[Mr.Poubelle]

My problem is with the 'come' command, while off lead. tommy will always sit out of reach, I can't touch him. If I ask him to come again he takes one step forward and sits in the right place, while on lead he's always dead on.
I tried holding a treat up to my stomach, so now he comes, gives me a nose poke, takes one step back and sits out of reach. I know that the cause is initially I used to reward him when he sat at this distance while working on reinforcing the sit part. Any tips?

 

[Herb2relax]

I am not sure where he is sitting. Did you teach him when he came to sit in front of you? When I retrained my terriers to come when teaching Kyrah come. I used treats and still most of the time have a treat. When they come I dont care if they sit, stand, laydown or whatever. The one this is... they get a collar touch before the treat is given. That way they are use to me going for their collar in case I ever really needed to grab them. When in the house and I want to give a treat. I no longer say treat. I say Come.

Still not sure if that answered your question or not. If you are wanting him to sit in a certain spot. You could use a marker(like a towel or board) and teach him to sit on that. Then do some recalls with you standing next to the marker where you want him to be.

 

[Mr.Poubelle]

On recall he sits in front of me, but he is supposed to sit close enough that I can touch him, I need to get him to sit 16" closer.

 

[Herb2relax]

You are retraining this so it will take some time and patients. If you are doing OB watch the nose poke b/c I dont think they are suppose to touch you. Kyrah also sometimes does a nose poke on a front sit. I would think using a marker, something for them to sit on, would teach the proper position. But I really dont have the experience to say for sure. Hopefully someone else will chime in that has more experience with this.

 

[Adara]

Editing - think I read your post wrong. Is this for formal obedience? So you want a true front recall?

 

[VZ-Doberman]

What cured Bacchus was when he came in and just as he began to lower his rear I would step back and he would then come closer. I would continue to step back each time he tried to sit. Eventually he got to where he would come in nice and close.

 

[Mr.Poubelle]

You are retraining this so it will take some time and patients. If you are doing OB watch the nose poke b/c I dont think they are suppose to touch you. Kyrah also sometimes does a nose poke on a front sit. I would think using a marker, something for them to sit on, would teach the proper position. But I really dont have the experience to say for sure. Hopefully someone else will chime in that has more experience with this.

As cute as it is, the nose poke has to go, it's not really a problem as it only happens when I try to lure him closer with treats, he is usually rewarded with play. I've never used a marker other than a line not to cross, will read upon this. Will he be reliable when there is no marker?

Editing - think I read your post wrong. Is this for formal obedience? So you want a true front recall?

Yes, and yes.

What cured Bacchus was when he came in and just as he began to lower his rear I would step back and he would then come closer. I would continue to step back each time he tried to sit. Eventually he got to where he would come in nice and close.

I liked this idea and just tried it, he does come in when I step back, glad to have learned this.
Unfourtunatly I don't think it will help as he takes a step back before sitting anyway. My problem would have been better described as: How do I get my dog to stop taking a step back before sitting on recall? I just realised that when we play I always make him back off and sit before I present a toy, thats when he gets rewarded. Maybe my problems stems from here?