One of the most important commands for dogs in their early years or as an untrained dog for safety is the ‘come’ command. If your dog breaks the leash and runs free, this command could save your dog from running in front of a car or into any other of the many dangers untrained dogs face.

In this article I will guide you through the different steps needed to control your dog using the ‘come’ command and how to do it in the easiest and least confusing way for your dog and you. This command is best learnt when the dog is a puppy or very young and has not yet picked up too many bad habits or actions.

To start you should get someone else weather it is a friend or neighbour to lightly restrain your dog from being able to run after you as you show it one of their favourite treats and show them you have something of interest that they will want.

Start this exercise by keeping yourself not too far away from your dog or puppy to start with until they get the idea of the game. Once you are the correct distance get your friend or neighbour to let go of the dog so they come running at you, as they do this you should say the command ‘come’ and move back slightly so they have to travel slightly further.

When the dog gets to you, reward him with the treat or ‘good dog’ and a hug. After the first success it should get easier as you retry the game from further and further away. After a few times of playing this game your dog will get familiar with the way things are done.

When you feel comfortable with this training method, try playing hide and seek with your dog and let them find you when you shout ‘come’, rewarding still after every success. When your dog is comfortable with this method your training is complete and ready for the next time your dog darts for the road.

Leash training or lead training is the discussion of many dog trainers in this modern age and discussions of how to train your dog in the nicest possible way are aplenty. These discussions are brought about by people and dog trainers believing that pulling on the leash to correct a dog’s behavior is causing injury to the dog.

I’m not here to discus this also, but I certainly don’t believe there is anything wrong with leash training if it is done in the correct way and care is taken not to hurt the dog or give any sudden forceful pulls on the leash.

Leash dog training is equally as popular as any other form of dog training within the expert dog training community because when done properly it gets results quickly and effectively.

Leash training is used by correcting your dog’s movements and gently tugging on the leash to force the dog to go in a way they would not have originally gone and to direct them in the favoured way for the training exercise in hand. Often the problems of leash training are with getting your dog comfortable with the leash and collar so I will briefly discus the key aspects of getting your dog to behave when going for walks on a leash and the problems you might face.

Some dogs are excited to get their collar on and other are not so fond of it, train your dog to sit and stay first before learning to take your dog on a leash, many dogs like to wriggle around and run about wile you try to put a collar or lead on them so the sit stay commands will be essential.

While doing any pre-leash exercises or walks if your dog misbehaves by being too excited you should simply remain calm and not go for walks until they are acting appropriately, this should calm your dog down and act as a light punishment for them.

When starting leash training, begin in your own home and then work your way up to more populated and new and interesting places, if your dog misbehaves or is pulling on the leash constantly when they are out then discipline accordingly, and as always practice will be the deciding factor to how quickly your dog will accomplish good behavior.