Im being ignored....

hey guys

our puppy Rory (4 months) has recently started ignoring me in certain situations, I'm not too worried about it but I would like some advice on how to handle it. he is very well behaved for me usually and we have been teaching him the usual tricks etc he can sit, stay, lay down, come. he walks very well on a lead and is getting better at recall at the park and beach. at home when we are on our own he wont leave my side and generally listens to commands, he does respond better with treats so I do use them often ( maybe this can be a problem?). The problem i have now is that he seems disinterested or bored with me when we are at the park, I currently take him to a quiet park during the day with no other dogs so we can practice recall and get some exercise, I make sure I have his favorite treat and favorite toy every time, and this has been enough for the past month, we have had a great time but the last week he just ignores me when I try to recall, he seems to be more interested in smelling and digging around. than coming for a treat. this isn't a problem at the quiet park but I am worried about how he may behave in a busier dog park, beach or what may happen if he decides he wants to go over a road and wont listen to me to stop. people are fine with him approaching them at the moment because he is still a cute puppy, I know this will change though once he gets bigger so I would like to have a good handle on this by then. any advice would be much appreciated

Shaun & Rory

Sounds like you're doing your best! Many of us on here find that long training leads help fantastically for recall and just making sure they stay out of trouble - so they still get a good run around but you can recall them in if you need to.

I`m having the same trouble with Zeus who is also 4 months old. I think they are just getting more confident every time they are taken out so they are just learning to explore a bit more. I`m hoping that with a bit of persistence Zeus will start to come back when he is called.

Very normal at that age as they are exploring the world. If he is food motivated you can try taking him prior to a feeding so he will be hungry and more likely to want the treat. This worked well with Suki

JStaff wrote:Very normal at that age as they are exploring the world.  If he is food motivated you can try taking him prior to a feeding so he will be hungry and more likely to want the treat.  This worked well with Suki

Agreed

Hey! What is your recall command? And how are you saying it? Which reward are you going when he reaches you?

thanks for the replies!

I do have a long lead and use it when we go to the park, he is fine when the lead is on, but as soon as its off the selective hearing turns on. I am at the park usually in the afternoon before we go home (he comes to work with me) so he is generally pretty hungry at this stage. I take his favorite liver treats which he will usually do anything for.. and his best toy, he isn't really into toys though and loses interest fast, even at home. my recall command is Come, in a higher pitched playful voice and I click my fingers at the same time. I generally get a raise of the head and sometimes a glance so he does hear me he is just choosing to ignore me. when he does come I give him a treat straight away and a good belly rub which he loves, at the moment I'm lucky to get 1 out of 10-15 commands work so I'm standing there calling and clicking over and over with no recall. I have tried walking in the opposite direction and that works a little more often but still not consistently. I know he is still young and its going to take time, the sudden change in behavior just has me a little frustrated. I just really want to be able to let him off for a proper run as he really loves it I think it may just be a case of more practice

Thank you all for your replies

Shaun

You're going to look silly, but it works lol, when teaching recall in young adolescent kennel puppies we always put on a bit of a "show" so rather than just one command it's lots of "Rory, Rory, Rory come come come weeeeeee yeah this is fun" whilst running backwards and looking like a loon. Biscuits favourite treats for general training are different to what will make her come away from an exciting smell on a walk, or encourage her to focus on me when a dog is passing, I use liver treats for training and very smelly mackerel loaf (homemade, there's a link in the dog food kitchen area) for recall and focus. That accomanied with the ever so exciting recall works every time. You've got to make it exciting and fun, recall games work well too. I play hide and seek with biscuit lol, helped with the stay command/recall. Though may work better when he's older

As above you need to make yourself be the most interesting thing in the park whether this makes you look very silly or not. Try using a very silly jolly voice when using the commands.

Do you do the training before or after he has been playing/socialising with other dogs ?

No when we go to the park for the recalling he hasn't been socializing all day. its generally early afternoon when everyone else is at work or school, I go to this particular place because it has more distractions than at home but not so many that I cant keep control of the situation, so no dogs, children or cars.