How do I teach my puppy to come hither?

Start with sit and stay. I start with the length of the leash. When you give the come command give a gentle tug on the leash. Then use a rope for a leash and get the pup to sit and stay up to about 15 feet. Once the pup can do that, come will…...come. Once the pup is off leash, still use the sit and stay method but get further and further. Eventually, the pup will know that come means to come. I would also use treats when the pup does well.

@missingbite When you say “use the rope for a leash” do you mean a longer length? Or do you mean attach a rope to the leash to add length? Sorry having a hard time visualizing the 4th sentence.

I think you misunderstand what the expression: “Come Hither” means.
Perhaps you should Google for the definition because I think you mean that you’d like to learn how to train your puppy to come when called.

There are lots of sites that will give you step-by-step puppy training.
Perhaps start with Eukanuba’s site

Though, there are also instructions on the Google for teaching a puppy to come hither… :(

@geeky_mama Nope I understand 100% what, “Hither” means. I wasn’t aware that it was a sexual expression. Every time I’ve said, “come hither” to someone I always thought it meant, “come with me to this place where I am” Thanks for the Eukanuba’s site.

I’ve always been able to do it with my voice. I talk very gently with them and they always respond. I guess I talk a fluent dialect of dog. Frosty talked a fluent dialect of rabbit.

Doesn’t “Hither” just mean “here”?

This
1hith·er adv \ˈhi-thər\
Definition of HITHER
: to this place

This
old-fashioned + literary : to this place
▪ come hither [=come here] ▪ She has been very busy, traveling hither and yon. [=here and there; traveling to many different places] ▪ traveling/wandering hither and thither [=here and there] —

I don’t know how they came up with the sexual thing.

@whitecarnations I mean to make a longer leash. You can either tie the rope to the leash or replace the leash with a rope connected to the pups collar. The idea is to get more distance between you and the pup with the stay command. When you want the pup to come to you just say come and gently tug on the leash or rope. If the pup starts to wander off, start over. When you call the pup to come use the leash or rope to direct the pup to you. Don’t let the pup go where he/she wants too. Start small and work your way up to longer distances, including off leash.

My last Dalmatian would sit and stay for 15 or 20 minutes with me a hundred feet or more away from him. He would watch me and not move until I gave the command to come. He would then run full speed to me.

Once you get the pup learning, keep going. We used to work on commands like “load up” if we were going for a ride. I could tell him to sit and stay, walk away form him and from a distance tell him to load up and he would run to and jump in the car.

It just takes time a practice.

@flo That’s the impression I was under. Must be a new-school thing? But then again I’m a 1987 guy!

@Adirondackwannabe That’s the thing! She’ll (Blue) come over easily after I haven’t seen her over night. She’ll come instantly. I tend to pat my thigh and say, “Here Blue, here girl!” Then, when the dogs are all settled down I’ll try and get her to warm up to the leash. She walked a little better today but I can still see her trying to avoid the whole situation. She has, “Sit” pretty much down, “come here” doesn’t work after she has had the leash on her. Even today afterwards I took her off the leash tried to warm her up to the front yard. I set her down, put her mom on a leash, and walked her mom around to try and show her that it’s ok. She literally just sat still even when I went as far as 20 yards away. She’s super lively in the backyard however (When the leash isn’t on her of course).

She is a Chihuahua/Maltese/Poodle. I think she will ultimately weigh about 15 pounds at the max but I wouldn’t consider her a true “toy” dog. As a matter of fact her sister is way more lighter than her, and Blue is more muscular)

I love it when I can connect with a dog. That’s the greatest. Your dog sounds amazing.

@whitecarnations but the dictionaries have no business just taking their cue from any Tom Dick and Harry. It is one thing to publish a dictionary of slangs, but this is just ridiculous.

@flo I agree. It could probably have been side noted as perhaps a form of expression, but for such a prestige dictionary to adopt that meaning baffles me.

edited by me. Never mind.

