My dog is not listening..

[Rost]

I have a 5 month old black lab. I have had her for about 2.5 -3 months. During this time, we have spent countless hours together. I make it a point to spend a ton of time with her each day.

She is like my partner in crime.

So far, we are well on our way to the basic commands such as "sit"-(which also means stay). She will also remain sitting while I throw the dummy out until I command her to fetch. I have also been working with her to do some blind retrieves (I hide the dummy-then point and let her find it). She does very well.

However! Lately she has been starting to push my buttons. She has not been coming to me. The last few times she will jet off into the neighbors lawn (who also has a dog) and will not come back to me on first command. She will look up and acknowledge the command, but will choose to ignore it . Never had this problem with her before. I always have praised her for coming to me.

Is this just a stage? What can I do to end this? Shock collar?

[96trigger]

I have a 3 month old retriever who can be a little turd. After reading the book from Lamb Free, When this occurs, the dog needs a good swat. I would march right over there and grab her by the nape of the neck firmly, and scold, scold, scold. The dog needs to know that disobeying you is not an option. I have done this with my pup and she has responded well. Now, thats all I have to do is grab the nape and she knows that she did something wrong. I would expect that your dog is reaching the rebellious stage that mine hasn't hit yet. Anyway, just a thought. I am by no means a professional trainer and after reading about the dogs, labs can be harder to train than retrievers.

[Gill]

I think all dogs go through this rebellious stage, and try to test their freedom any chance they can get. The easiest way for them to do this (without consequence) is when you give the command COME when they are obviously out of your reach. All pups COME when they are very young just to receive attention from whoever is calling them. I think most people misinterpret this behavior and believe the pup really understands the command. The thing to do at this point is to reinforce that you are in charge by practicing those basic commands when you have complete control of the pup (i.e. on a leash, or in close quarters). To really train this command, you need to use a long check cord (50’ or longer) and a training collar. So that, at no time can the dog disobey you without consequence. Continue giving praise when the dog comes on command, but be ready to give her a nice sharp yank on the check cord when she doesn’t.

[Eric Wettschreck]

First off we need to get it out in the open that I am by no means an expert dog trainer. However, I've trained a few of em and my 7 month old GSP just got done doing what you are talking about.

Secondly, talk to 20 different guys and you may very well get 20 different opinions about shock collars. Some good, some bad, some neutral. My thoughts are that if used correctly they are a great training tool. The dogs I've trained (remember, I'm no expert) seemed to come along MUCH faster using the collar. Here's my thoughts, for what it's worth.

Sounds like the pup my be in it's "You're not the boss of me" stage. Much like teenagers, they have to be taught that "Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, without any doubt, I AM THE BOSS OF YOU." Sounds like pup also knows the come command. If not, pup wouldn't be giving you the look.

Try putting on the collar and playing with pup a bunch. That way they won't get "collar smart" and don't actually use the shock all the time. This helps make them actually not care that the collar is on them. With the collar at it's lowest setting, give the come command, and hold down the shock button and keep it held down. With a decent collar this will just cause minor discomfort. Keep button pressed until pup comes to you. When pup arrives where you want it to, let off on the button and give a ton of praise. It takes some time but eventually the pup will realize that it actually WANTS to come to you and not HAS to come to you. You may also need to use a training lead and gently pull the pup towards you so it knows where it's supposed to do.

Like I said earlier, I'm not an expert but this technique has worked very well for me. I like my doggie to actually want to do what I'm telling him to do and not have to do it. It will realize that when the command is given, the sooner it gets to you the sooner good things happen.

One more thing, the collar should only be used to re-enforce commands that the pup already knows. (once again, my opinion) It shouldn't be used to teach new commands.

Good luck

[LABS4ME]

Good post Boilerguy, I wouldn't start with a collar yet. Keep working with your pup to learn the commands well. You will go through this stage and another one between 9 months and a year. By that time, the collar may have been introduced to re-inforce the commands your dog has a good grasp of. Remember she is only 5 months old and WILL NOT be flawless! I've had trial dogs I considered truley finished blow me off when distracted at times. AT this stage, you do not want her to get away with disregarding your commands. It is a terrible habit to let your dog feel it doesn't have to obey till the 3rd, 4th , 5th command. If the biggest problem is COME (or Here), she needs to be dragging a check cord at all times. Go to a Western store, fleet farm, tractor supply etc. and get yourself 40-50' of lasso rope. It's very stiff and doesn't tend to tangle up like all the new nylon check cords. It won't wrap around every tree, shrub, post the dog passes so it works great in the field too. If she disregards your command do not repeat it until you firmly have the check cord in hand and are 'guiding' her in. Re-inforce with praise and move on. Set her up to fail with other family members or friends distracting her while you train. Not everytime, but a couple times a week and begin the process of re-inforcement so she understands the command means everytime, not just when she feels like it. I see a lot of dogs that can do flawless work one on one, but put them in a 'new' setting and all bets are off. You can work through these little bumps. Just use a lot of repitition, and DO NOT introduce any new commands or training regimens until you thoroughly resolve the ones you are doing now.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Eric Wettschreck]

One thing I forgot to mention....Keep it fun, for both of you. Dogs are all about having fun. Some breeds more than others but I honestly feel that they all just want to have fun. ESPECIALLY PUPPIES. So, keep it fun. Lot's of playing and praise. When you start to get frustrated......STOP!!!