How to get pup to pay attention when ignoring her name?

[Mom of Mya]

Mya did great during our first obedience classes but this past week she seems to be ignoring things whenever she wants to even her name when called? I know I don't want to keep repeating it over and over when she is ignoring it. Any ideas on the best way to get her attention when she is doing this?

 

I have tried clapping to get her attention and also changing my voice tone and it does not seem to work.

 

Also we learned rollover which she was doing quite well and then all of a sudden last night whenever I tried to get her to do that, sit anything she just tried to grab the treat without doing it. She is really being obstinate this week for some reason. I have also tried changing the training to a different time in the day thinking maybe she was just too tired to do it in the evening.

 

I should add she is 8 months old if that helps or makes a difference.

[GentleLake]

I'm not sure I have an answer (or I'm just too tired to think of one at the moment ), but one thing I want to warn about is projecting emotions on the dog. You're not in her head so you really can't know that she's being "obstinate." She may just be confused for some reason, or it's a phase she's going through, or something else. But creating a story in your head about her being obstinate could color your relationship with her, possibly in ways that won't be helpful.

 

There are a lot of great trainers here, so I hope someone else will give you some suggestion for the rest of it.

[Mom of Mya]

I'm not sure I have an answer (or I'm just too tired to think of one at the moment ), but one thing I want to warn about is projecting emotions on the dog. You're not in her head so you really can't know that she's being "obstinate." She may just be confused for some reason, or it's a phase she's going through, or something else. But creating a story in your head about her being obstinate could color your relationship with her, possibly in ways that won't be helpful.

 

There are a lot of great trainers here, so I hope someone else will give you some suggestion for the rest of it.

Thanks I will try to remember that, i guess i was relating it to when my kids were in the "terrible two phase or teenage phase" and thinking maybe she is going through the teenage phase for a dog or something? I don't know when they seem to do that. It has been way too long since we had a pup for me to remember.

[geonni banner]

My guess - others may differ - is that training is simply not rewarding enough for her to want to do it as much as you want her to. How are you motivating her? Treats? Petting? Tug? Just because you are offering something as a reward doesn't mean your dog will find it rewarding. Break up your routine - change up the order of things, try different kinds of rewards and keep the sessions short.

[Mom of Mya]

My guess - others may differ - is that training is simply not rewarding enough for her to want to do it as much as you want her to. How are you motivating her? Treats? Petting? Tug? Just because you are offering something as a reward doesn't mean your dog will find it rewarding. Break up your routine - change up the order of things, try different kinds of rewards and keep the sessions short.

She gets treats and told she is a good girl which she seems to love usually, and I try to limit the training to no more than 10 minutes at a time. After we are done we play with her choice of her toys. In her choice I mean I tell her to go get a toy and she picks one out and brings it to me and we play, whether it be frisbee, ball, one of her squeakies, her rope for tug of war, whichever. If we are outside she usually chooses between her ball, frisbee and bubbles. She loves to chase bubbles. But she will usually go to one and indicate to me which she wants to do. Am I doing wrong by giving her the choice?

[Sue R]

If she doesn't respond, don't repeat her name. Just go and get her or call the session over or choose to provide something she finds more rewarding. Repeating her name (or a command) without response just tells her that she does not need to respond.

 

If you end a training session with play, you may be letting her think that the fun comes *when it's over* and *not while it's happening* so try to have the fun happen during training and maybe have a quiet time right after. There are top stockdog trainers that put the dog up right after the training session because they believe that gives the dog the chance to "think about it" and to rest his/her brain as training (mental work) is more taxing than physical activity.

 

As Geonni suggests, you might want to mix things up a bit to keep it fresh and to keep her intrigued.

 

Best wishes!

[Gloria Atwater]

You might try shortening your training sessions. 10 minutes is actually a long time for an 8 month old to try and stay focused. I'd say do 5 minutes or less. Make each session lighthearted and almost casual. Just call her, do a couple things, then let her go off and play.

Per the name thing, make her name the Best Thing Evar. Call her umpty times a day for absolutely no reason except to pet and praise her - then let her go again. If she doesn't look up on the first call, let it go. The important thing is to set her up for success, so if you see she's distracted, don't push the issue, just walk to her and speak to her to regain her full attention for a moment. Keep a bag of treats in your pocket so you can just call her randomly, treat her and let her go.

They do go through phases and "terrible twos" type things, but it's not the same as with human children. Never presume she "knows what you want" and is ignoring you. It's just as likely that she's simply distracted, because as they mature, their awareness of the world around them also expands and there's a lot out there to catch a little dog's notice.

Just be patient, and again, try shorter sessions. Frequent short sessions may be easier for her than fewer, longer sessions.

Best of luck!

~ Gloria

[sandysfarm]

I'm not sure I have an answer (or I'm just too tired to think of one at the moment ), but one thing I want to warn about is projecting emotions on the dog. You're not in her head so you really can't know that she's being "obstinate." She may just be confused for some reason, or it's a phase she's going through, or something else. But creating a story in your head about her being obstinate could color your relationship with her, possibly in ways that won't be helpful.

