kindafugly

LOL i know dobies are hard headed. But how do you get them to listen. Mine has selective hearing. Outside id swear she is deaf. Inside id swear she is deaf. Claping hands, Whistling and making noises to get her attention doesnt work. She pretty much will come when she wants to and she is all in her own little world. She is NOT deaf. She just doesnt listen. This imo could be bothersome if she were to get loose and run in the streets or take off. So whats a good method of getting them to come when called and not act like its a big game.

PatchworkRobot

Your pup is teeny-tiny and still very much a baby. Do not expect too much out of her.

WHen my boy was a pup I worked for two weeks straight simply on getting and keeping his attention. I'd hold a treat out and wait for him to look to me before giving the treat. As he did that predictable I started putting a command to it (I used his name and also use "eyes"). As time passed I would wait longer, with him keeping his focus on me, befoer giving him the treat.

YOu may need to start working on something like this.


As for recall (come when called) start with the dog on a long lead so she HAS to come with you and ALWAYS heavily treat and praise your dog when she comes to you. With my little dog, at first, she would come but run right by me and not stop so her "come" means that she comes to me and sits in front of me. Now I have no issues. Be patient. Training takes patience.

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PortersMama

How old is she? Porter went deaf about 2 years before he left us.

ETA: Oh...is your dog only 6 weeks?

VZ-Doberman

Puppies are notorious for having the attention span of a gnat.

Try with a food item, call her name and let her see you have a goodie. Then when she runs to you let her have it. Keep working at this and stretch the time out between her coming to you and giving her the food/treat. She'll eventually figure out that when you call her name she should to look at you.

kindafugly

Thanks, She i think was born in september. Id have to check. So shes like 4 months old.
She used to be a very good listener. She just seems to have hit this point of im not gunna listen at all. She dont even act like she hears me anymore. She has got out on my boyfriend a couple of times. when he would walk in she would just bolt out the door between his legs. She would run around the yard. As we would approach her she would tuck and run around the house. We finally gave up the chasing her game. about 30 minutes went by and we left the front door open she would come on the porch but if she saw us waiting she would bolt again. So we would just have to leave the door open wait for her to want to come back in then shut it. She made this little game of it. When shes in the back yard with the fence she bites the fence (which has to hurt) and barks constantly wanting out. When she used to listen we would let her come out with us and follow us while we did things in the yard. So i guess she has gotten to the point she wants freedom and dont understand listening to us is just for her safety. Almost reminds me of a teenager they think they know better lol. Jesus i was a teen not to long ago. Im sure my parents went through that haha. If this consists through adulthood too (im going to continue to work with her) What would you suggest then? People in my area STEAL purebred dogs so if she ever did get loose and get out of my yard im sure i would never get her back. I need to somehow teach her not to try and to a quicky through peoples legs to get out the front door.

Rouleaux

Rou never wanders too far from us, and we are still working on recall, which has its ups and downs.

My advice, at her age, I would leash walk her or just be outside with her when she is outdoors in the yard. Sounds like separation anxiety to me, that or she needs a long game of tug or fetch. At her age, Rou was being taken on hikes 2x a week, and continues to have puzzle toys given to him to utilize that smart dobie brain.

Also, back to genetics, she could use some focusing and puzzle toys. Maybe, possibly, mental instability and needs to focus and be given a task?

Rou will "bug out" if I leave the area, which consists of crying, moaning, chewing bars of whatever. He hates being away from me- unless he is playing with his friends, then he could care less but always seems to stick close.

Can we have some pictures of your girl, Jynx was it?

Please!!!

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churchill

I get so frustrated when I read posts like this. Dobes are NOT hard headed, they are smart and they need to have a relationship with their humans. You have a very frustrated puppy and there is a real problem with your relationship or lack of one with her. You can't learn how to fix this on the WWW, you need training about how to relate to your dog. I'm sure that she is lacking excersise, mental stimulation and basic training. Her recall training should have started as a young puppy with food rewards and much praise. I hope you can get help and find a good positive trainer. From your past posts I fear that this may not happen. You owe this to the dog.

smudgeid

We took my daughter for hearing testing when she was about 2. She couldn't hear us - but if you whispered 'ice cream' in the other room, she'd come in quickly.

Your puppy is the same - she needs to know that she'll get something she likes when she comes - not scolded for taking so long. Just work on recall. (Even sitting on the floor - let her wander a few feet away & reward her for coming when you call.)
Kate

VZ-Doberman

The problem is not the dog.

The problem is you and your lack of understanding how a dog's mind works. You need to get into a puppy class asap. A puppy this young doesn't have the attention span of an adult. Just like a child.

kindafugly

Im home all day unless its for errands or shopping so not giving her enough attention is not at fault. Like i said she used to follow everywhere and come when called and play and etc.. It just seems like something clicked and she doesnt even pay neither of us attention. like the bond that was there is gone. Like the odd part is if i take her to a new area like say a friends house. She listens perfectly because she is out of her comfort zone. Even outside without a fence yard. It just doesnt make any sense. Maybe ive given her to much freedom? Either way im going to do some of the suggested comment. Ill post a picture later. Last pic i took is probably 2 weeks old.

PatchworkRobot

I don't think that anybody said anything about you giving the puppy attention but the puppy giving you attention was addressed in multiple posts.

I agree with the puppy class suggestion.

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kindafugly

Its not like she isnt friendly or anything like that or not socialized its more less on her terms. shes playing with a toy or shes doing something else you cant seem to break her focus and get her to come. This is the only breed ive had or fostered that did this.

churchill

This is not about lack of attention, it's about the RIGHT kind of attention. You train a puppy like you teach a child. Giving attention has nothing to do with it. Structure and understanding of how the puppy learns is essential. Giving that puppy outlets for their energy that include human interaction is key.

