Puppy Stopped Listening...why!?!

[Prag]

Hi Guys,

Once again I am hoping to draw on the groups experience to provide me some insight into why my once well trained dog has started to develop selective hearing...

My sheltie puppy was really good at his commands and recently he is now 5 months he has started to not respond or take a while to respond whereas previously he was quick and eager to do what was asked. He knows the commands I am giving him and can hear them and see the signal fine he is just not doing the action required anymore.

Sometimes he will still obey but he is not as quick as before it is like he is thing about whether he should listen or not...

any ideas how to get him back to his old self??

[sas]

• Rank & shaping (14-18 Weeks)

Puppies teethe at this point, this makes them chew & people are good chew toys. They begin to realise the power of their jaw & should be taught bite inhibition (for pets) at this age.

They can also start to show signs of dominance, good pack leadership should be exercised now, a large breed dog let go at this point can be quite a handful, yes at 18 weeks.. They can learn the skills they need to dominate you & excercise these skills when they get big & strong enough, it may be funny to watch a 16 week old pup growling at you, not so funny at 16 months & 40 plus kgs..

Keep up with positive training at this point; learning a new behaviour at this stage is easier than breaking a bad habit later. I really train often in this period, putting formality to the work the puppy can do, asking for more focus etc.

• Selective deafness? (5-9 Months)

It's no surprise to see puppies pretend not to hear your known commands at this age. It's at this age we introduce more formal training including consequences for disobedience.

Dogs often chew & destroy things that have your scent on them at this point too, many pups are dumped before 9 months... why? Because they now have strength, they getting bigger, faster & less reactive to a simple "no"… By now they have either been taught to walk on a loose leash or pull on the leash..

[TangerineDream]

This is a normal stage of development in all pups - can last for a day to as long as 2 - 3 weeks....they get through it - it's a bit like a learning plateau that children go through....they can also get confused easily and forgetful at this stage...be encouraging rather than corrective at this point and think of different ways of reinforcing the behaviour that you want...eg: if you taught sit with a hand on the chest and a hand on the rear and all of a sudden you are getting blank looks or it isn't working, try the food over the head method....sometimes this is the best time to teach alternative methods......lots of luck (and patience) - this too shall pass....

Edited August 15, 2010 by TangerineDream

[Michelleva]

My sheltie pup has gone through a similar thing in the last month or so. At one stage she wouldn't even sit when asked to. She's now 7 1/2 months and does appear to be improving thankfully. I put it down to teenagehood, I've just tried my best to be positive and reward her when she does what I ask.

Any chance of a pic of your pup Prag?

[Prag]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all teh help I guess I will just have to grin and bear it huh...I am just a bit unsure how to go about this period whether I should keep asking or once I have said sit once leave it at that and if he does not do it then correct him? How long should I give him the opportunity to do it on his own??

I am thanksful that he is still listening when we are outside and I ask him to sit at the kerb before we cross the road although it does take a correction of pulling up on the lead a tiny bit...but once we are practicing his training inside before he would wait in front of me or follow me around whereas now he will see treats in my hand know we are training and then run away!

Michelleva I would love to show you some pics but I am at work at the moment so do not have them on this computer also I am unsure how to make them small enough to put on here...is there a photo album option or something? I would love to see your sheltie as well...

Also I would love to hear more about your experience with your pup...like was she easy to train at the begining and picking up on things really fast? And then all of sudden it just stopped? Like i noticed mine was great up until I took him to some training classes where they had me use the word "Yes" in the same way a clicker is used...so initially I was just saying "yes" and giving him food and then after about two days when I went to do it again everytime I said "yes" and showed him teh food he would run away...now it is kinda like that with any command when we are practicing...

he is stil generally pretty good like he will wait at the door when I say wait until I say lets go...and he does not pull on the lead too much...

I would really like to see some photos of your girl so if you know how we can exchange some let me know

[Prag]

Okay i found a couple of photos here at work and resized them...they are old though when he was about 3 months he is now 5 months

[Michelleva]

Awwwe your boy is beautiful. I love the pic of him with one ear up, and one down.

Here is my girl, her name is Georgia.

When Georgia was not sitting when asked, I asked once and waited. She knew what I was asking, so I just didn't move till she'd done what was asked of her. Georgia has been very easy to train so far, I've been attending dog obedience with her since she was 4 months old and she's very eager to please, especially when I have a tasty treat on me. Are you attending regular obedience classes or did you go to puppy preschool? What area of Vic are you in?

I'm no expert but in my experience this stage does pass. Georgia is really back to doing whats asked of her now, whether that keeps up I don't know. I think you just need to be consistant with them, they're really just like little kids.

I don't know about the saying yes thing you've been taught, my dog school doesn't teach anything like that.

[Prag]

Awwwe your boy is beautiful. I love the pic of him with one ear up, and one down.

Here is my girl, her name is Georgia.

When Georgia was not sitting when asked, I asked once and waited. She knew what I was asking, so I just didn't move till she'd done what was asked of her. Georgia has been very easy to train so far, I've been attending dog obedience with her since she was 4 months old and she's very eager to please, especially when I have a tasty treat on me. Are you attending regular obedience classes or did you go to puppy preschool? What area of Vic are you in?

I'm no expert but in my experience this stage does pass. Georgia is really back to doing whats asked of her now, whether that keeps up I don't know. I think you just need to be consistant with them, they're really just like little kids.

I don't know about the saying yes thing you've been taught, my dog school doesn't teach anything like that.

Your girl Georgia looks beautiful! I Love shelties they are so adorable and generally well behaved. When I come home to my little man Raiden he can always make me smile! I live close to the city in VIC on St Kilda Road, how about yourself?

Has your Girl's ears started to stick up my boy's has and they show no sign of dropping either the breeder said I would need to glue them down if I wanted them to stay curled over...so I decided to let his ears do as they please...

I took raiden to puppy school when I first got him and now he is older is in a genreal obedience class except he gets excited by all the other dogs and just wants to play

May I ask you how much you exercise your Sheltie? Do you have any other dogs? Sorry to ask so many questions but it is nice to meet another Sheltie owner beside the breeder

[Michelleva]

Thanks, we love her to bits. She's pretty well behaved overall for a puppy. I find that at obedience I can keep her focus on me fairly well. When we go for walks I will practice different things, like sit/stay just in the middle of our walk and to make it extra challenging I'll do it outside a school. I do the same thing at obedience, ask her to do a drop when all the other dogs are mucking around and 9 out of 10 times she will do it. I don't think I'm an expert dog trainer, but we do practice a little bit everyday. I figure she's a smart dog and I want her to use those brains for good and not for trouble.

Sheltie ears are a funny one. We got Georgia when she was 4 months and her ears were pretty good then because she was going to be a show dog. So I think the breeder taped her ears down or something. From what I'm told when they're teething it really effects their ears, so your boys might be ok once he's finished teething. You'd be better to ask that advice on the sheltie thread, the showies/breeders will know more.

As for excercise, I walk her for about 30mins most days. I'm just about to go now while the sun's shining. Oh and I'm in Narre Warren, we attend Berwick Dog Obedience on Saturdays. Georgia is an only doggy at this point, but she does share her life with two skin kids and three feline friends. So she definitely has no excuse to be lonely.

We're off for our walk, talk later. If you want to PM me feel free, I'm happy to chat.