Puppy needing listening skills?

[ebaydan777]

my puppy harley (french bulldog) is having a hard time listening when hes concentrating on something (e.g. teething on our other dogs, sniffing around the backyard, wandering off from our driveway every once in a while), and when we call him he just looks at us as if he is laughing and keeps sniffing or teething or wandering and when we try to get him he thinks were all playing, hes only 4 months in that adolescent age so i dont know if hell come around, but i also dont know where i start to teach him to come, he comes when he pays attention to me and he listens when im in front of him looking at him or inside the house, so what do i do? Hes smart so im sure he can learn whatever i teach him! hes just really active..so its hard but what lessons do i teach him?

[Kaos]

Hi ebaydan777, not sure if you still need any help but there are two things you can do straight away.

1) train your dog to give you attention
2) start work on a the foundation for a really good recall word

I really like this explanation for how to teach attention http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/attention.htm

Once you have attention mastered, the recall (and all other commands) will come much easier. Pick a word you are going to use to ask the dog to come to you - might be 'come' or 'here'. The very best way to train this word is by giving the dog 100% success record with it - ie never give him a chance to fail and learn to ignore it. To do this you start by only using this word when you are 99% sure your dog will come or is already on his way. A good time to try this word initially is to call him in for his dinner or when you have his favourite toy in your hand and want to play. You gradually build up adding small distractions along the way - don't rush this as it takes time but is worth it. Initially always reward a recall with food / toys / heaps of praise. Make sure nothing bad (eg telling off / bath / end of walk etc) happens when he returns. It's worth getting this right as a good recall will be the ticket to freedom for your dog with off leash walks and may in fact save his life one day.

[ebaydan777]

ya i think im trying something a bit different but kind of the same, such as "leave it" ill put a peice of liver treat on the floor in front of him and hell come after it, then ill gaurd it with my hand and say "leave it" and ill keep gaurding it every time he tries to get it and every time i guard it i say "leave it." After a few "leave its" he gets the idea and just stands there looking at it or looking at me and then ill grab it and give it to him and praise him, now he can do it without me guarding it i just say leave it and he leaves it till i tell him he can have it

another thing im doing is putting him on a leash and when i dont want him going to an area like across the sidewalk, ill say "wait" and he will stand until i praise him and tell him we can go, and ill do this everywhere and very often until he understands that he needs to wait until i let him go.

and the last thing i tried teaching him tonight was to "come". I will have me and my girlfriend on either side of the living room with treats, and Harley will know we have treats, well grab his collar keep him by us and the other person across the room says "Harley, COME" and he comes we grab his collar and give him a treat and praise, and we do it over and over again until he learns what COME means. But the problem is when i took him outside and i wanted him to come with me, he just ran again into the street or into the plants to sniff, and when i try to get him hell be a little squirt and run away thinking were playing, gosh idk what to do about that!!!

[skunkstripe]

Hi eBayDan,
I think you are off to a good start with teaching "come" but I don't think you are there yet. My guess is that right now "come" means "run from mommy to daddy (or daddy to mommy) across the living room and collect my treat". Once you are out of the living room, his reasoning will be "come? what does he mean 'come', we are not in the living room and I can see he doesn't have any treats".
You have to help your dog recognize the abstract concept of "come". First off, gyp him of the treat every once in a while. Make a fuss, scratch behind the ears, so he understands that there is not always a treat waiting. Something positive, yes, but not necessarily a treat.
Next thing you have to do is vary the scene. Do you have an upstairs and downstairs? Make him 'stay' (without a person holding him if possible) while you go hide. Then say "come" Dogs LOVE to play hide and seek. The fun is worth more to them than a treat usually.
Anway, keep at it, "come' is on a of the most important commands your doggy can learn. Good luck!

[Kaos]

Good advice from skunkstripe - exactly right, dogs don't generalise easily. This means that if you teach them to sit in front of you for example they won't necessarily understand how to sit when they are beside you at first, or in a different room etc.

So, keep practicing in different situations inside the house. When you are ready to try again outdoors you might want to pop him on a long lead (a horse lunge line or maybe a flexi lead or piece of light rope). When you call him hopefully he will come by himself, but if he doesn't you can gently reel him in so that he can't fail the exercise. Remember what you want is to build his experience of 100% success with the recall so that it becomes ingrained and he doesn't learn that he can chose not to come.

Another option to raise the chance of success outdoors is perhaps to let him out just before his dinner time. Make sure he hears the sound of his bowl or whatever he associates with dinner, then call him to you and produce his food.

If you call him and he doesn't come (which hopefully won't happen) don't ever chase him as he may think this is a great game and very rewarding. Instead I would run in the opposite direction away from him - very likely he will wonder what you are doing and chase you.

[ebaydan777]

yes this is true, because when i give up on saying COME every 2 seconds and he doesnt listen, i open the gate and when he hears that creaking sound he knows im leaving and he comes running after me into the house, but the hide and seek game sounds like a brilliant idea ill get right on that tomorrow and see how it goes, I mean he listens 70% of the time outside, but i want it 100% without the "oh look at the pretty rolley polley and leaves on the ground", i want him to come and listen and have 100% attention when i call for him.

