Bulldogs World

Teaching "come". Coming to me when I call, is to me the most important skill to teach a dog, it can saves their lives. Because of that, I train and continue to praise/reward even years after they have learned the skill reliably. Use treats when training, tiny pieces of chicken, beef, cheese etc., Bulldogs are very food motivated. Start out in a small contained space, ie.-your living room. Call him to you, when he comes to you, have him sit, praise/reward. Step away, repeat, repeat, repeat several times a day. Change locations in your house. Because the house is such a low distraction area, you can probably use a handful of his breakfast or dinner for training. When he is reliably coming to you, take it outside. Put him on a long leash, 20-30 feet, so you can still have control over him. Repeat the same exercise as above. Practice, practice, practice. Again, when he is reliable at this stage, up the level of difficulty, maybe at a park, something that offers a little more distraction. Changing difficulty levels should be done only if the dog is reliable at his current level.

It takes awhile and a ton of practice/praise/reward but it is worth it, saves a lot of time and can save your dogs life.

Jumping on people, is a behavior that is generally learned at a very young age. Lets face it, no one minds a chubby little puppy jumping on them but we are allowing them to learn a very annoying habit. Using a leash is necessary, you can't allow him to continue to jump up, the more times he does it, the more practice he gets and the harder it becomes to modify. Does he have any skills, like "sit", dog can't jump up if he/she is sitting. Amazing how teaching one simple skill like "sit" can make life so much easier living with a dog. Anyway, when greeting people, drop the leash, stand on it allowing enough room for your dog to sit comfortably, quietly/calmly praise/reward him for being calm, do not let anyone touch him if he continues to struggle. You are trying to teach him that calm and polite behavior gets him attention. Acting like a bozo, makes people go away. Don't allow him interaction with children until he has learned not to jump.

Good luck

I am in the same boat my pup is 7 months and I am in the early stages of geting him to come on command. Sit and stay are up next, going to take a while but all we have is time I guess.

I have read that you have to be VERY enthusiastic when you call them....so I OVERDO it....LOL!  My voice is SO high

and I say "COME!!  COME!" and then I started whistling, AND I hold a bag of treats and make the bag crinkle really loudly. She USUALLY comes, but I know what you mean.....sometimes they are just too into whatever they're doing and will NOT come! Eventually, Sophie does ALWAYS come running, and of course, aside from the treat, I give her TONS of praise!!! 

And, I kinda hate to tell you this, but with Meaty, no matter WHAT we've done, he usually will NOT come on command.  This is obviously NOT a good thing for his safety, and it worries me IF he were ever to get away from us.  I hope this is NOT the case with your pupp......Keep trying! Good Luck! 

First is he's still a puppy and is learning.  Second, he's a bulldog.  Bulldogs march to the beat of a different drum.  They are notorious for doing their own thing.  Our Fatboy is almost a year and a half and still doesn't come all the time when we say to.  I first learned this from that show Dogs 101: English Bulldogs but didn't really realize it until we got our fattie :)