stubborn, stubborn, stubborn

N

Neko

Forums Novice
My sheltie, Neko, (3/4 sheltie) is 7 months old. He is very bright and knows many tricks and commands, including COME. He also LOVES other dogs and people. He will not come to me when he doesn't want to. He just gives me 'the look'. Perhaps he does not regard me as the alpha dog. He listens very, very well when he senses I mean it or there might be danger. But makes up his own mind in other circumstances like not coming back from the neighbor's yard or not coming all the way into the house. I should add that he is left off the leash much more than most dogs. We live at the end of a very very private dead end street. Are shelties just stubborn, am I being dumb for letting him go without leash. What are your experiences with stubborn yet well behaved shelties?
 
Shelties aren't stubborn, normally
Best thing to do is ensure you make yourself into the best thing in the world that has more value than neighbours or other fun things
You won't get that if you ever call your dog to you for stuff that isn't fun for him...

Forget about the alpha stuff, dogs know humans aren't dogs, they just get puzzled if we think they want to take over, they really don't.

Use a long line, and don't call when you think he won't come, that way he doesn't get to practice not coming...
Think of it as you see a couple of hundred bucks laying around across the field and your Mom calls you to come see her... You may even hear she is getting aggravated with you, do you go and pick up the couple hundred bucks or you go back to mom to get a possible tongue lashing? lol
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToVKCdWco4Y&list=PLMssKIjsDxXnCKbbCUBstbvql-KwV9ZDz uses a long line, like that. If your dog doesn't reliably come, I would use a line like that, or you may have a hard time getting the dog to come during high stimuli environments

I also LOVE kikopup, she has a lot of great training advice
She turned me into learning about clicker training and relationship based learning
My friends have taught their SIGHTOUNDS with this method, and if a sighthound can get a reliable OFFleash recall, I can assure you a Sheltie can :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjd99MlmqqI
 
In order for a dog to be stubborn he must first understand completely what is asked of him and then choose to disobey. There are very few stubborn dogs in this world.
There are, however, many dogs who are untrained.
Forget the alpha, it is BS.
Your dog does not come because neighbor's yard is more interesting than you:wink2:
Scroll down this blog, these series will be only avail for couple of days but you get the idea:smile2:
http://susangarrettdogagility.com/2...r-dog-training/comment-page-1/#comment-385013
 
This is a question that comes up time and again on the forum. Dogs don't come with an automatic recall - it's something that you have to teach them. They'll stick with you as small puppies, but as they get older they want to explore the world. Until they have reliable recall I recommend not letting a dog off lead. It will be much quicker to train a recall if the messages aren't being confused by being off lead some of the time.

Have a search through the forum for the word "recall", and look in the puppies 101 section, you'll find a lot of information. Here's a couple of threads to get you started
http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=20889&highlight=recall
http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=20837&highlight=recall
http://www.sheltieforums.com/showthread.php?t=20301&highlight=recall

Also have a look at Dr Ian Dunbar's website Dogstardaily, which has lots of resources for training a reliable recall. I've attached a link to an article with clear steps
http://www.dogstardaily.com/blogs/sue-mccabe/why-training-recall-so-difficult-dog-owners
And this link is to a podcast by Dr Dunbar on teaching recall.
http://www.dogstardaily.com/radio/107-come-here
 
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