 

There are a lot of great trainers here, so I hope someone else will give you some suggestion for the rest of it.

 

 

Takes one to know one.

[Mom of Mya]

Thanks to you all for all the great tips. I have changed it up a bit. We play before training and actually add play to the training. She loves chasing bubbles, so I get her to sit and stay, then say ready and blow the bubbles to let her chase them. After she has caught some, I give her the call back to me. She still doesn't answer her name every time because as you say she is distracted. She notices everything going on around her at all times, it is amazing to me, she even notices a moth that moves across the yard. But we are working on that more, especially inside the house and i am treating her for coming when I call her name and I also have put treats throughout the house where I can just grab them easily when she does come. Also I move them occasionally and don't leave them where she can get them because she sure learns fast where they are. I have to remind myself not to repeat commands.

 

Interestingly, my husband made mention this weekend that I had taken to calling her baby girl a lot which I had not even noticed, i guess like a nick name. He said to say baby girl and i did and she perked up so i guess a part of this is my fault as I could have been confusing her. I am trying to pay more attention to calling her by name instead of her pet name I guess I had started calling her.

[Lizabeth]

I have had this very problem with Miss Gidget oh when she first came here she would not come to us for anything if she was too busy doing whatever she felt was more important. She did catch on to her name very quickly and we knew she knew exactly what we wanted just by her stance and how she held her head.

 

Between long leash and yummy treats I have her doing so much better. Id take her for walks let her have a bit of slack then I would call her back and have her sit then give her a treat. I did this over and over and over, also helped teach her not to pull on the leash.

 

It was so bad we would go to the dog park and have everyone there helping me chase that little girl all over tell someone got lucky and nabbed her. Happy to say that as of today she comes about 96% of the time the very first time she is called.

 

I still continue to work on "come" with her in the house and in the yard, I basically drill it into her head when I say Come i mean Come, not if you wish! Gidget has been with us for just a month I expected this to be much harder to be honest

 

Soon I will be working on a recoil with her that will have a more serious effect as in rite now stop and get over here fast

 

My daughter uses "to me" with her heeler which is so cute because she learned this from me when she was a little girl smiles proudly Orian her dog can stop on a dime turn around and run rite to her, it does not matter what he is running after a ball, a critter or just off out of sight behind the house you say to me and bam he is on his way

[Mom of Mya]

Yeah she did awesome Friday and Saturday. She is even realizing commands as we walk which I treat her for. She is on a long leash and when she is getting to the end I can tell her slow down which she does. I don't want her in the road when we are near it walking so if she starts to wonder that way, I just no road and she moves back to the grass. When cars pass, I say stop, she stops and stands still and then we move on. I really like that one. I can now get her to sit and stay while I go across a 21 x 20 foot room inside. Outside not so long yet but we are working on it.

 

Then my daughter came up with her dog that is half german shepherd and half husky who likes to play by biting which I try to minimize when I am in there with them as Dixie can put her whole mouth around Mya's neck which she does. So anyways yesterday and today we have been working on the training which she seems to find fun again but also had to go back to working on the no biting or nipping again also. It is a work in progress every day. Thank goodness she catches on quick once she realizes what we want.

[BCjetta]

I had some issues with Turbo ignoring me when I called his name when he would see other people or dogs on our walks. He is very food motivated and he knows what the clicker is. I started saying his name and clicking for any sign that he heard me. It started out with an ear flick back towards me. As soon as he heard the click he would then turn around and come for the food (he has a very strong association with the click = food). I kept doing it at points in the walk where there were no distractions and my aim was when I said his name to turn his head and look at me. Its ended up being I call his name and he immediately turns and comes back to me (if I say it in the same tone of voice I use when I always have food). He will now do so even when he sees a person or dog. Most of the time I would give him the treat and just let him go again so calling his name didn't mean he was going on a leash etc.

[Mom of Mya]

I had some issues with Turbo ignoring me when I called his name when he would see other people or dogs on our walks. He is very food motivated and he knows what the clicker is. I started saying his name and clicking for any sign that he heard me. It started out with an ear flick back towards me. As soon as he heard the click he would then turn around and come for the food (he has a very strong association with the click = food). I kept doing it at points in the walk where there were no distractions and my aim was when I said his name to turn his head and look at me. Its ended up being I call his name and he immediately turns and comes back to me (if I say it in the same tone of voice I use when I always have food). He will now do so even when he sees a person or dog. Most of the time I would give him the treat and just let him go again so calling his name didn't mean he was going on a leash etc.

That is an excellent idea too...thanks. We went through the obedience training where they used the clicker so even if I pick it up she comes and sits in front of me. I will have to sneak it into my pocket for walks and then try that. She does know also that if we do the clicker she will get treats. I have also done some training without the clicker too, some training exercises I just don't have enough hands for and she actually does well without it too if she is paying attention.

[GentleLake]

Mouth clicks or a marker word (like Yes! said in a consistent upbeat tone of voice) work well when you don't have a enough hands for a clicker, or there's just not one handy when she offers an awesome behavior.