Today i took him on a walk so i can start teaching him on a leash, hes good at it so far, and when we get to a point where i need him to wait and not go farther without me i just stop and say wait and he sits looks at me and i give him praise or a treat or both, and i usually do this at the door, the line before the steps, and the line before the sidewalk to the street, and hes getting it i just hope he will understand after a few days when i do it without the leash! and especially to come back! lol

[skunkstripe]

Well this is a sore point between me and my husband. The way it usually works is this:

How I get the dog to come and how hubby gets the dog to come.

I say "COME" in my deepest voice. Sophia comes running, Zircon looks up. I say "COME" again (mistake on my part actually, you are not supposed to repeat the command). But Zircon comes.

Husband says "Zircon, c'm here. C'mon, boy. <tweet tweet> (husband is whistling). Come. <tweet> $%^%$ dog, would you Come ON ALREADY!!!"

Meanwhile I am watching this with steam coming out of my ears and finally I say (for the 100th time) to hubby, "Can you get in the habit of just saying "COME"? The dog doesn't speak English?" To which hubby replies, "What do you mean? He understands me just fine! He came, didn't he?"

[ebaydan777]

hahaha thats hilarious, i didnt know you cant repeat the word, i always gotta say come like 3 times till he decides he wants to look at me and walk over, ill try the hide and seek and get him working with me a little :)

[skunkstripe]

No you are not supposed to repeat it. If you do, the dog learns, "hey dad just called me to come, but it's ok, he'll ask a couple of times. I'll wait til I hear the gate creak, thats' how I know he's serious. In the meantime I wanna check if these dandelions still smell like that poodle down the road".

What you seem to need to work on is to get Harley to understand that when you say "come" it means 'run towards daddy, wherever he is and wherever you are.'

I did manage to teach Zircon one command that he will obey instantly and that is "truck". "Truck" means "the side door to the vehicle is now open and ready for dogs to jump in. You have 15 seconds to get in the truck otherwise I am leaving you BEHIND". I was a real hard*** about this one because I take Zirc to work with me. It used to be when we would leave, he would start running around the parking lot and not get in the truck and I wanted to go HOME. So finally I thought &$%#*! I am getting in the truck and driving off. Oh boy you should have seen that sad doggy face as he realized mommy was leaving. Of course I didn't, I just drove to the other side of the parking lot. Then I called "truck". It took him two or three times and since then the word "truck" has magic properties.

[ebaydan777]

haha wow thats really good i should try that, but how do i do it with my situation, just say come, and if he doesnt come just leave him behind for a few moments then let him in and keep doing that everytime he doesnt listen UNTIL he does decide to come when i say COME?

[skunkstripe]

Well this was after he was 'pretty good' with "come". By which I mena he understood it, but sometimes decided that he did not have to come just yet.

The trick is when you are teaching him to set him up so that he ALWAYS comes when you say come. So how do you do that?

a) You happen to say 'come' when he is coming anyway. Don't laugh, it is a sneaky way of getting him to associate the word with the action.

b) You say 'come' and use some other motivator to get him to want to come to you so badly that he does it of his own free will. This could be a treat, or in the case of the hide-and-seek game, the fun and reward of finding you.

c) You can force him. This is the leash method where you have him on a leash and when you say 'come' you tug him towards you. I am not a big fan of this one.

Honestly he way I did it with Zircie was to first get him to master "sit". I used a hand signal at the same time, pointing my finger down. After that I would get him to 'stay' (hold up the flat of my hand) and back away just until he could not stand to 'stay' any longer. At the beginning this was not very far, maybe 5 ft? Then I would say 'come' since he was doing that anyway and either give him a treat or act like he had just won the Nobel prize. I would practice this for about 10 -15 minutes three times a day. Always finish off with something he does well so he does not get frustrated. Training sessions should be fun so doggy looks forward to them.
I gradually increased the distance I could back away until I could be out of sight, in the next room, downstairs. And to him when I finally said "come" it was a relief.

The only hard part was later separating out the three commands because he got used the order 'sit-stay-come'. So I would have to say 'sit' and then do something else, like 'rollover'.

Anyway, that is my :2cents: I think I had a blast doing it because I am an ex-professor, and Zircon was a lot more motivated to learn than most of the human students I had. :D

[Kaos]

Ebaydan777 - initally you should only use the word 'come' when you are really sure that your dog will come fist time of asking (eg when there is nothing more interesting happening, or when calling him for dinner or tasty treat) as he shouldn't be given the opportunity to fail or that is what he would learn. If you are unsure that he will obey either don't use the 'come' word until it is more established (go and collect him instead) or have him on a long line so that you can enforce the come if necessary.

[Kaos]

Wow - guess we were posting at the same time!

[kalismom]

Well this is a sore point between me and my husband. The way it usually works is this:

How I get the dog to come and how hubby gets the dog to come.

