I have been doing fairly well trining Diggity on "come" and "drop it" but having kids in the house has been hurting things. I want her to really have those commands down-pat before the rest of the family uses them but things weren't going so well. The kids keep saying, "Diggy come! Come! Come Diggy!" over and over and though I keep telling them that they are undoing my training, I still catch them doing it. But if you have kids I'm sure you know, you can't tell them nothin! LOL Anyway, the big one I wanted Diggity to learn was "come" in case she got out. Sure enough, it happened. In the house she did OK when I'd say "come", but this time she just looked at me and kept on going. She mostly just sniffed around the neighbor's yard and the kids caught her but I wanted to have a better recall. Then it hit me. I got a dog whistle and started training her to come when I blew the whistle. This way the kids couldn't undo it because I was the only one to have the whistle (or the wife). The other commands she still does well enough for my wife and I but the kids she could care less. I'm guessing she sees us a dominants and the kids as equals perhaps? Anyhow, I'm really pleased with that whistle. Whenever I use it to keep her in practice inside the house, she runs like a lunatic to come find me and her reward.
