Puppy Ignores Name

[Stevie's mumma]

Hi everyone,

We have a gorgeous pug puppy Stevie, who we have had for just under 2 months now

she is 4 1/2 months old now and has finally started to get a grip on toilet training

etc but one thing we havent managed to get right is her responding to her name? at no

point have we changed her name and as far a I know she was never called anything else

all i can think of is maybe she thinks her name is "No" or "uh-uh" lol she does hear

those words a fair bit just wondered whether anyone has any suggestions?

Thank You In Advance

[stonecutter]

We had this for the first 2-3 weeks - lots of saying her name before everything - Ziva sit, Ziva down, Ziva outside. Also - when feeding, I would say her name and when she looks at me, she gets a few pieces of kibble. It took doing this with every meal for 3 weeks for her to consistently turn and look at us when we said her name.

The other option is that there is a hearing issue potentially.

As for thinking their name is "no" - we barely ever use No except for dangerous situations. No doesn't tell pup what to do - do you want them to get off or down? Away/leave it?

[W Sibs]

Are you over using her name? Lots of people over use their puppies name, that when the puppy hear their name, it's just white noise to them...

When she does something bad, so you use her name in a negative tone?

[Stevie's mumma]

We do use her name when putting her meals down. we make her firstly sit, then we say her name and she cant go towards her bowl untill she looks at us, this is the only time she responds to her name. We use her name a bit but i wouldnt say too much only when necessary, "stevie, do wee's" "stevie, Sit" etc

[Kavik]

What have you done to teach her her name? They don't know their name without being taught what you want them to do, it is just a sound to them, like every other command.

ETA: I use their name as an informal recall, I want them to come to me and give me attention if I call their name, so that is what I teach that their name means. No point in putting their name before every command or every praise, unless you want the command to be "XXX, sit" every time, they won't recognise "Sit" on its own if you always pair it with their name as it sounds different on its own.

Edited July 6, 2011 by Kavik

[poodlefan]

What response are you requiring when you say her name?

If you're putting it front of other cues, it's just white noise to her.

Edited July 6, 2011 by poodlefan

[Stevie's mumma]

I think it may be something for obedience school, until she comes when called we cant even take her out into the court yard without a leash, as she doesnt return to us when she is called. I'm just not sure on anyways to teach her that her name is Stevie

[persephone]

At the moment , because of overuse ....her name is just another word to her ;)

when giving a command - you do not need to use her name at all. if she is the only dog in the room .. then it's "SIT", EAT, whatever. using a name when giving a command is NOT necessary

My take on is that , to start with, a dog's name is the precursor to good things

"Stevie!" *dog looks at you* "Good puppy... here, have a treat"..

"Stevie" *dog looks at you* "Stevie , you are the most clever of all pugs ! " *ear skritch, pat,pat*

"Stevie" *said in a happy voice * dog starts to come to you * YAY!

that sort of thing ;)

Edited July 6, 2011 by persephone

[W Sibs]

I think it may be something for obedience school, until she comes when called we cant even take her out into the court yard without a leash, as she doesnt return to us when she is called. I'm just not sure on anyways to teach her that her name is Stevie

That's cause she doesn't have recall ;) :p

[Stevie's mumma]

At the moment , because of overuse ....her name is just another word to her ;)

when giving a command - you do not need to use her name at all. if she is the only dog in the room .. then it's "SIT", EAT, whatever. using a name when giving a command is NOT necessary

My take on is that , to start with, a dog's name is the precursor to good things

"Stevie!" *dog looks at you* "Good puppy... here, have a treat"..

"Stevie" *dog looks at you* "Stevie , you are the most clever of all pugs ! " *ear skritch, pat,pat*

"Stevie" *said in a happy voice * dog starts to come to you * YAY!

that sort of thing ;)

Thank You so much Peresphone, I will give this a go, as i said it works when she knows she is going to get her dinner, i guess i thought that it would be enough lol seeing as usually she's too smart for her own good

[oakway]

Are you sure the dog does not have a hearing problem.

Does the dog react to other sounds.

[dandybrush]

basically what everyone else has said, and i did this with my new pup

i just sat there one night and would say her name and every time she looked she got a treat, and praise, it only took that one night, she looks when i say her name, wouldnt hurt for a refresher course though

[persephone]

Are you sure the dog does not have a hearing problem.

good thought , too!

[Bundyburger]

What i did with my boy who had shocking recall, was get him to sit in front of me, while I held a treat. I'd say his name when he looked at me, and treat. Then I'd wait for him to look away and repeat (he'd never run away cos he wanted fooood). Then when he responded to his name i moved onto turning it into a proper recall. Now he's pretty good.

[sas]

Say the dogs name, give the dog a treat.

Do this 20 times per session with at least 1 session per day or 3 sessions per day if you can.

Once the dog has that sorted then say the name and wait for eye contact and then repeat the above.

Dog will love its' name because it is associated with something good.

Once dog has all of the above sorted, go from a treat everytime to a verable rate i.e. a treat then a pat/verbal praise then pat/verbal praise again, then a treat.....phase out the treat but always suprise the dog with one from time to time later on because it keeps that motivation there imo.

[toy dog]

Say the dogs name, give the dog a treat.

Do this 20 times per session with at least 1 session per day or 3 sessions per day if you can.

Once the dog has that sorted then say the name and wait for eye contact and then repeat the above.

Dog will love its' name because it is associated with something good.

