Teachin 2Yr Old Chihuahua/pappillion Mix

it took me nearly 6 years to get my girl dog to come to me. shes an independent husky mutt and we adopted her when she was a pup. now that shes goten older she is more willing to do as we command. she would only do it in the early days IF she wanted to.
so i guess my advice is to have patience as it can take years

Consistency & positive reward.
1. Have small treats (Whisker Lickin's cat treats are perfect!) & when the dog comes to you for any reason - reward with a treat. Once she starts seeking you out, reward occasionally - once every other visit, every 3 visits, etc.

2. Separately, put a very light-weight leash on the pooch (can do this in the house, in your living room or whatever), & call her to you. (have a treat at the ready). If she doesn't come willingly, pick up the slack on the leash to put a little tension (don't pull the dog towards you, but don't let her pull away from you, just "hold your ground") & call her again. ANY release in the tension is to be rewarded. A slight movement forward, a paw-step forward, coming all the way - ANYTHING. Repeat.

You may need to do step 1 for a few days/week before starting step 2, depending on how hesitant she is around you. If she isn't comfortable being loose around you at all, & tends to hide, you can do step 1 with her on a light leash, just don't put any tension - reward any behavior she gives you without prompting. Make sure to use verbal praise too.

Added: Don't try calling her to come without the leash, until she is VERY consistent. You don't want to be in a position where you give a command & she can ignore you, with no way to reinforce the command. But at the beginning, it is less of a command & more of an invitation, until she becomes comfortable with the concept & interaction.

Feel free to message me with any additional questions. T. :)

Off-leash training takes a very long time, and it has nothing to do with the breed of dog.

This dog has been traumatized and ignored. She was with the original owner, then your friend, and now you. She doesn't know where she belongs yet. It will take years to get her through that, with small increments of progress noted. If you are talking about getting the dog to come to you in the house, you have to get her to trust you and want to be with you. You do that by confining her to 1-2 rooms (use baby gates if you don't have doors) and being available, letting her come to you. When she does, you use a small training treat (not a full biscuit).

If you are talking about outside training, don't even thing about off-leash work for a very long time. Work on other commands first. One or two at a time, and don't move on until she's mastered those.

I highly recommend you look into obedience training - I'm not sure I would do classes yet until you learn how socialized she is. You might consider the investment in a one-on-one trainer but only one who comes to your house. I would not leave this dog with anyone else or take her to a strange location yet.

We rescued a twice-abandoned, 2-shelter, foster dog. She's wonderful now but it took years of devotion and consistency. Please do not give up on this dog - give her a forever home and the dependable love she so deserves!

I kept my dogs crated for most of their lives. What that looks like in practice is 90% of waking hours the dogs were loose, hanging out with us, running in the yard so I am not exactly sure why you worded it like a form of torture.

Dogs usually respond to positive reinforcement more than negative. So find a secure place like a fenced yard or a fenced dog park on off hours when you can keep their attention. Even then start with a long flexi lead. Tell them to stay and then walk as far as you think you can go before they chase you. Tell them to come and when they do reward them. Keep getting further and further away. Eventually then know what you want them to do when you say come and they will come.

I mean my crated dogs always came when I called them...

Go to www-dot-dickrusselldogtrainer-dot-com.
Dick Russell was a world class dog trainer and passed his legacy on when he died.

Like tadpole says, it also took me about 6 years to teach my dog to come. She is a husky mix. We walk daily and I like to go to a trail and let her off leash. One training method is you put a huge line (a horse line is what I got) on your dog. Call once. Gently pull the dog to you. When you dog is in front of you say Good Dog!!!!! and give her a little treat. Repeat a million times. Then go to a fenced in dog park and practice. Don't fall into the trap of calling over and over and over...just call once. Otherwise they learn they can ignore you. The key to this is practice daily...over and over and over. Good luck.

Inside or outside? Inside you can tether the dog to you with a leash so that when you go somewhere he comes along. Once he's use to being around you then leave the leash on him but don't tether it to you. When he come with you lots of praise and treats. That way he'll know good things happen when you are around.

Outside is a whole different story. Some dogs just don't develop good recall because there's too much to do and see out there. You can try practicing recall in a gated area like a tennis court. Put him on a long leash, call him, and then if he doesn't come reel him in to you. Once he gets to you treat and praise. Lather, rinse, repeat. He may start coming when called or he may not.

If he doesn't have recall outside of your house please make sure you keep him on a leash at all times. He's a little dog and can get into trouble if he runs into a big dog who thinks he's a chew toy.

When you say crated for two years and "housebroken" to a pee pad, do you mean the dog was kept confined to a crate for two years, rarely being let out and not being properly housebroken to outdoors? (Normally crates are used for safety and sleeping, and only little puppies or elderly/sick dogs use pee pads regularly.)

If this is accurate, then a professional trainer would be the best thing for you and your formerly neglected dog.