# Puppy not listening



## Tyson722 (Apr 28, 2010)

I have a 3 month old GS puppy that seems to be the type he listens when he wants. Which can really irritating at times cause I don't want him to walk somewhere he is not suppose to go and I tell him to come and he doesn't and gets hurt.He will listen when we are at home but I have horses, I take him to the barn with me and there he does not listen or if I just take him anywhere. I do have a leash for him and I do use it but for the time I have him off leash I want to make it to where if I call him, he will come. This is my first GS so the whole training thing and behavior of a GS is completely new to me. Any advice I can get would be great. :blush:


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

He is waay to young to have good recall. Keep him leashed and safe around the horses. There are a few threads going on right now about recall, but to expect 12 week old pup to understand is not gonna happen.


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## Tyson722 (Apr 28, 2010)

I know it might sound dumb saying I expect him to listen but I do know he is young and that he is just a puppy. I just wanted to get some advice about GSD cause this is my first.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

This thread has some great suggestions:
http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...y-perfect-pup-max-needs-help-come-comand.html

this one too, though older pup:
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-behavior/134820-i-need-help-recall.html


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

After six to eight weeks of puppy classes, and six to eight weeks of basic obedience classes, and six to eight weeks of advanced classes, your puppy should have enough of a bond with you, that you will know whether he is ready to be off-lead around the horses. 

Joy is now nine months old. She has been through puppy twice, and completed Basic. Now she is taking Basic, CGC, and agility classes. Today I had her in the front yard where there is no fence. To just go to the car, I do not leash her, but I was going to be out front with the puppies, so I put Joy on a long line -- much safer than just letting her run about and maybe get smooshed in the road. WILL she come to me if I call? She did at class tonight every time. Will she outside with the puppies running about in a pen, and the birds flying out of the roof, and the geese squaking overhead, and the neighbors coming home on their motorcycles, and.... 

Ya know, I cannot be certain enough to risk it at this point. A lapse in judgement might mean that she pays a terrible price. Not worth it. 

Weigh the dangers in your area, and set them against what training you have completed, at some point, the pup will be trained well enough to do what you want him to -- Heidi, Babs, Jenna, Rushie, I could just have out in my front yard with me without a question -- individually. These are all 3.5 -4.5 year old dogs. My yearlings, Milla and Ninja are not ready for that level of freedom. They are fine to just get in my car, but to let them off lead in my front yard, not ready. They will be two in August.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

find a puppy class or OB class. <
keep your dog leashed untill he's trained <
train and socialize everyday <
private lessons? <

do you know how to train a dog???


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## Dainerra (Nov 14, 2003)

also, every time you call him and he is able to disobey, he learns that he doesn't ALWAYS have to come. So, if he is off-leash, go get him. Don't call him to you when you can't enforce it. 

A long line would be the easiest way to do that if you want him to have a little freedom to roam about


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Using treats can help as well, play the Come game with a SO or friend. Two people stand 10 yards away, both with treats, you get really excited and call the pup to you and treat him. Then your friend does, and he ends up running back and forth 30 thousand times. Gradually lengthen the distance, and keep him on a long line until he's trained.


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## bella8x (May 7, 2010)

teaching animal is not simple. u must be patient.


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## Virginia (Oct 2, 2008)

In addition to the fact that he's a very young baby, and has the attention span of a gnat, it's not that your puppy isn't listening, it's that he has no good motivation to listen to you. I assume you work - what do you work for? Money, right? Well the same way we work for money, and not just praise from our boss or cause our boss tells us to, our pups need some sort of motivation to do what we ask. The harder the task, the better the motivation has to be.

For example, you two are in your house chilling, your pup is kinda bored, not doing anything exciting, and you call him to you. He comes, cause, well, what else is he gonna do? But then you guys go out the stables, and he's out there investigating all these cool things that he rarely ever gets to see, like horses, and all these new smells that he never smells, and you call him. But why should he come to you, when there's really nothing in it for him, and he could be out there doing his own thing, exploring, having fun? You need to show him that - ok if I come to mom (or dad) even when I could be doing something better, it'll be worth my time because I'll get something AWESOME!! Like a really high value treat, whether it be a yummy piece of cooked chicken or steak, which I would normally never get, or a brand new toy that I get to play with with mom, that only comes out when mom calls me over.

You know how a lot of people ask their dogs "you want a treat" when their dogs are off leash and not responding to come? Use that same principle, except instead of asking "you want a treat" substitute "come."

In the meantime, until your pup has a fail proof recall, always have him on a long line. You never want to issue a command twice, or even worse, issue a command that you can't reinforce. Otherwise your pup will learn that he either a.) doesn't have to come the first time you call him cause you'll call him again or b.) he doesn't have to come at all, cause you can't make him. With a long line, if you call him, and the temptation of his yummy reward doesn't work, you can reel him in, showing him that when mom calls, two things can happen - he can come and get an awesome treat/reward or he can not come and get reeled in anyway.


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## Tyson722 (Apr 28, 2010)

Thank you everybody for the advice, I will diffidently be working with him on a long line for a while. Great advice!


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