Agreed, my dog sometimes gets distracted by the promise of a treat. He finds it hard to concentrate on the task at hand knowing that I have a treat for him. So sometimes the promise of a treat is counter productive.
Update: it was just temporary insanity Familiarity breeds contempt. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, etc. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
You coud try usin a treet thats less tasty to him an mayb he will be less escited an mor able to focus on the task.!!! Make sure you'r consistent wit the treets... that he gets 1 only after doin somptin you want him to do.!!! However... if he dont seem to be learnin the trick you'r teechin after a few trys... switch to somptin he does know how to do an give him a treet... that keeps tranin sessons fun for you an the dog.!!!
Well in those cases, as distracted as the dog gets, my policy is, if the dog refuses to do what he needs to for that snack, the snack goes right back into the container until he does. He will quickly figure out that if he doesn't do the trick/follow the command, he doesn't get the treat. And you have to stick with that routine. If you don't, the dog will realize he doesn't have to do anything but beg for the treat...and we all know that dogs have NO shame. Dogs WANT to work for their treats. It's hardwired into their 'wolf ancestry' DNA.
Ya you have to keep the dogs attention or nothing happens. That's why it bugs me when shorty or the kids have been giving Bruce treats, cause he's all screwed up after and just does all the tricks at once (without commands) and then EXPECTS a treat. He gets all pissed off(snorting and shaking his head - pretty funny), when I put the treat back. He sure listens the next time though.
Oh yeah, I have no problem getting her to listen (now). She behaves well with me . But the others do spoil her. But she's a smart dog, she knows who to play up with and who not to.
Good. That means it will be that much easier to start teaching her commands, which I HIGHLY recommend.* It's more or less everyone else's job to spoil them. It's your job to make her mind. Of course you can always lay down ground rules to guests concerning her, as soon as they come in the door, if you feel the need. That's why you should warn them up front what she is up to. My Boxer Marley, since her eyes are naturally big and dark brown, she has the perma-puppy dog eyes. Some people don't realize this and while I already know what she is up to, it's hard not to give into sometimes. So I forewarn the guests to not fall for that stuff. It's bad. It's BAD!! *IMO, the 'recall' command is one of the most important commands. The recall command is used to merely call your dog back to your side. If you want to know how to teach her that, if you don't know already, I can tell you a pretty good method. It could prevent a dog from bolting out the front door into the street.
I had an emergency recall method guranteed to get my dog to com to me immediatly... which was... while she was at various distances an not lookin at me... i wooud shout her name while holdin my hand up over my head an wave it bak an forth... an the reason she woud com a runnin when she saw my hand wavin was cause she knew that ment she was about to get her favort treet... "a slice of carrot".!!! I woud practice this 1 or 2 times ever day while we was out walkin an i was very confident she woud return if she acidently got loose an was in danger... an 1 time when i opened he door for the male-man she ran out the door an headed rite for the street... the practice was good for me also caus i didnt even have to thank what to do... i shouted her name an she turned an saw my hand up in the air wavin an cam bak immediately as always.!!! Also the corect way to practice this is to give the treet wit 1 hand an at the sam time wit the other hand take hold of ther coller.!!!
This isn't related to the behavior discussion, but make sure you brush her ears at least weekly or they'll just turn into a giant mat of hair. At least with mine that's how it is. I don't know how he manages it. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Just mentioning it because it looks like she's starting to get it from the pictures; The lower part of her ear is darker on the inside.