PatchworkRobot

Obviously, the toy or whatever she's doing is much more interesting to her.
You have to be the most fun, most interesting thing in her world.

ETA: When I give my dog a super high value treat that will take him a while to eat (bully stick) I don't even try to get his attention off of it. And, if I need to get his attention, I walk up to him and take whatever the high-value object is. He gets it back once I'm done with whatever I needed his attention for.

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churchill

I think the OP has BORING written on her forehead where this puppy is concerned. I have trained 7 Dobes in agility over the last 20 years. I admit that they are challenging but all of mine have been successful and have achieved at least excellent and masters titles. They did have to train the handler after all. You need to be the most fun thing in your dog's world. I just started my youngest bitch and she is about to finish her novice titles. She has absolutely no interest in anyone or anything but me at the trials. She is a food monger and loves her squekky ball which she doesn't get unless we are playing together. She has lots of other toys but the best ones are only for interaction.

kindafugly

That makes perfect sense. As a younger puppy i was fun because obviously she had no human interaction at all. Now that she is comfortable other things are more fun so no point is paying me any attention. Some very interesting ideas. I dont want to FORCE her to come to me or FORCE her in any way because then she will just be resentful. So i will make her COME to me to get her toys or treats and etc... Then reward her as she does.

But all great advice.

BenVera

In order to train a Doberman, you have to be smarter than the dog.

Take from that what you will, OP.

If you're home practically all of the time, then you have ample time to take her to puppy classes. I'm guessing your reasons for not enrolling her in classes is the same as your reasons for purchasing her from a BYB. Money. If you don't have it, you'd better get it. You already know Dobermans are an expensive breed to maintain.

You've been given some great advice and training tips here. Why don't you hop off DT, spend a few days really working with her, and then report back. I'm sure we'll all be anxious to hear the results.

Good luck.

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PortersMama

I'd just like to add my vote for a puppy class. Socialization and stimulation is so important at her age. Also, consider a private session with a trainer. I raised Porter with my ex-husband, who was a veterinarian and a behaviorist. I had to do very little work except to keep things consistent; Porter learned so well and so quickly, and things came so naturally to him, that I was able to stop putting much effort in after a very short period of time.

Now that Grizzly is here with my current husband and me, we needed the input from a trainer to make sure we were going in the right direction. She came this morning and said that, for the most part, we were doing the "big" things right (thank God)...but you know what? There are a lot of little things too, and there are a lot of common mistakes that people make. We certainly we making them! If you become aware of them and get them under control, it can make a world of difference in your pup. Best of luck to you...it can be awfully frustrating to have a disobedient dog...even though there's usually no one to blame but their humans!

kindafugly

You dont know my financials benvera. So dont just assume i dont have money. Honestly i just never needed a trainer for any foster dogs or any of my animals because they were all easy to train. Doing as much research as i have ive learned Dobermans are alot different then the breeds im used to working with. So my methods ive always used arent as affective.

BenVera

That's true. It was just a guess after having read your other posts. It sounds like she's given you good reason to get her enrolled in a puppy class asap.

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Patches Mom

Your puppy is showing her independence like most puppies do I would keep a long line on her so you can reel her in when you call her of course a high value treat helps when you call them. Never ever call he then get on to her when she finely gets around to coming to you. Puppies go thought different phases they have fear stages, very short attention spans you have to make your self the best thing around run backwards to get her to come to you. Be fun training puppies should be fun. Good Luck

usmclove

I used treats to get her attention.. I found since shes so young ( as I also found with Justice my husky when we first started training) their noses are the best attention getters... A treat *sniff sniff* I have her full attention and I can begin to teach her.. Sacha is 13 weeks old, and has sit and stay down pat and thats only in about 3-4 weeks and a go go go schedule getting ready for the holidays... yes shes a bit harder to teach than the husky (Justice was fairly easy to teach commands much more stubborn on listening at times) but Sacha is easier to potty train... but I plan on utilizing professional classes using positive reinforcement and continuing to work with her at home as well. Good luck

usmclove

and we are working on come now... btw.

Sharly

I hit a point like this with Toorc at about 11 weeks. Just about drove me nuts. But I hired a trainer and she comes every weekend and helps me with new techniques. He is 14 weeks today and FINALLY has enough attention span that I'm used to lol I actually taught him roll over and play dead in a matter of minutes this evening. He is also figuring out stay means stay and waiting for my approval. I guess I haven't trained puppies in a while so I had forgotten how trying it can be. I feel like the mom whose kid FINALLY can pour their own milk lmao


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kindafugly

haha i have to agree dobermans do not have much of a attention span at all. Ive noticed she will be like playing with a toy and stop looking around like did i hear something... no i didnt. Oh wait this toy looks like more fun. Switch toys then go back 2 seconds later for the first one. hear a noise run in the other room check it out. When i do finally get her coming to me in the house when calling her she will stop look around be like wait i think i was doing something and turn around and walk away and its like omg noooooo. I really do think partially its a attention span issue and a independant issue. When she was young she was young and depended on me like her mother in a way. Now she is curious and wants to explore she just dont understand her boundries are put in line for safety concerns. I dont live near any highways and dont get much traffic on my road which is a good thing. But i have read all the training comments and im going to try and do some of them. If all else fails i think actually a dog trainer just opened up not to far from me. Would be a neat experiance to enroll her and my other pooch. Although my other girl is great. I think she would enjoy the experiance as well