Please help me, I feel like a failure!

Hello,

I have a lovely 5 month old border terrier puppy, aptley named piglet. Now, pig is lovely. She walks brilliantly on a lead, is very friendly etc etc

Now here lies the problem,

Off the lead she has a tendancy to ignore me. If she see another dog, person, child, car, bike, football then she runs at it. I call her and call her but she just ignores me. Sometimes even without the distraction we'll be out and i'll try and get her to come to me and she ignores me. However another time I'll call and she'll come racing to me and then sit at my feet, like an angel. But the ignoring me is becoming more and more. If she was a cat and had nine lives I think we're down to minus two!!!

Please help
Danielle

ps please dont suggest keep her on a lead because she's fine on a lead!

You need to just reinforce training, and yes, on a lead. Perhaps get a retractable one, so you can let her get further away and practice "come" without the danger of losing her. Have you done an obedience class with her? The class is as much about people training and socialization as it is anything else ...

I see a couple of things -

First off, this is a terrier puppy. Terriers are, well, terriers. They have minds of their own and are stubborn.

Second off, this is just a baby. I have a 2 year old pom that I won't let off a leash outside. Why? He isn't 100% on his recall. Period. He is GREAT on a leash but it is the distractions that can get him killed.

So - until you have 100% recalls in contained areas, you are going to need to keep him on a leash. And I wouldn't count on that for a few months yet.

yeah i know you are right. Its that i feel we're going backwards. A month ago she was so much better! she turned into a stroppy teenager!

Obedience class if you havent already been, or even a refresher would be nice. She needs to learn her commands under various situations, and Obediance classes are great for that! Like someone else suggested, a retractable lead, will allow you to klet the dog go a distance, and for you to practice your recalls. Please do not allow your dog off lead, untill she is 100% on recall, and unfortunately, some terriers, never get 100% recall. so good luck!

Here is what I did to train my dog's recall. She's a Jack Russell so she has pretty much the same temperament as yours.

I used to walk in places where I knew there were not too many distractions.. and definitely no dangers like cars and so on. She was off leash and running ahead of me.. When she didn't look I would hide somewhere where she could not see me but I could see her. When she noticed I was gone she started looking for me and then I would call for her and when she came to me there was of course lots of praise and a treat.
Doing this frequently has taught her to pay more attention to me when she walks off leash because she doesn't want to lose me and now she has a very reliable "come here".

You can do this training on a long leash, if you don't feel certain that she will come look for you. Just make sure it's a very long leash so she feels like she is free.

Also when you're walking your dog. Call her to you frequently. Hold the collar and praise her and then let her run again (perhaps with a command to it.. like "free"). It's very important that she doesn't start to think that "come here" ALWAYS means "fun time over".

-Varga

I agree with Vargo alot, first you work her in as little stimualation as possible. Then once you have her attention, you expand on her stimulas. Now remember she is only 5 months old she is a puppy, and unless you are super exciting, she will want to explore other venues. So work with her a lot, just do a little bit at a time, and just do it. I have a saying the more you do the better your dogs will be and can do.

Here is something that may help you. But remember she is a baby and will continue to be so for a while.

