Hi /an/, I have a dog that's 9 weeks old, a german shepherd and rottweiler mix. She's very sweet, but I'm having some issues training her using both negative and positive reinforcement. She won't walk on a leash very well, she keeps sitting and laying down, and she won't keep eye contact with me or stay focused when I attempt to train her. I have a clicker and all, but toys and food don't keep her attention very well when I'm trying to teach her commands. Can you give me some tips on what to do when my dog won't even look at me for more than a second?
>She won't walk on a leash
no puppies that age does very well, it's like expecting a toddler to walk perfectly
>she won't keep eye contact with me or stay focused when I attempt to train her
puppies have the attention span of a gnat, it's not going to be easy. you need to keep your sessions extremely short and frequent. plus rotties are known for being aloof and difficult to train because of it
what treats are you using to train? the place I work at uses hotdogs and cheese cut to about the size of your pinkie nail as training treats, worked well with my husky/pitbull puppy too. he was eight weeks when I adopted him and experienced what you are now, but it does get easier with time. that being said, the husky in him does make him independent and a bit aloof, so that's always going to be a challenge
>>2052008
I'm not as doggy owner but *ahem*
d'aaawwww she's so cute oh my god puppy duppy wuppy puppy baaawwwwwww
Alright i'm done.
>>2052036
My sessions are short and I used these pet store treats that she liked and were expensive, though I forget the name because I threw the empty bag out already. Or carrot bits. I'm just afraid it'll get harder with time, because she's only gonna get bigger. When did your puppy start working with you a little better?
>>2052065
She is very cute. Her entire face twitches when she sleeps and she snores like a bear.
She is 9 weeks old. If you have trained her well enough to have small isues like that, then she was taken from her mom to soon. If thats the case, be grateful. Give her time she will learn.
>>2052290
She was taken from her mum when I got her 3 days ago.
Try multiple ways of hand motions and sounds along with each command. It makes training easier because the dog will pay more attention to you.... i was going somewhere with that, but i got distracted by something for what seemed like 20mins. Sorry :/
>>2052263
you should find something she REALLY likes for training treats, I suggested hot dogs cause most really like them. the better the reward, the harder they'll want to work for them
and my guy started getting better at about 12 to 18 weeks. could very easily be different for yours, but that's my experience. I was able to teach him sit, but then at that point it became easier to reach him things like loose leash walking, lie down, stay, etc. I've trained pits before but never a husky and it was fairly challenging. I hear rotties have the same aloof independence, so be ready for it to take some time. if you keep working at it, you'll be fine
>>2052294
Ok, good. Here you go. It lightened my day.
>>2052294
>taken from her mom at 9 weeks
You're fucked.
I guarantee you'll be putting your dog down in under a year because it bit someone. In the future remember that a dog should NEVER be homed until 12 weeks at the absolute earliest.
>>2052315
> 12weeks
That's a lie and you damn well know it.
>>2052306
I dont recommend treat training. It teaches them to expect treats and beg. Try possitive reinforcement.
>>2052320
you do realize treats are part of positive reinforcement training, right?
It's too soon to expect consistent results. Don't expect them to start getting their act together until about 4 months.
Lay the foundation now so they can reference it later. Like, in 4 months he might think "Oh, he DID always give me treats when I peed in the grass. I guess that's what he wanted me to do" ... but right now? He has no idea. Just some vague feeling that the grass is a good spot to go.
If you get frustrated, stop everything you're doing. Nothing good comes from working with an animal while frustrated when you don't have to.
Patience. One day, you'll wake up and be like "Honey, did you notice that dog hasn't pissed on the rug in about 3 weeks?" ... you seriously don't even notice when their faculties take shape and things start falling into place.
Also, some dogs suck at stuff. My great pyrs won't fetch unless hot dogs are involved. They're also incredibly independent and teaching them to "Come" took until they were over 9 months old. It's a great pyr thing. They're smart as hell so learned sit/stay/down/etc in less than 5 tries.
>>2052349
This.
Also, be very careful not to become frustrated and take it out on the puppy while you're training. I made the mistake of getting annoyed with mine when she would regress on something she'd been doing reliably for weeks. I lost my cool during a session and it just made everything worse.
My dog is a rottie mix who's very sensitive to my mood, so when I got shitty it immediately turned her off to training. I had to rewind to the basics and be super positive to get her back to where we were before I fucked it up. Don't set your puppy up for failure by expecting too much too fast. The most important thing is that she associates you with good things; otherwise she won't trust you, which will make training impossible. Remember, you're building a relationship and that takes time.
