Training Tips

[ Important ] 10 Reasons Why Your Dog Ignores Your Commands


Is your dog providing you with deaf ears? once this happens, avoid continuance the command over and over and imposing yourself till you get a response; instead, take a step back and think about the subsequent scenarios that are a number of the most common problems encountered once coaching dogs.

1) Low worth Treats: are Your Treats value working For?


It’s a romantic and difficult to debunk myth that dogs work for us simply to please us. In reality, as opportunist beings, dogs are possibly thinking “what’s in it for me?” cccording to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. the correct use of treats will extremely create the difference between a dog who is eager to work and one who couldn’t care less. the use of low-value treats (such as kibble) may be harmful if your dog isn’t excited by them, particularly during the initial stages of learning or once there are distractions around, thus ensure your treats are worthy of attention.

Also keep in mind to stick to treats that are soft, smelly, and in little bite-sized items. this permits your dog to quickly gobble up the reward and focus his attention back on you, instead of being distracted by a longer-lasting treat.

2)  Low Rate of Reinforcement: Are you missing a reward?


In the initial stages of learning or once there are a lot of distractions around, your dog can realize sniffing the grass, looking around, marking territory and pull on the leash additional rewardful than coaching. Why is that? It’s most likely as a result of there are stimuli that are additional fascinating and are value paying a lot of attention to. If your dog has received very little coaching within the past, he can have been doing this for a fine part of his life. Increasing the rate of reinforcement throughout now by giving your dog a lot of treats for his coaching efforts can facilitate to encourage him, and can teach him to pay a lot of attention to you than to the distracting environmental stimuli.

A low rate of reinforcement may also cause your dog to get annoyed and provides up trying; keep in mind, throughout the initial stages of learning you would like.


3) High Criteria: Do you ask too much at once?


This is wherever the saying “be a splitter and not a lumper” comes into play. it's usually tempting to do to train new behaviors all right away during a single evening. once your dog stops working for you, you begin thinking: “Am I requesting too much at once?” Truth is, usually once dogs fail to reply to a command it's as a result of it's too difficult for them. thus attempt to not ramp up the difficulty too quickly; rather, break the objective down into many attainable steps to assist your dog succeed. As an example, if you were attempting to teach your dog to touch the tip of a target stick with his nose, you might reward him for touching ANY a part of the stick initially. Over time once your dog gets a hang of this, you might then go on to rewardful him just for touching the rounded tip at the top of the stick.

Try your best to stop your dog’s progress from stalling, and don't build your coaching sessions too long – keep them short and sweet!

4) High Level of Distractions: Is there too much Going on?


Dogs learn best once there are very little to no distractions around, thus make sure to begin your coaching sessions in a quiet space wherever there's not a lot of happening.

Once your dog is ready to perform the behavior within the quiet space, build from there and step by step begin asking your dog to perform the behavior in a noisier space. Then, get to the yard, a busy street, the dog park and so forth.

If you begin on a busy street or at the dog park quickly, your dog can not respond as a result of you've not yet designed a foundation for the behavior.

5) Lack of Training: Has Your Pet Ever Been Trained Before?


If the handler has a history of being inconsistent and not following through with the dog, there’s an opportunity the dog can have learned he might go away from sure behaviors and has learned to ignore the handler. Dogs who haven't been trained and have been allowed to try and do as they please for a good part of their lives usually realize the initial stages of learning hard, since the conception is entirely new to them. it's up to the handler to become fascinating and value paying attention to by investment in reward-based coaching strategies, just like the ones taught in Adrienne Farricelli’s Brain coaching for Dogs course.

6) Unclear Cues: are You Confusing Your Dog?


Dogs thrive on consistency, thus ensure you usually use a similar command cue and that all other people coaching the dog are on a similar page. If you ask for a command and your dog simply stares at you, think about if that command includes a history of being used consistently.

In classes, it's not uncommon to encounter a family wherever the wife uses “come” to call the dog, the husband uses the dog’s name, and also the children simply say “here!” Don’t ask for behaviors in multiple methods, and ensure your body language is congruent with the verbal command. Dogs realize body language a lot of salient then verbal cues.