Once dog has all of the above sorted, go from a treat everytime to a verable rate i.e. a treat then a pat/verbal praise then pat/verbal praise again, then a treat.....phase out the treat but always suprise the dog with one from time to time later on because it keeps that motivation there imo.

yes have to agree with this, the dog won't know its name until you teach the dog its name.

all our young puppies, i train them with a treat, i call them and give them a treat, then i might call them and alternate and just give them a pat and praise them because you don't want them only coming when they know you only have a treat.

my rescue dog his former name was Patrick (just decided rescue was going to call him that) i didn't really like this name for a dog, so i called him Jake, but when i went to pick him up the girl said don't let him off lead because he won't come to his name, she called him patrick one day in the park let him off and it took 2 hours to find him again as he disappeared.

Jake didn't know what his name was because no one had ever taught him recall.

So i trained him on the above methods and then i could let him off after about a week in the park because i knew he'd come back straight away with his name being called.

i just thought what the rescue girl told me was very silly, she didn't train the dog to come to patrick so how do you expect the dog to know what his name is???????

[Ron]

Have had many dogs over the years but our last girl from New Zealand "Roxy" took along time to respond to her name. She would come to No Name in a flash but Roxy she is now nearly 4 knows her name well but you can call no name and she is there at your feet

Say the dogs name, give the dog a treat.

Do this 20 times per session with at least 1 session per day or 3 sessions per day if you can.

Once the dog has that sorted then say the name and wait for eye contact and then repeat the above.

Dog will love its' name because it is associated with something good.

Once dog has all of the above sorted, go from a treat everytime to a verable rate i.e. a treat then a pat/verbal praise then pat/verbal praise again, then a treat.....phase out the treat but always suprise the dog with one from time to time later on because it keeps that motivation there imo.

yes have to agree with this, the dog won't know its name until you teach the dog its name.

all our young puppies, i train them with a treat, i call them and give them a treat, then i might call them and alternate and just give them a pat and praise them because you don't want them only coming when they know you only have a treat.

my rescue dog his former name was Patrick (just decided rescue was going to call him that) i didn't really like this name for a dog, so i called him Jake, but when i went to pick him up the girl said don't let him off lead because he won't come to his name, she called him patrick one day in the park let him off and it took 2 hours to find him again as he disappeared.

Jake didn't know what his name was because no one had ever taught him recall.

So i trained him on the above methods and then i could let him off after about a week in the park because i knew he'd come back straight away with his name being called.

i just thought what the rescue girl told me was very silly, she didn't train the dog to come to patrick so how do you expect the dog to know what his name is???????

[toy dog]

Have had many dogs over the years but our last girl from New Zealand "Roxy" took along time to respond to her name. She would come to No Name in a flash but Roxy she is now nearly 4 knows her name well but you can call no name and she is there at your feet

yep its the tone in your voice. but yeah done that and the dog still came, even trained him to come on a whistle comes to that as well. i think the last person who had him trained him on a whistle. he also was trained to shake hands, family have said to me how did you do that so quickly, i said, i wasn't the one who trained him to do that, he came pre-trained to shake hands im afraid

[Skruffy n Flea]

classic conditioning

sit your dog in front of you with a treat that your dog considers high value [eg, low fat cheese, cabanossi (a food you do not feed the dog except during training)] and repeat over and over: name [and treat], name [and treat], name [and treat] etc etc --- expect no other response from your dog and soon enuf, your dog will learn its name associated with happiness [that is the treat]. you can slowly [or not] wean your dog off the food reward by replacing that food reward with physical affection...

that technique can be used in a multitude of ways

same as below too --- [say 'look' and hold the treat up to your eyes --- teaches the dog to look at your eyes], when the dog looks at you [your eyes], treat and continue consistently in the same manner [the dog will learn to look at your eyes [despite the treat being in your hand at your side] and to hold the look; then you treat].

plse don't forget that your dog has a high distraction rate [as does all dogs] until you reign it in with training so don't be put off by failing to get your dog's attention --- it happens to the best of us and it will continue to happen despite how well controlled your dog is

JMHO

At the moment , because of overuse ....her name is just another word to her ;)

when giving a command - you do not need to use her name at all. if she is the only dog in the room .. then it's "SIT", EAT, whatever. using a name when giving a command is NOT necessary

My take on is that , to start with, a dog's name is the precursor to good things

"Stevie!" *dog looks at you* "Good puppy... here, have a treat"..

"Stevie" *dog looks at you* "Stevie , you are the most clever of all pugs ! " *ear skritch, pat,pat*

"Stevie" *said in a happy voice * dog starts to come to you * YAY!

that sort of thing ;)

What i did with my boy who had shocking recall, was get him to sit in front of me, while I held a treat. I'd say his name when he looked at me, and treat. Then I'd wait for him to look away and repeat (he'd never run away cos he wanted fooood). Then when he responded to his name i moved onto turning it into a proper recall. Now he's pretty good.

Say the dogs name, give the dog a treat.

Do this 20 times per session with at least 1 session per day or 3 sessions per day if you can.

Once the dog has that sorted then say the name and wait for eye contact and then repeat the above.

Dog will love its' name because it is associated with something good.

Once dog has all of the above sorted, go from a treat everytime to a verable rate i.e. a treat then a pat/verbal praise then pat/verbal praise again, then a treat.....phase out the treat but always suprise the dog with one from time to time later on because it keeps that motivation there imo.

Edited July 8, 2011 by Skruffy n Flea