SUCCESS IN OBEDIENCE TRAINING

Well I thought I would write down what I have found that has worked for me and most of my clients. When I start working my dog, I always have a goal in mind. I write down my goal of where I want to be in three weeks, in a month, two months and 6 months. To write it down I have found helps you to stay on course and not get frustrated when things get bogged down. I daily will write down a diary of what we did that day, and what we need to work on. I also have a goal of what we are going to work on that day, I visualize what are weaknesses are and work on them. I do not go over and over stuff he knows, I will work on those exercises as touch ups. I will introduce new routines and work on them but add the old stuff as a reminder to him of what he should know. Also it helps him be more confidant that he knows how to do something correctly. I also have a different attitude when we walk on the field, it is ok we are working now, so no playing, but work. This transverse to the dog, and they know the difference. Same with putting on a training collar and not his every day collar, they just know. Now remember that a bored and hungry dog works best. In other words if he has been crated for at least an hour preferably two hours, he is much more willing to do obedience for you. Than if he was playing with the kids, and other dogs all day. Now lets talk about the treats you will use to get him to want to work for you. Should be soft small and ready to swallow in an instant. That way he will not be busy chewing on a hard treat when your ready to go on to the next lesson. I always have a set goal when I take each dog out to work. I also change my attitude with the dog. I also have a different attitude when we walk on the field, it is, ok we are working now, so no playing but work. This transverse to the dog, and they know the difference. Same with putting on a training collar, they just know. It is all business, and VERY UP BEAT. I use a training collar that way the dogs know we are going to work and I mean business. So the minuet we step on the field we are all business, not just walking along, we are heeling or what ever.
Also I get very animated with my dog, I talk a lot with all of my dogs except Xeres, who is very high drive and excitable. Who I Have spent tons of time calming him down. But for the most part I am talking, talking, and talking to my dogs. I have their attention on me. Not the dog next to us, not the person walking by but on me. If I do not then it is my job to get his attention. I get his attention back on to me by using a leash correction, which is only a method to say hey look at me. I like using the treats to get his eyes back on to me as a reward and my voice. You must know your dogs temperament. Is he a quiet dog, who needs very little correction. Or is he a harder headed dog who needs more force. You must match your training style to your dogs temperament and work with that in mind. Is your dog a bouncy one, that is full of go juice? If so you must be calm inside, which will transverse on to your dog. With Xeres I will lay my hand on his head, And by being calm and serene inside, I am sending my calming energy to him. I will then talk softly to him, letting him know what I expect from him. Now with one of my other Dogs Cheyenne it is a battle to get her up to want to work. So I will become very animated in both attitude, voice, and actions. I am very up beat and happy all the time with her. I will pick up my steps to encourage her to walk faster. I do very little corrections with her, as this upsets her. Instead a good soft no, and redirect her to what I want works wonderful.
If your dog is always walking ahead of you, then you need to walk faster I have found most people when they heel their dogs they are walking too slow. You need to have a quick pace to help the dog keep his attention on to you. You must get and keep his attention on to you, up your voice, keep it going and non stop at first. If your neighbors do not think you have gone nuts then you are not talking to you dog enough. Also every time you change directions or exercise you must tell him what you want, heel, sit, or down. I also never work my dogs till they are tired, I always quit when they are wanting more. If they do an exercise good I quite and praise the heck out of them with lots of treats, voice and soft encouraging body petting. I also have a play time after we work out. I have found in my case it help to relieve stress the dog may have picked up. I use my commands in our play time, ( while throwing the tennis ball) downs, sits, stays, to the dog, and the reward is the ball. I also do the massage tech on my dogs after a good work out. I find this helps with the bonding process, and helps to finish relieving any stress remaining. I then put my dogs up for about an hour to two hours. I have found that dogs think about what you have taught them, in fact I will even have them put up during the work out for about 10 minutes, right in the middle. And then go back to what we were working on.
I have also found that if you have two dogs that your working, have the dog that in a junior in his training to be crated, but he must be able to see the training with the older dog that is going on. I have found if I use my older dog first, to show the younger dog what the older dog knows. They actually learn by watching, and will pay attention. And as a added bonus the older dog will do his best to show off to the younger dog. It makes for a more complete training session if you have one watching and one showing off!
At first you will want a quiet place so you have the dogs undivided attention but as he gets better at his obedience you will want to add more and more distraction. I like to do my sessions in parking lots, parks, by the lake, (that is their all time favorite place to be) So it is a great distraction for them to be there. And after a good work out they get their beloved lake to play in. Bit of warning never have the lake or great distraction behind you in a recall, they will blast right bye you and into the lake they go! lol lol! Sorry a bit of humor there! And that brings up a point. If you or your dog makes a mistake never think your or the dog are a failure. Just think of it as OK THAT IS SOMETHING WE NEED TO WORK ON. I am now glad I know that! So remember that to be good at something you have to fail several time over and over, but if you prevail in your pursuit of getting it right, or getting your title then it takes work and lots of time. Then when you do get it, you will be so proud of your self, not to mention that the path to get there was worth it, and you two become bonded and closer than ever!
I never work a dog when I am angry, I always put them away, and go back to it later. I make sure we finish on a good note then quite after a lot of praise. If we have hit a big snag in our training. I will halt all training with that dog, and go over it in my mind what is going on. Sometimes it may take a week to figure out what is wrong MOST of the time it is something I have done or not done. I have lots of time gone back in training to be able to go forward. And that brings up a point. If you or your dog makes a mistake never think your or the dog are a failure. Just think of it as OK THAT IS SOMETHING WE NEED TO WORK ON. I am now glad I know that! So remember that to be good at something you have to fail several time over and over, but if you prevail in your pursuit of getting it right, or getting your title then it takes work and lots of time. Then when you do get it, you will be so proud of your self, not to mention that the path to get there was worth it, and you two become bonded and closer than ever!
Well that is about it for now. This is what I do for a successful training program for my dogs, and clients. I hope this helps some of you. Good and happy training your dogs.
And God Bless!


