My puppy did terribly in his first obedience class Yesterday my puppy Romeo had his first basic obedience class and he was terrible! I've never seen him so distracted in my life! He didn't learn a single thing and I just could not get his attention. He usually listens to me when i call out for him and he already knows how to sit and lay down and he's pretty good on the leash so i thought he'd be ahead in the class but it turns out he was worst of them all. Will he get better? I'm thinking it was probably just the excitement of being in a new environment and being with new puppies. He's socialized with my friend's dogs and dogs at the dog park so it's not like being around other dogs was a new experience for him. Please help! :) |
Hi and Welcome to YT! Everyday is a new thing for a puppy! New situations, people, dogs.... Okay... forget the first class... the important thing is the very last class! Point being... he is a puppy! First day of school who isn't distracted? Just go over his lesson everyday, once or twice for 10-15 minutes. He'll get it. Don't expect perfection... if he can pay attention and makes any effort at all that's a good thing. Heck... if everyone did good on the first day, you wouldn't even need a class. Go... learn (as much for you as him), RELAX, and have some fun! (He'll learn faster if you're not upset with him!) Our first class, OMG, everybody barked at everybody else, owners yelling at their dogs... absolute CHAOS! And the last class, (brings a tear to my eye) all pups doing everything so close to perfect... owners acting human again... and the dogs, so quiet, sitting in a row, watching for their owners' next command.... truly unbelievable! Except of course my dog, who, whenever the trainer would approach, did an excitable pee thing on the floor.... Oh well! :D She passed us anyway!:eek: |
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I've been working with him today, and he's doing pretty well. The only problem is sometimes he just wants the treat so he'll snap out of the position and just jump to try and bite the treat out of my hand. Is that normal too, or do I just have an impatient, greedy dog? Hahaha. |
Just as I did, you're going to need to suppress your desire to "make A's" in class... and just work with Romeo where he is - distracted. So the most important command to teach him first is "Watch me" or "Attention" or "Look" (whatever you decide to call it). You already know he can learn - sit, down, etc. - because you've taught him. But you now also know that in a situation with distractions, he will ignore you and try to play with other dogs. So don't worry about the other commands - you can teach those in no time later. Right now, the only thing that's important is for him to learn to watch you, to look to you, every time there's a question, his eyes should go to you. Reward the heck out of that, whether it's accidental or asked for. If you complete the class and the ONLY thing he can do in class is look at you when you ask for it, you have done a GRAND job. And I'll wager you can teach all the other commands within a week or two, if you can do that. The voice of experience, having graduated with just that one thing taught! |
When I took Nala she was like the ADHD pup:) No worries though, just practice with yours at home and eventually move to where there are distractions and she'll be fine! :thumbup: |
First class the 7 month old I took could do nothing but watch. So I sat on the floor and we watched and anytime she looked at me I gave her a treat. The teacher was ok with it as she know the pup was there more to learn about the world then learn skills and that I would have her doing everything at home and be able to transfer it to class once I got her focus. Now the class mates kept on looking at me as if I was right out to lunch wasting time sitting on the floor cuddling a pup and not letting them near her or teach her... To the point I got very snarky and told on to step away I can train my own dog. Sadly not six weeks later my girl was the star of the class as that persons dog still dragged them around the class. What i did was work our relationship that night and make a bond that is strong and working well. What I suggest is work the bond and just watch what you need to teach and work that under less stress. JL |
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Please don't get discouraged. Your baby knows sit, and loose leash walking, now you can take the opportunity to teach him to do what he knows in an extremely stimulating environment. There are a lot of dogs that will perform beautifully in their home, with minimal distractions, but if you can teach your pup to perform basic obedience in an incredibly distracting place, that will help you in the "real world." Your recall will be better, and your dog will be better mannered on walks outside. |
OH! How this makes me think back to my middle daughter in school. She was TERRIBLE, !!! and nobody thought she would amount to much. Well I am happy to say that today she is a highly qualified Chef. So I agree with some of the responses here, it is the end class that is important not how they start. Just keep going and he to will turn into a star. |
he's probably just a slow starter and it IS distracting having all the other doggies around - I'd be distracted too :) |
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