quantum leaps that drive you - and your dog - bananas! (I think I wrote on this topic a while back on my blog - search for it if you like.)

[Cashiers]

What is the proper technique for overlaying the ecollar on the "Here" command? When introducing the ecollar, should stimulation be used each time the "Here" command is given, or only when the dog does not respond to "Here"? After several uses of the ecollar with "Here" my pup is now coming almost every time I command "Here" without stimulation. Should I continue to use stimulation anyway with each command of "Here" or only when he doesn't respond?

[Ron R]

Cashiers, Just use the stimulation when he does'nt respond to your command. The goal is to have a finished dog that can be trusted without an ecollar. Good luck