17 week old puppy won't come and keeps on running

[Remington'smom]

I have a 17 week lab puppy who is wonderful. If he has been outside for ahwile, I go to call him in. He states at me and takes off or completely ignores me. I am really working on the come command, but I just wondered if I am doing something wrong. Thanks for the advice!

[SharonaZamboni]

Is he tied up or in a fenced yard?
Always make sure he has a good reason to come to you. Treats, affection, whatever. You'll have to practice with him on a long leash so that if he doesn't come, you can reel him in. Only call once!
I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions.

[Sophiesmama]

It is typical Labby behavior. Sophie is 9 mo and can't be trusted off leash. I often takes a long time to train for recall. We are still working on it. There have been many conversations on here about training for recall. Just do a search and you should see many helpful tips. It is very difficult and takes time to teach recall.

[BigBrownDog]

What have you done with this puppy to socialize him and build a bond? Sounds like you need to do more of that.

[Tanya]

coming when called requires training. dogs don't just immediate come knowing what it means. With puppies you can get away (sometimes) with just being a lot of fun and running in the opposite direction but to actually get a dog to come when called requires training. UNTIL the dog is reliable you have to NOT use the recall word unless you know they will come (i.e. they are already coming or already very interested in you).

How are you training the recall?

[bett]

what are you doing when you say teaching "the come command" , which in my opinion is the hardest.

[CaesarsMom]

I am new here hope you do not mind if I chime in .
Like others have said you have to train him to come & and at this point he has to want to so he can learn it.1st you want to get him used to whatever command you are using to mark a good behavior.I use yes so at first I spent a day just saying yes reward repeat until he associated yes with his fav thing food lol.Then I added sit,yes! reward ,praise,come and so on.. Also never make coming a bad experience even if he was doing something wrong,he still has to learn what no is also.The min he starts to come use that word, praise & reward him for it.You can correct the other behavior separate with other commands like leave it drop it and so on.I agree come is the hardest to teach its not as fun as tag or tug lol. So be patient with both him and yourself. I trained 2 jacks and still was calling a friend who is a trainer, with tears of frustration the 1st week or so because I got the alpha pup of litter
Also you can get a check cord like someone above mentioned.Its a long lead & they float also.

[Dani]

Why on earth would he come when there is much better stuff to do? You must give them a reason that sniffing deer poop is not quite as great as coming to you. If you can't trust a PUPPY off leash, then don't let him off leash. That simple.

[GulfCoast]

You must give them a reason that sniffing deer poop is not quite as great as coming to you.

Much less EATING deer poop, or ROLLING in deer poop.......

[D Bros.]

Oh, man...yes. Rolling in deer poo. For I don't know how many years, on opening morning of pheasant season, Deacon would always find a fresh pile to roll in. He'd walk right past a fresh cowpie big enough to him to just about bathe in. But, deer crap? He'd dive right in.

As for recall training, with both of mine I used a 30 foot check lead. It does take a while to do.