Sheltie only listens for food.

J

jordanair45

Forums Novice
I have a 4.25 month old Sheltie named Euclid. Been doing clicker training with him and he's been doing great.

Problem is, he will only listen when he figures out that there are treats involved. If we are cooking in the morning, he will smell the food, I will ask him to come, and he comes, because he thinks we have food.

When I go outside with treats and a clicker, boom, does everything perfect.

If I open the front door to take him for a walk, tell him to come, he will stay inside. If I want to take him out to go to the bathroom, but he's lying in bed, if I ask him to come, he won't. He will just lay there and do whatever he feels like.

What's going on? Thinking about having him signed up for an obedience class because of this. Dog is super smart and I potty trained him in less than 3 weeks.
 
At four months, your Sheltie is still a very young baby! You're lucky if he responds to food and treats...a dog who is food-motivated learns well and quickly. Some are not and it can be very difficult to motivate them for training. Use good, high value treats or food that's good for him in training sessions. As he gets older you can begin to reduce the treats and use the clicker or voice commands.

A young puppy's attention span is very short so training sessions should be no more than 5 - 10 minutes at a time. I'd recommend puppy kindergarten at four months, or an obedience class geared toward young puppies.
 
We play hide and seek with our Sheltie to work on her "come" command. I will have a few kids hide in and around the house and call her name. If she comes, there is a chance that she will get a treat. However, the key to this training process is to make the location, reward, and timing unpredictable. This variability will make her response more reliable in the future, and will always get the better of her own curiosity.

Good luck!
 
Ditto what Ann said. At just over 4 months you have a very young baby. Food is motivating. Praise and respect are not yet motivating. In addition, during teething they will go all airhead and rebellious anyway. Remember with come that it should be only used for amazingly good things. Come is a total party. Come is not for anything the dog may not enjoy like baths or nail trims or coming inside from playing. If you want them to come when it's not fun fun go get them and carry them. Come should only be the best happy treat filled wonderful petting party ever.

Definitely go to class. Learning that strangers and dogs are "no big deal" (socializing) is super super valuable, definitely way beyond what is taught (sit, down, stay, come, and look are taught easily but it is beyond that).
 
I totally agree with the other posts.

I can tell you - I have treats in almost all my pockets, and this I have the first few years, and gradually become they only triggered when the dog comes to me in more and more "difficult" situations..

But the puppy must connect a caII from its humans as the most wonderful thing :hugs, and to reinforce this caII - this always triggers lot of praise and a treat.

It must be programmed up in there little heads, always to come quick and happy (important) - to us when we call, then this will also happen the day we forgot the treat.

You use a clicker it is also a good thing, especially for obedience training.
(Your little Euclid is doing it exactly right, you click and he comes to you)
 
Consistency and making it a big deal. Appeal to the want to please side of a sheltie personality. Deep down a dog wants to please, to be a good pack mbr. Make it worth the time. I still try to emphasize how much I want good behavior. Always reinforce the benefit of doing what you ask. It also builds confidence and a confident dog usually doesn't slip into unwanted behavioral problems. If you keep presenting the expectation so it is well understood and praise and reward the outcome. It does get the desired results. But it can't be hit or miss especially in the puppy phase. It has to be consistent.

Here is what being inconsistent does. I see it lots around me. I have neighbors who aren't actively training consistently. They don't really spend quality time with their dogs. They tie them out or leave them in the backyard. They aren't consistent about what they want. Their dogs bark a lot. Their dogs don't LISTEN or heed their commands. WHY, because they are allowed to bark sometimes and not others. They get mixed messages constantly. So I live around dogs who are confused. They don't heed commands, and can't be trusted to be off lead, or not bolt if they open their front doors or gates. They run off and then they can't call them back. They have to chase them down. But here is the point that makes me livid. They BLAME their dogs. They praise my dogs for staying in sit or stay and not barking. They don't get why when I say come. My girls come. They don't have to be on a leash in my yard because they won't run off. If my girls act up, I deal with it, and they know they need to adjust the behavior right then. Dogs have bad days like people do. They aren't robots, but you handle those days and get back to focus.
If you work with your sheltie, they eventually get it.
 
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