What is the hardest command to teach a dog?

Training your dog to come when called can be one of the hardest commands to teach, but it’s also one of the most important for their safety. The reason some dogs resist recall is because they’d rather keep playing or exploring than stop and return to you. Many dogs love to pull on the leash, and getting them to walk politely at your side can feel impossible. For many dogs, the challenge lies in staying in one place when they would rather follow you or investigate something new. Barking is a natural way for dogs to communicate, and some breeds are more prone to barking than others. Often, owners reinforce barking without realizing it by giving attention or reacting when their dog barks excessively. Some dogs love to play keep-away with toys or objects, and others might guard valuable resources. Training your dog is a process that requires time, consistency, and patience. The earlier you start, the better, as bad habits can become more difficult to correct over time.

The recall cue is arguably the most important to teach and, with some dogs, one of the more difficult. Your challenge is to teach your dog that when you blow a whistle or use your ‘recall’ word cue your dog should respond immediately by returning to you. Outdoor environments and competing stimuli may make it hard for your dog to see, hear, or register you. Additionally, if your dog knows that recall means the end of their fun, they’ll have little incentive to return promptly – so you need to be the incentive and to make pleasing you a better reward than staying away. Teaching a dog to do something in the face of distractions that may seem far more appealing to the dog than what we’re asking them to do is likely to take longer and may not always achieve hundred per cent compliance. Leave it and drop it are also skills that need a lot of practise as again, complying with either of these cues requires your dog to give up something good, something that they want, and, in the case of ‘drop it’, something they already have. Both these cues require plenty of practise with gradually increasing levels of items of interest. Curtailing a chase – teaching a ‘Stop’ cue may be better in certain situations, and it will take time to build a reliable response but it’s well worth teaching this as you may find your dog is more likely to respond to a simple ‘Stop’.