[MaxPower]

Hi,

I'm new to this, so if this is a repeat I apologize in advance.

My 8 week old Dobie is not coming when we call him by his name. He is my 3rd Dobie, but first as a pup. I've had other dogs from puppy age, so I have experience with puppies. This Dobie, Max, is an awesome little guy but he does not come to his name. We've started training basics with him like sitting and laying down, which he is actually taken to pretty well, but not to his name. I've tried using toys for him to follow while calling his name, training treats, and repetitive use of his name when he follows me... I know he is young, but he is learning other commands. Any ideas?

Thanks for any advice,

Crissee

 

[falnfenix]

he's a baby. he probably hasn't figured out what his name IS, let alone what it means when you call him.

make yourself the most exciting thing in the room and he'll come to you.

 

[Rosemary]

Clicker train. "Name", click, treat. Repeat half a dozen times. Take a break, do something else, then "Name", click treat another half dozen times. Keep doing this a dozen or so times a day, and he'll learn his name soon enough.

 

[Adara]

That is asking a lot at his age. Does he know his name? Do you want him to know name means come or come means come?

Name recognition:
Name give treat - 10 times. Do not wait for anything just give treat no matter what. Be right by dog.
Next day, name, wait 1 second for dog's head to turn - give treat

I would start recall the same way. Make it easy.

This site has good free videos on training
kikopup - YouTube

 

[MaxPower]

I truly want him to acknowledge it right now and hopefully come when called. I know he will eventually. I've had other dogs respond to their names by 8 weeks. I know how smart Dobies are so I know it is not out of reach. I like the idea of him coming to me when I call his name, but I do understand it's work in progress. He is sitting and lying down (not gracefully of course... But it is cute) on command with training treats. I may try the clicker technique, all though I've never used one previously. So, that will be new to me other than seeing videos.

I appreciate everyone's advice. I will also check out the videos.

Thanks!


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[triciakoontz]

What specific behavior do you want your puppy to do when you say his name? You say you want him to acknowledge his name but what exactly does that mean? Does it mean you want him to look at you when you say his name? Does it mean you want him to stop what he's doing when you say his name? Does it mean you want him to sit down beside you when you say his name? You need to define the specific behavior (and it must be only one behavior) and then the word that is his name will be the cue for that behavior after you have taught him what that word means.

Personally I would never want my dog's name to mean come to me. If that is what his name means then I can't use his name for anything else such as when I want to say something sweet to him or when I want to just get his attention. I would want his name to mean "stop what you're doing and look at me". Then I can always add another cue, such as "come" or "down".

You'll love Kikopup' videos!

 

[MaxPower]

What specific behavior do you want your puppy to do when you say his name? You say you want him to acknowledge his name but what exactly does that mean? Does it mean you want him to look at you when you say his name? Does it mean you want him to stop what he's doing when you say his name? Does it mean you want him to sit down beside you when you say his name? You need to define the specific behavior (and it must be only one behavior) and then the word that is his name will be the cue for that behavior after you have taught him what that word means.

Personally I would never want my dog's name to mean come to me. If that is what his name means then I can't use his name for anything else such as when I want to say something sweet to him or when I want to just get his attention. I would want his name to mean "stop what you're doing and look at me". Then I can always add another cue, such as "come" or "down".

You'll love Kikopup' videos!

Thanks for your response.

Right now, I want him to simply look at me. I never want his name to be associated with anything bad. I want to get his attention. Any other command would be after I have his attention. He did show progress today while outside. I tried the repetitive treat method last night and today he did turn his attention in my direction a few times. That was great. I'm hopeful and see he is coming around. He is very smart as Dobies tend to be.


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[Lexilicious]

Lots of good advice above. We did what Adara did, got Lexi in front of us and literally called her name, she'd look in my direction (even though I could have been saying anything) and if immediately treat when she looked. I wouldn't expect the puppy to come to you by calling its name without you doing the above regularly first (having said that a good point was made above that it isn't necessarily wise to use their name as the come to me command).


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[Patches Mom]

It takes a puppy a long time to learn human language they usually go more by your body language.

 

[MaxPower]

Thanks everyone. He is so smart and is picking up on gestures and the tone in my voice. He has turned his head to me when I call his name while I do the treat method. He is coming along nicely. Thanks for all the advice!


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[dobebug]

LOL--I have to teach every puppy what his name is since the breeder I've gotten every dog from since 1998 calls them all "Puppy, puppy, puppy" or "Cookie, cookie"--so by the time I get a puppy at 8, 10, 14 or whatever weeks they all have though their names were either puppy or cookie.

I basically do what Adara does too. I go around for a month or so with treats in my pockets and any time the puppy is in the same room I'm in I say "puppy, name" and when they look they get a treat. I start fading the "puppy" part as soon as they know my voice and most of them have been a hurry to come and see what I have by the time they've been with me for even a week.

 

[InBox485]

If you just want him to associate his name with alerting to you, then I've had good luck with a hand clap along with the name. It depends somewhat on the disposition, but the hand clap is pretty universal to getting a dogs attention, and pairing the name eventually links the two.

 

[MaxPower]

He's learned his name. He sits on command. He lies down on command. He makes great eye contact and is learning quickly! We plan on hiring a trainer for more advanced training and for more socialization. It's all been a matter of time, repetition, lots of loving, and playing. He still has a lot of the puppy traits that will go away over time, but it's nothing we can't handle! He's a dude! Thanks everyone for your help. I'm still dealing with some nipping, so, I'll probably look into that next!


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[Maria1]

I´m glad to hear that you are now working as a team!
Just takes time and persistence and you will soon see that they are incredibly clever and intelligent, they do learn very quickly and when it takes longer is because we just don't know how to teach them, I say this from experience with my little one, never thought he could be so clever, but they are!

 

[MaxPower]

I´m glad to hear that you are now working as a team!
Just takes time and persistence and you will soon see that they are incredibly clever and intelligent, they do learn very quickly and when it takes longer is because we just don't know how to teach them, I say this from experience with my little one, never thought he could be so clever, but they are!

Thanks! Max is a smart young man… and funny! He also learns from his older but smaller friend, out 5 year old jack russell. She's helped a great deal with his training! Max has the best eye contact and he seems to want to learn!


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[InBox485]

He's learned his name. He sits on command. He lies down on command. He makes great eye contact and is learning quickly! We plan on hiring a trainer for more advanced training and for more socialization. It's all been a matter of time, repetition, lots of loving, and playing. He still has a lot of the puppy traits that will go away over time, but it's nothing we can't handle! He's a dude! Thanks everyone for your help. I'm still dealing with some nipping, so, I'll probably look into that next! View attachment 54778


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There are lots of great tips on doberman puppy nipping. Either way they grow out of it, but you can channel it into useful directions and not go through the slightly more than nipping phase.