# Napoleon keeps hiding under the sofa



## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

These past couple of weeks, Napoleon started to hide behind and under our sofa when called. Just as a background he's 9 1/2 months and 3 1/4 lbs. He's playful and not timid but his older bro & sis are bigger than him (Pasha 9 lbs and Raine 5 lbs) so sometimes when they play among themselves or with him, he'll move out of the way or hide behind the sofa so he doesn't get run over if they play too rough. He's been to puppy classes and used to come to me when called. Now when I call him he'd run and hide behind the sofa in the family room. He wouldn't come out despite repeated calls (happy voice). If I ignore him and begin to walk towards the kitchen, he'd come out and follow me to the kitchen. But if I try to reach for him, he'd run away and hide behind the sofa again. I'm not chasing after him when he runs away. I've never done anything to traumatize him to induce this behaviour. I wonder if it's something with the other 2 dogs?? 

I don't know what to do. If I have a treat he'll come. I'm not sure how to retrain him and I just don't know why he'd run under the darn sofa! Help please!!

(Sorry, I think I should have posted this under Training but don't know how to move it.)


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## MandyMc65 (Jun 14, 2007)

Go back to the beginning of Recall training. He doesn't know it. And if he does, he doesn't know it in that situation.

Sometimes dogs just run & hide. Kenzie loves to bug Jax into playing and then she'll run down the hall, into the bedroom and under the bed. Jax runs over and bugs her then runs away, then she gets to chase him. I'm not sure if that's what your little one is doing, but it's possible. 

Instead of repeating the command "come" try saying his name, and turn and run in the opposite direction of the sofa. He will probably chase you (most dogs do). Only say "come" when he is coming toward you (since you are basically retraining him). Reinforce the behavior! This means him just scooting out from behind the sofa, say "Good boy" and praise, let him know he's on the right track. If he plays with toys, play a toy game one time, then another give him a single treat, another time give him a jackpot (several small treats, one after the other). Be unpredictable with your rewards. Eventually you can get rid of the treats every single time, but you will still need a reward. As for when you reach for him and he runs away, you just need to train him that when you reach for him it's fine. Hand him a treat as you reach with the other hand to pick him up. You need to desensitize him to you touching him or picking him up and let him know that a reward comes with that. My "come" command means, they come to me and I pick them up, other people it's a sit in front and a "collar grab". 

It does sound as though you have said "come" and then done something he doesn't like after that. Baths, nail clipping, going in a crate, etc... It may be something you don't realize you've done but it seems that is why he'd hide from you. The recall should be reserved for only good things, never bad.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Do what Mandy said...and play some recall games. 

Have 2 people sit down on opposite sides of the room, both of them with treats. One restrains the dog while the other calls excitedly, then let the dog run. Send back and forth. Go outside where you have room to run. Let your dog get distracted then call excitedly "Dog's name let's run!" and run. Reward the dog for chasing after you. When dog is consistent, use your come word. These are just a few...I'm sure if you search for recall games you'll find more.


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

Thank Mandy and Jackie. I printed out your suggestions and have been trying the call/treat/chase/treat/toy/treat a bit since I got home. Napoleon's a bit more incline to come over but I know we still have lots of work ahead of us. It's hard when we have 3 dogs and when you call one, all come running over (mostly Pasha and Raine). We'll have to spend some alone time with him and do our training and recall games. I guess I thought I'd feel guilty spending time training him without Pasha and Raine but I think in the long run it'll be worth it. We'll dote on the other 2 after each training session. 

Thanks again!


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

Our training ran into a little bump. On the weekend, I did the chase/treat thing with Napoleon and said the word come as he ran towards me which worked great. But when I did the come command with treat on one hand while reaching for him with another hand, he's still retreating away from me. I had to run around the house (chase/treat) again and then tried to do a come/treat thing. After a few times, I was able to pick him up and praise him liberally. Somehow he really doesn't want to come to me and let me pick him up even though I have a high value treat in my other hand. What am I doing wrong?


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

You have 2 different things here
1. Recall
2. Reaching for your dog

Many dogs are hesitant when a huge person reaches out to grab them. Some common ways to avoid this are teach the dog to come up to you and turn around (butt next to you, head facing away). Teach the dog to jump into your arms (obviously you would be down at his level for safety). Teach the dog to jump feet on your leg. All of these entail desensitizing your dog to the motion of a person bending and reaching for them. They work by making this a POSITIVE thing. 

Do not attach 1. and 2. until you have them both down pat.


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

QUOTE (JMM @ Sep 28 2009, 01:48 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=834735


> You have 2 different things here
> 1. Recall
> 2. Reaching for your dog
> 
> ...


Thanks so much, Jackie. I will try this as soon as I get home this evening. 

I never had this problem with our other fluffs but then they're not 3 lbs either. Plus Pasha and Raine had been to obedient classes but I've been holding off sending Napoleon. Napoleon had only been to puppy socialization classes, of which he spent most of the time under my chair! I don't know if I should take him to obedient classes, perhaps it'll be easier for both of us when someone's there instructing. But then they don't have just small dogs only classes so I'm hesitant given his reaction last time (and the other puppies were mostly small to medium sizes). What to do...what to do...


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

I do not like free-for-all puppy classes. The point of a puppy class is suppose to be the pups having a good experience around new people, dogs, and places. So, the longer you wait to give him some good experiences, the harder it will be. I personally don't like toy only classes because little dogs need to learn that big dogs being in the room is okay. This should be done in an obedience class where the dogs are under control. It is not about your dog interacting, but learning that he's fine if other dogs are nearby.


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## cleooscar (May 28, 2008)

I'll have a chat with the instructor. Now I remembered that with the obedient classes, we didn't have that much interactions with other dogs compared to puppy classes. Mostly each owner was working with our dog on the commands. Perhaps Napoleon will do better under that condition. He didn't want to play with other puppies in puppy classes but he may like the obedient training--he'll do just about anything for a treat (except, of course, getting picked up by me). :huh:


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