Getting New Puppy to Listen

R

RosieCotton

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Hi! I was recently blessed enough to have bought a beautiful sable sheltie puppy (named Rosie), and she's an absolute doll. :biggrin2: She's sweet and funny and has this little "laugh" when she's really excited! I'm in love. Unfortunately I'm a worry-wart, and I'm terrified of doing anything wrong. I know my little girl is smart (she just started leash training in my backyard and she already trots alongside me, sweet girl that she is) but I'm fretting over getting her to listen to me.

Half the time I try getting her attention to teach her, she looks the other way or continues whatever she's doing. Clap my hands, call her name (which she admittedly doesn't know yet), etc. Nothing. I was half-convinced she was deaf until she jumped when someone turned on the radio when she was asleep.

How do you recommend I start getting her attention to train her? She doesn't really care for treats, or not the ones I have, anyways. For training her on leash, she responds best when I say, "Good girl!" and pat her head. Commands are another story...

I've been trying sit, but she wiggles and squirms A LOT. (Which I think is normal, but I was wondering how to deal with it). All the resources I've read for doing a command like sit involve either taking your fist with a treat stuffed inside it and lifting it over her head, or using a leash and tugging upwards firmly but gently to make her sit on her behind, but none seem to address the issue of her not paying attention. I mean, at all. Not for toys, not for treats. Praising is hit and miss. Sometimes she gets excited when I praise, sometimes she'll just try to walk away.

I'm probably doing something dumb and don't realize it. :rolleyes2: Help, please?

(Mom says I'm stressing too much; she's still a baby. I probably am fretting. Eh, she's my first furbaby. What can ya do?)
 
awe. Luckily my pup is food driven. Honestly, you need to start by getting her to pay attention versus teaching her new things. Find something she REALLY likes such as toys, squeekers in the toys, puppy food, treats (for treats you might have to try a bunch of different ones), chicken, hot dogs etc and use it to your advantage. Also, it helps if you don't feed them or train when you would normally feed her and use the food. This is how I taught my guy how to stay. but anyways, find something that is AMAZING in her mind. Then put out your arm (rotate arms) and as soon as she turns her head to your arm call her (name, good girl, pup pup) ANYTHING and when she looks at you PRAISE her and give her the treat QUICK and repeat (if using a toy, let her play with the toy a little before doing it again). Only do this for about 5 minutes or less though or you'll lose her as she's still a baby. You can do it periodically throughout the day, but remember 5 mins and under.
 
Patience is a virtue, or in training puppies, an absolute necessity. I completely agree with melbell to find something she will react to if she's not food motivated. Stick to the basics for now and don't try too many new commands until she's mastered the first few. And, when you introduce a new command, always reinforce the ones she already knows.

If she begins to resist, take a break. If you start becoming frustrated, take a longer break. Don't punish her for not getting it, or doing the wrong thing. Praise and reward successes and ignore failures (Don't say "no" or "bad girl", just ignore the behavior and try again.)

Training is a process and every dog is different. She may pick up on certain things really fast and then all of a sudden completely forget them. This is normal for a puppy. Sometimes she's really not grasped it and sometimes she's screwing with you. Don't worry, just keep calm and steady and consistent and Rosie will grow into a beautiful dog.
 
Echoing what everyone else has said-
She's a very young puppy. Be patient. If she's not food motivated, try something like a squeaky toy to get her attention. Remember that puppies, like young children, have very short attention spans. Don't get too upset if a training session only lasts a minute or two. Keep them short and sweet!
 
Honey was never very treat oriented, so I used to work with her in the morning before she ate breakfast so I knew she'd be hungry. When she was young though getting her to just look at me was the hardest trick. She mastered sit, lay, crawl, stay way before she started fully responding to that one. Some tricks I found that she would get in the first few tries and never forget, others I had to work on for months. Just be patient and don't give up, one day it will click in her mind.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm going to start short little sessions teaching her her name, and try and find something she likes to motivate her.
Thanks again! :smile2:
 
As others have said, short sessions work best, on adult dogs and especially on puppies. At this point in her life, training sessions may be no more than 2 or 3 minutes long. Personally, I'd work on getting a limited number of successes - 3 or 4 successful performances of the behavior - then have a huge play session. Always end a training session on a high.

It may take some time to find something she really really loves and will be willing to work for. Heck, your pup may not even know what really gets her motivated yet so keep trying different things. Some pups go nuts for food, empty plastic water bottles tied in a sock, squeaker toys, balls, some tugs. (I'd use fleece because it's soft. You can by remnants at a fabric store, cut into thing strips and braid it together for a cheep toy.) I even know dogs who just want physical praise (pets and loving) from their owner for motivation. You'll need to experiment to find what works.

Most important of all, stay positive and happy. If you start to get frustrated, end the session on a high note, ANY high note - like responding to her name, and try again later. Patience is a virtue when it comes to training. As you said, she's a smart girl but you are fighting with a puppy brain. Enjoy your puppy and work slowly for now.
 
Silaria said:
As others have said, short sessions work best, on adult dogs and especially on puppies. At this point in her life, training sessions may be no more than 2 or 3 minutes long. Personally, I'd work on getting a limited number of successes - 3 or 4 successful performances of the behavior - then have a huge play session. Always end a training session on a high.

It may take some time to find something she really really loves and will be willing to work for. Heck, your pup may not even know what really gets her motivated yet so keep trying different things. Some pups go nuts for food, empty plastic water bottles tied in a sock, squeaker toys, balls, some tugs. (I'd use fleece because it's soft. You can by remnants at a fabric store, cut into thing strips and braid it together for a cheep toy.) I even know dogs who just want physical praise (pets and loving) from their owner for motivation. You'll need to experiment to find what works.

Most important of all, stay positive and happy. If you start to get frustrated, end the session on a high note, ANY high note - like responding to her name, and try again later. Patience is a virtue when it comes to training. As you said, she's a smart girl but you are fighting with a puppy brain. Enjoy your puppy and work slowly for now.
Click to expand...

I can only second that!!
Well said

Also my only other comment is that you may want to decide now what kind of trainer and handler you want to become.
If you're trying out methods like outdated leash corrections and physical manipulations instead of shaping behaviours and positive reinforcement you may not have the best experience for the both of you that you can have.

Because enforcing positively is the best method to have a good and fun experience for yourself AND your dog. Beware of people telling you you show the pup who's boss and all that stuff, it's utter rubbish for the most part, but hey, people believe everything they see on TV ;)
Go with if it doesn't feel good and you wouldn't do it to yourself or the kids, you probably don't want to to it in dog training ;)
Look up impulse control on youtube and especially it's your choice... by Susan Garrett I love that video! It really works
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipT5k1gaXhc

Most definitely find yummy stuff like tiny pieces of cheese, tiny pieces of hot dog, tiny pieces of chicken... mix it up in a little pouch, and don't feed too much before a very short training session and it should work :D
 
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Not much to add here... so much great advice given already. The only suggestion I have to add is to make sure that you are training her in a very quiet (i.e. boring) space, so there are fewer things to grab her attention away from you and the task at hand. I know with my dog, there is no way I could try training him in the backyard... too many sights and smells to check out. :)

Good luck!
 
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