I say "COME" in my deepest voice. Sophia comes running, Zircon looks up. I say "COME" again (mistake on my part actually, you are not supposed to repeat the command). But Zircon comes.

Husband says "Zircon, c'm here. C'mon, boy. <tweet tweet> (husband is whistling). Come. <tweet> $%^%$ dog, would you Come ON ALREADY!!!"

Meanwhile I am watching this with steam coming out of my ears and finally I say (for the 100th time) to hubby, "Can you get in the habit of just saying "COME"? The dog doesn't speak English?" To which hubby replies, "What do you mean? He understands me just fine! He came, didn't he?"

My husband does the same thing! I respond with"dogs don't speak English, they only associate a word with a behavior" He will reply"Oh, they know what I'm saying, they're just stubborn" I think he does it to test me.

[ebaydan777]

haha ok well let me list to you what Harley can do with no problem, i can put about 5+ peices of doggy treats that he LOVES all around him and say LEAVE IT, and he will not touch the darn things until i say TAKE IT, and then hes so happy, he can sit and lay down perfectly but just hearing the words, he can wait at the door when i say WAIT before we go out and at the gate before the outside world, he can stay when i say STAY and i can be anywhere in his vision and he will stay, but as soon as he doesnt see me hell take off looking for me thats one no-no, and the other thing when he gets out that gate he is Mr. Explorer and will not come unless i get him (usually involves chasing him) or bringing out treats, i say come and he just looks at me, (probably laughs at me) and keeps doin his own thing, then when i go after him he thinks its a funny little game and chases me around (of course french bulldogs are built tough they are not that fast lol)...everyone tells me its cause hes only 4 months old and hell be ok if i keep at least trying my tactics at him when he gets a couple months older, but i hope its true!

[Kaos]

He sounds very cute - where are the photos?

How about bring out the treats and rattle them, then when he is already on his way say 'Harley come', and reward him when he gets to you.

[ebaydan777]

ya i do that already but hes just so stubborn sometimes when hes paying attention to his dandelions or some plants lol idk hes weird..heres some pics:

http://the-pocket.com/canon/IMG_2138.JPG

http://the-pocket.com/canon/IMG_2133.JPG

[Kaos]

Oh my goodness, he is adorable :)

[skunkstripe]

Yes he is a cutie.

"then when i go after him he thinks its a funny little game and chases me around"

Chasing dogs never works. As you have correctly recognized, they think it is a game. if you want your dog to come to you, run AWAY from him. YOu will ba amazed how fast he runs TO you. You said he cannot stand to have you out of your sight? Say "come" and run away, preferably someplace where he cannot see you. His attachment to you will be the motivator. Trust me on this I am so glad I know how to get a dog to come to me. I could tell ya about the time there was this puppy running across four lanes of traffic near strip malls on my way to work and how I got him, but I do not want to hijack your thread. So please, don't chase your dog unless you are playing 'chase' with him (which of course he will appreciate greatly :D )

[ebaydan777]

no you have helped a lot actually, harley loves it when i run away from him and he comes after me, i tried the "locking him out" trick, i closed that gate and ran right inside for a good minute or so, he was standing at the gate like "omg u left me" haha and i let him inside after i said come and he came in perfectly all the way into the living room sat down and just looked at me lol

[Emma82]

i had the same problem with my Dachshund i found that a dog whisel worked great you can not hear it but the dog can. you can get them at pet stores this worked for me hope this helps

[skunkstripe]

no you have helped a lot actually, harley loves it when i run away from him and he comes after me, i tried the "locking him out" trick, i closed that gate and ran right inside for a good minute or so, he was standing at the gate like "omg u left me" haha and i let him inside after i said come and he came in perfectly all the way into the living room sat down and just looked at me lol

HAHAHA that reminds me of when I had to turn my heart to stone. Same thing with Zircie when he was a puppy. He understood what 'come' meant except he didn't understand that it was supposed to be 'now' and not 'whenever'.

Your post reminded me of those days. I would say 'come' and if he didn't come, go inside and wait. Sure enough he would trot up to the door and give me that LOOK. I would keep my head down and count to 100. Sometimes I would even say 'come' again. If your dog starts to whin eyou can decide of you want to let him in or not. Sometimes it can be useful if your dog asks to come in like this. Anyway to finally put him out of his misery Iwould say 'come' and open the door, he would rush in and be very happy and jumping around.

If I can say one more thing-practice this with him when it it not important and where you know he will be safe. Like a fire drill. The time will come when you will need him to come (no ifs ands or buts but RIGHT NOW) and even though they are clever, they may not be as smart as we think. Practice it three times a day (how old is he?) until you feel he has it. THen try it randomly, just to see if he still does it well. Soundslike yoiu are on the rigth road and that you are lucky to have such a great little stinker (xcuse me, I mean darling) :D

[ebaydan777]

haha...hes 4 months old yesterday so hes at a good age to learn all this, ya he definitly knows what comes mean, when he doesnt see that treat in my hand it sure does mean "whenever" for him, so i hope after trying this over and over again hell come when i say it..