Ah, but the key is the phrase, “come hither”. From the OED:
come-hither, n.
An invitation to approach, so fig. enticement. Chiefly in attrib. use, with look, eye, etc. Also as adv. (Cf. comether n.)
Quotations:
1900 Daily News 10 July 6/2 It’s no’ the money, and it’s no’ the looks. It’s jist the come hither in the eye.
1926 S. Lewis Mantrap xi. 132 As soon expect a calf to bear kittens as expect you not to look come-hither at every poor cuss that happens along.
1927 Amer. Speech 3 135 [In Maine] a flirtatious one [sc. girl] had the ‘comehither look’, an old English phrase meaning ‘a persuasive look’.
1930 D. L. Sayers & ‘R. Eustace’ Documents in Case i. 25 They keep a ‘lady-help’‥a dreadful middle-aged female with a come-hither eye.
1932 Screenland Apr. 81/1 The latest of the ace Broadway actresses to succumb to Hollywood’s ‘come-hither’ is Helen Gahagan.
1936 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 Feb. 183/2 Miriam Wade, whom her godfather describes as ‘a come-hither hellion’.
1944 W. H. Auden Sea & Mirror (1945) Pref. 7 Courage and come-hither eyes.
1956 R. Braddon Nancy Wake ii. 18 Grenadine would cast shamelessly come-hither looks at other gentlemen dogs in the vicinity, which enraged Picon.

I taught my dog to stay first. I would stand him at a spot and then say stay and hold my hand out. I would repeat the word stay and put him back every time he would move away. When he would stay long enough, then I would give him a treat. Dogs remember sounds and hand motions. It will take a few days and you must do it when he isn’t playful. Your tone must be serious and not playful or he will get exited.
He will figure out he gets a treat the longer he stays put.
Then the next step (once he has stay) is to say stay and before you give him a treat .
Slap your side and say come or even wave your hands in your direction.
Show him the treat and he will put it all together. He will be tempted to come towards the treat.
When he comes over, than praise and give him the treat. Say good boy before you give him any treat.
This will clue him into the fact that he did something right.
Be sure to always give him hand motions for visual cues. Animals read body language first. The repetition of it all gets him to recognize the words with the visual cues. After he has it hands down, you can try using words only or hand cues only so he knows both. Be sure to always say his name as well so he knows you are speaking to him.
Some dogs pick up faster than others. The more commands you teach him the easier it will get.
Funny enough I was able to each my dog to jump, dance, sit, come, stay, walk on my right only or left,and even play dead or go through something or go back, but never to roll over. He only does a half roll.

There are a couple of ways but the key rule is to always be more interesting to your puppy than whatever may prevent them from returning to you (ie: if you are out walking you will have to compete with all the wonderful smells). Having a favourite treat is probably the easiest way to be awesome in your dogs eyes. In my puppy classes I will even tell the answers to dance around the room and make a fool out of themselves so as to keep their puppies attention on them. After this exercise, by the time they call their puppy to come, the puppy can’t wait to go and see their owner! Unfortunately not everyone is willing to play the fool for their puppy but the ones that do get results everytime.

The easiest way to begin is with the help of another person (but if you can’t make sure you are in an enclosed space during the early stages of this training). Ask them to hold the dog on the lead (so they don’t wander off) and take a few steps back (not too far), call your dog to you ie ”(insert pup’s name) come!” and as soon as your puppy comes to you, give them a treat. Keep doing this but gradually increase the distance between you and your dog.

If you are in a field or open space create a game with your puppy by encouraging him/her to chase you. This will make you really exciting in your puppy’s eyes and if your dog thinks your exciting/have something to offer then they will, more than likely want to return to you when called.

A top tip when practising recall is to not always put them back on the lead when you call them in. This will only make puppy associate the recall with the end of something fun so make sure that, during your walk, you call puppy in a lot, give them a treat and then let them carry on exploring.

I stand corrected.

as many have already listed, they first ned to learn sit and stay. Use hand commands also on this one as you want them to learn to come with a hand signal in the event you are in an area where there is a lot of distractive sounds.
Once that is mastered, have a friend hold their lease and have them sit and stay.
While you are about 20 feet apart, give the command “Come” and motion your hand to your chest. The friend should release their hold on leash at same time. Once the dog comes to you and is right in front of you, use a small treat and clicker to signal success and reward.
Have them sit and stay.
Do the reverse with your friend calling out the command and hand signal.
Practice this a few minutes a day and within a week, they should have it down.
At that point you should not have to give treats, but always give praise like they are the most wonderful dog on earth.

They sell longer “training” leashes at pet supply stores.

FYI, I am 49, and I am familiar with the various applications of the term “come hither”. Definitely gave my husband the “come hither” look the night we met! Our kids know not to dilly-dally when, instead of just calling their names, I say, “Come hither, child!”. It means serious business, and usually means that they’re in trouble.

@c21kathleen Welcome to fluther.