Several times now Blondie has run away from me. Many times, most, she ignores my call to come with me. It seems I am doing things wrong. Specifically, last night I was playing with her (she was biting the daylights of out my hands of course) and she took off into a restricted room. We have a plastic tarp laid down on part of the floor for her to play on. Up until 3-4 days ago she stayed on this and did not move off. She became bolder and began to move off the tarp some. Last night she ran off it into another room and grabbed a slipper while I was on the tarp playing with her. Should I expect her to come to me when called at this age 9 1/2 weeks? Should I expect her not to run away like this? WHat to do in this type of situation or maybe better how to prevent this? I could tie a leash I guess but I didnt think that was a good idea. Plus she bites it. Always. Ideas??? Thanks.
Re: running away At this age , she is still very much a baby , she isnt doing anything wrong on purpose , just play to her thats all However , its good to start really working on her recall whilst she is so young , practice calling her to you , hold a treat in your hand and when she is coming towards you , call her by using either COME or HERE , then a massive fuss and the treat . Try to always use the command when she is coming towards you , this way she will associate the word with coming to you . Keep training sessions short , they lose interest very quickly at this age, so I would say not more than about ten mins, but repetition is the key, plus using a very excited voice too , stick at it, it will work but expect some failures too , she is still young and will make mistakes , try to ignore them but praise up the good
Re: running away Sounds very normal she is just exploring her surroundings. You need to teach her to come back, treat praise play etc. The only way to stop her going in a restricted room is to close the door or get a child gate ! We have gates everywhere in this house that are left open as they get older and can understand more. Have fun
Re: running away Sounds like she is just playing. She won't yet know about coming when called - agree with Kate that's it's a good idea to start teaching it though. She is just a baby at 9.5 weeks, she doesn't know what anything means yet. Just like a human baby (who wouldn't come when you called it - if it could run away of course). I hope you enjoy teaching it all, puppies are so lovely at that age. Have you got a good puppy book? A good book will help you with things like this, it'll let you know what to expect from your pup.
Re: running away Two books.. I guess not as good as I had thought they were. Or I need to read and reread and reread again.. I will work on the treat idea calling her over and trying to make her come to me. OK thanks.
Re: running away Try Pippa's book - the happy puppy handbook, it's a really easy read and it's very clear. If you follow it, you won't go wrong. Yes, hold out a treat and get her to move towards you, then say "come" when she is already coming. This is because she doesn't know what "come" means so you have to associate the word "come" with her moving towards you. Eventually (but not for a while) she will move towards you when you say come. It works the same way for everything else like "down" and "sit". Lure or encourage them to do what you want, then teach them the word associated with that. It takes a while, they don't get it right away.
Re: running away Nothing more to add to what Kate, Julie and Edp have said. Just wanted to reassure you that biting is to be expected. There are several articles on this forum about biting and how to stop this. Blonde is just trying to find her feet in her new home good luck