Also, attempt your best to not repeat commands over and over, otherwise your dog can learn to not hear the primary time you say it, however can wait for you to complete your sentence instead!

7) Frustration Buildup: are you obtaining Frustrated?


Dogs are masters in body language and they will simply find frustration. once the handler’s frustration builds up, dogs usually shut down rather than turning into a lot of compliant. during this case, it helps to require  the dog for a behavior he is aware of well (such as a sit) followed by a gift to finish the session on a positive note. you'll be able to attempt the exercise once more a bit bit later, probably more splitting the exercise into smaller sections if it absolutely was too difficult for your dog.

Also, keep in mind that if you begin raising your voice, bending down or going in your dog’s face, you're intimidating him dog and he can feel the necessity to send you appeasement signals and default behaviors, instead of paying attention to your commands.

8) Emotional Problems


If a dog is fearful, anxious or nervous, his emotion can interfere with coaching. this is|this can be} as a result of the dog is often during a fight or flight state that affects his cognitive function, impairing his ability to be told. In such a case, you can need to work in areas wherever your dog is less possible to be frightened then step by step introduce additional and a lot of stimuli during a method that doesn't cause him to react.

As an example, if your dog was frightened of thunder, rather than instantly exposing him to recordings of thunderstorms on full volume, you must 1st play them at a really low volume, wherever he acknowledges the sound however doesn't become scared. posterior rewarding your dog whereas the sound is played, you would, over time and various coaching sessions, increase the quantity at that you play the recording. This method is understood as desensitization and is a common technique used in dog coaching.

9) Health Considerations: Is Your Dog Uncomfortable?


If your dog ignores you, he can be feeling unwell or uncomfortable. If your dog has usually been obedient and is currently slacking off, it's best to own your veterinarian rule out any medical issues. Sloppy sits or a reluctance to put down can be indicative of orthopedic issues.

Aside from medical issues, some dogs might not prefer to be trained on sure surfaces, or maybe the weather is just too hot, too windy or too cold – there are a large number of possibilities. Often, a distracted dog can simply need to relieve himself or get a drink of water. think about how well you might perform in an test if you were busting to use the bathroom!

10) Do you forget to Brain Train Your Dog?


Many owners aren't attentive to this, however once it comes to dogs, idle minds are the devil’s workshop. yet a lot of owners are happy to go away their dogs bored by the fireplace all day, resulting in untold behavior issues. the easy secret to a well-trained dog is participating their mind and obtaining them thinking.

In the wild, before domestication, dogs would spend a lot of of their lives playing tasks necessary for survival. Even in additional modern history, dogs had special roles to perform in their relationships with humans. you may still see these natural drives in dogs today! for instance, you'll notice how beagles like to follow scents, how some terrier breeds like to dig, and the way treeing coonhounds bark upon noticing prey up a tree. not like humans who maybe dread the nine to five grind, dogs actively need to work, and once they don't, they become prone to behavior issues, disobedience, and poor psychological well-being. many owners spend THOUSANDS on dog coaching once the answer might be as easy as providing Rover with additional mental stimulation!

Fortunately, Brain coaching for Dogs offers an answer to this issue. Written by professionally certified trainer Adrienne Farricelli CPDT-KA (who’s work has appeared in USA today, Everydog Magazine, Nest Pets and more), Brain coaching for Dogs is one in all the primary coaching programs to not only teach obedience, better behavior, vital skills and tricks, however to also work on increasing intelligence and interesting the dog’s brain too. Through twenty one fun and easy games, the novel and scientifically-proven ways educated by Adrienne are certain to improve the lives of both you and your dog! By the end of Brain coaching for Dogs your dog can be ready to tidy up his toys, play the piano (yes, really), and determine his toys by name – all whereas being a better behaved and more obedient dog.

Want to get started with brain training? you'll be able to check out my course by clicking here:



As seen, there are several reasons why your dog might not be paying attention to you. Don’t quickly label your dog as stubborn, don’t begin shouting commands like a drill sergeant, and don’t give up coaching altogether – instead, attempt to offer your dog a break and think about what can extremely be going on. a better understanding of how dogs learn ought to pave the path to better coaching.


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