Kat



Kat Peterson
Excaliburk9 German Shepherd Dogs
Kat's Dog Training Center and /
On line Canine Behavior and Training Services
AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator /
4-H Advanced Obedience instructor
http://www.icehouse.net/excaliburk9

I also agree with Vargo because that same thing worked a treat on my Border collie when she was a pup. Yes, BCs are obedient dogs but only if trained correctly and they still have minds of their own and I wanted to teach her quick. She kept running up to play with other dogs and so I'd run off and hide and then she'd panic when she realised I'd gone. I'd call her and she'd come running but I'd stay hidden and I'd see her go running past and hear her wimpering in terror and looking round frantically, lol. Then I'd come out of the bushes and call her and she'd come rushing up all relieved. She QUICKLY learned to keep a better eye on me and come back to me when called, lol.

There are other ways to get a better recall but I do know this worked a treat on my dog. By the time she was the same age as yours, she had a better recall than most adult dogs that got walked in that same park.
Teaching her to fetch a ball, which wasn't hard, and her learning to enjoy it so much also worked well because she'd rather stay with me and play ball then go up to other dogs.

One thing you need to understand about pets is that going outside is like us watching TV. There are exciting smells and other pets have left important messages everywhere. Be happy your dog is good on a lead and keep working with your puppy!

Great posts already here.

Just kind of start over with training come. A few things to remember....Never call her to punish her. If you do this, it'll kill your recall because she'll associate coming to you when called with the punishment, now what your actually punishing her for. Second, don't over use the commands. Commands should be said once, twice if necessary. If you are in a situation that you know she isn't going to listen, then don't give her the command. You want to set her up for sucess, not failure. Finally, it may help if you have a special treat only for coming. Just pick one of her favorite treats and the only time she gets it is when she comes when she's called.

I also want to mention that no dog can ever be totally reliable off leash. There are some breeds (typically terriers and sighthounds) that can never be trusted offleash, or at least shouldn't ever be trusted off leash. Keep in mind what your breed was created to do. Terriers were bred to work independantly from humans to get those rodents. They needed to have determination and stamina to do this and they needed to be independant. Don't take it personally if your dog doesn't become "pefect". Just love her for what she is and always remember to do what you need to do to keep her safe....And this includes not allowing her to be offleash in an area where she can get hurt no matter how good her recall may be.

I took in my grandpa's dog when he died. Sammy was about 10 years old. She hadn't had a lot of training, and was set in her ways.

I'd take her to the beach with a 20 foot rope to tie on her 6 foot leash. She felt like she was "free," Miss Independent. But I had full control over her.

Just a thought.

