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My dog is almost a year old and has been doing well with training, but our biggest problem is that she has selective hearing. If she is focused, she is great, however when she is distracted (which is often) she won’t acknowledge anything we say, especially the “come” command. Anyone else with this problem? Any advice would be appreciated!!
I'd say most pups go through this and some don't outgrow it. It requires a lot of training and consistency to come out on the other side with a dog who will always respond to every command and the "come" command is probably one of the most difficult. It requires a lot, lot, lot of practice and consistency from the owner (trainer). Let them get away with NOT doing it and they quickly learn they don't HAVE to do it. What sort of training have you been doing? Have you gone to any formal obedience training and how many levels? Hopefully we can give you some ideas based on what you've tried.
Training the command-cue is step one. you do this in a quiet setting. once the dog "knows the command" it is reliant on a specific situation/circumstances. From there you need to train indifferent places (new place = start over with 100% reward and being in working mode not just "give cue" mode), different distractions (starting small) and duration. Place isn't just physical location but your body position - if you always trained a sit with you standing square in front of the dog, that is the picture the dog has of the command. Asking to sit from 5ft away as you face away is not at ALL the same picture initially - you work up to that. in class we trained the command in standing, stiting, laying down positions to generalize the cue.
recall when distracted is one of the hardest command for most dogs. Use a long line, HIGHLY REWARD when they come. But start with formal training sessions on the command and build up. Use a new word and make it HIHGLY reward. I mean this words means the highest valu reward. Until you've trained it use their name or just go get them.
as to why it is worse now: puppies have a smaller world and you play a huge part of it. As they get braver and more curious their world expands and everything is more interesting than you (cuz you are always there). and yes teenagers may see what they can get away with as well
The only real answer; a 5' high fence!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sharky723
I have started training with having her stay, I walk away and call her to me. This is usually pretty good. I have also used a long leash and encouraged her toward me with the leash. We have also just tried randomly calling her inside the house and she is usually pretty good with that. However, when we take her out to used the bathroom this is where she gets distracted with smells. She will sometimes come back but there are times she looks at me, I call her back and she just runs somewhere. Dog park is a lost cause right now but we want to be able to take her to a dog beach, but not until she responds reliably. Obviously, we want to get her to a point where she responds every time but we are struggling.
use higher value rewards. Also, call her in and then release her BACK INTO THE YARD. recall should not always mean the end of fun, end of what they want to do.
Snowshoe (fellow member) has a good exercise for recall training: Snowshoe's Album: North/South Fetch
practice using a super fun toy he loves when he is doing something not so fun. rather than only practice with a set-up sit-stay recall. while the sit-stay-recall is a good starting point it doesn't really emulate real life when he will be doing something else when you call him.
All of this! And while there are some who would disagree, I firmly believe that when they choose to blow you off there should be a negative consequence of some sort, even if just “if I have to go get you, the leash is going on and we are leaving immediately”. Making the behavior HIGHLY rewarding is the most important thing, but I believe in balancing rewards with some form of punishment once the dogs knows what you want. As I said though, not everyone would agree with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tanya