5 Month Sheltie Puppy knows what I want but won't listen!!!

clicker training is the best way to earn your dogs trust in my opinion.
It's a good way to set your dog up for success.
You can also use a marker word, like saying Yes... it's just that the clicker is instant and always sounds the same without any inflections or emotions. I HIGHLY recommend it.
Also I found with recall the best thing I could ever play with a Sheltie is to call and then run AWAY not toward them.. so they get permission to chase you. I have never yet met a Sheltie that didn't love a good game of chase!
So when you run away then you call their name again and BIG party when he gets there, don't rush the training to get a perfect sit and all that glitzy stuff, that will come!! :biggrin2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij4sO92-Ggo&feature=related

here is puppy training, rewarding the dog and partying when he comes to you, in this case tugging and toy reward http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2O2qxiywTc
 
Thanks for the advice everyone! My 5 mo has a VERY strong prey drive so he always wants me to throw his toys for him. As he's chasing it, every time his paws hit the ground, he makes a "ra ra ra" growl sound. It's so cute. The only time I use my correction "eh eh" during training is if he starts to walk away from me, or throws a different behavior at me. When I say this, he stops doing that and does what I had asked him to do. I haven't worked with them using hand signals yet but I know I should. My 11 week old boy is picking up on behaviors from my 5 month old. I do think they both would benefit from obedience classes though just because they could use the socialization, and it would be interesting to learn more about it.
 
I've owned 3 Shelties & one of them was incredibly single minded. At 5 mos he started demonstrating the same behavior & tuned me out when he didn't want to cooperate, which was more often than not. The clicker might as well have been on 'silent' mode at that point & it got very frustrating before I remembered he had a small squeeky toy he favored in the first weeks after I brought him home, but that I'd had to put away when he got big enough to where I was afraid he'd be able to swallow it. I got that out, put it behind my back & tried it to get his attention & it worked. After that I kept the toy where I could slip it into a pocket when we were working on training or went for a walk. He remembered the sound of that toy so when I squeezed it he immediately refocused to look at me since the sound came from where I was standing. That single minded trait was a demonstration of strong independence & a stubborn streak & it took longer than usual for him to respond the first time for almost any command. Obedience classes are a very helpful with a dog that is single minded. Being around other dogs & people pulls them out of that, diverts their 'inward' attention to other things so they are more open to paying attention to you.
 
Well, I bought a clicker and I've seen some improvement. He even learned a new trick "bow". I think the reason I couldn't get him to come to me is that usually when I call him upstairs, it's to put him in his crate. Regardless of the treats I give him for going in his crate, he still didn't want to come up-whether I run away or not. So now I've started playing with him for a minute or so after he comes upstairs so he forgets why I really brought him up there. I think part of the issue is I've allowed him too much freedom outside...he's rarely on a leash when we go to the park or outside my house. I like allowing him to release all his energy throughout the day but I should have worked with him more on commands first. He always comes to me outside EXCEPT when there's another person or animal nearby and he wants to go say hello. So I need to set up some training sessions to curb that.
 
DanteBella85 said:
Well, I bought a clicker and I've seen some improvement. He even learned a new trick "bow". I think the reason I couldn't get him to come to me is that usually when I call him upstairs, it's to put him in his crate. Regardless of the treats I give him for going in his crate, he still didn't want to come up-whether I run away or not. So now I've started playing with him for a minute or so after he comes upstairs so he forgets why I really brought him up there. I think part of the issue is I've allowed him too much freedom outside...he's rarely on a leash when we go to the park or outside my house. I like allowing him to release all his energy throughout the day but I should have worked with him more on commands first. He always comes to me outside EXCEPT when there's another person or animal nearby and he wants to go say hello. So I need to set up some training sessions to curb that.
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GOOD FOR YOU
Congratulations on exploring training with a clicker, keep it up.. a reward doesn't always have to be food, it definitely can be life rewards like play and chase and toys! A Clicker just marks the moment the pup did exactly what you wanted :biggrin2:
 
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