There's a lot to read through here and I admit I didn't read through.... so if I repeat something thats already said, just consider it reinforcement ;)

Most of my students don't have success when they call their dog because they "ruined" the word "come". By that I mean they called their dog to come when they wanted to have the dog do something they didn't like, or would consider punishment. Whether or not it was punishment, the dog sees it that way. So, say you called her in because it started raining. She sees that you called her in to end her fun just when the fun started to get good. She sees that as punishment for having a good time outside. Well what do you do if you HAVE to get her in despite how much fun she might have chasing after another dog? You have to figure out what motivates her.

I never use the word "come" on Nicki. I ruined it long ago and she just won't come on the word. Here are three scenarios when my dog is outside and I want her to come in:
1) Nicki just went potty and now is standing in the yard sniffing the breeze. I call out "Cookie!" and she comes for a Milkbone biscuit. Why? Because at that moment, a cookie is ample motivation to leave her exciting post of sniffing air to come to me.

2) Nicki's outside sauntering around, smelling every %#%&* blade of grass. In that frame of mind, she would never come for a cookie. Thats not what she wants. I know her well enough to know she's looking for something interesting to do. So I call out "Lets take a nap!" She comes running into the house and we both head upstairs to lay in bed.... even if only for a minute. For some reason, a nap is an exciting reward for Nicki (go figure! :p) Why did this work? Because based on her behavior, a nap was the right motivation at that time.

3) Nicki's out in the yard and she does happen to see another dog walking down the street. She'll stand frozen in the yard and turn to look at me like "hey mom, I'm just gonna go say high to the little boxer I see coming towards us". Do you think I'm gonna tell her to come to me for a cookie? Heck no! She'd laugh at that -- because thats the wrong motivation/reward at that time. Would a nap do? Not at all -- once again, because a nap would be the wrong motivation to leave another dog. So what do I do in that situation? I tell her to get her leash. She'll run at me so fast that there are burn marks in the grass ;) She knows I'll either walk her to the other dog or we'll take a walk ourselves. Either way, she sees it as more rewarding than simply going up to the boxer by herself.

Notice I never said "come"? Thats because she was only 50/50 on responding. You want her to be 100% reponsive because there's going to be the ONE TIME where her responding to your call could mean saving her life. I tell my students that I don't care if you're screaming out "Englebert Humperdink!" as long as she knows what it means and knows that something exciting will happen to her when she returns to answer the call.

I have one student who INSISTED on using the word "come" You know what? Out of that class, all the other puppies came beautifully when called, despite distractions. Hers was the only puppy that ignored mom's call. Mom said "He's so stubborn!" No... she was stubborn because she insisted her dog respond to a word he already prooved he was unresponsive to. Everyone else was calling a myriad of words (one student in that class actually used a potato chip bag and crinkled it to ger her puppy to come... that pup came each and every time without hesitation LOL)

The last thing to remember: Whatever reward you offer (a treat, a walk, a crinkling chip bag) to ALWAYS give your dog the reward. Never, ever, EVER neglect to reawrd your dog for coming when you called.

Good luck :)

O....M....G.....you have a Border Terrier puppy??!!

Please oh please share pictures!!! I'm begging you. I just love Border Terriers. My dog Fenway has a lot of Border Terrier in him.

As far as your question, I think everyone has great idea. Good luck.

i too would like some input on this.
I dont want to have to rely on a lead or a leash. I know i should but i just want them to know their command and come when i say. It gets very aggravating when i call and call and call especially when they are doing something wrong but they look at me and keep doing what their doing.
I may not call them angrily or anything and they still wont come. Very annoying for me, i want to be able to trust them but it's hard when this happeneds.
Mostly cainan is my problem...coco will come finally when she realizes your ticked off and corona just knows that when i call, she comes. but cainan has been through basic obedience and still gets distracted no matter what i do or say.
I just dont want to depend on a leash or lead when i dont have too. I like them to have freedom and of course listen.
I know it's the leash ALL THE WAY, im just hoping i can get around the leash and lead stuff haha!

I would suggest practicing a lot. You could also try taking her to a store that allows pets. Here there are a lot of distractions, so she will learn to listen to you even when there are other things going on. And (if your dog isn't aggresive) they let you take them of leash. Some also have little arenas or enclosed areas if you are concerned about her running away.