When do they realise it's them that your calling?
 

Ok, so when do they come when you call them? Sometimes Dolce acts like Im speaking another language when I call him, sometime he looks up, but he never comes. I can be laying on the floor right across from him and be like "Dolce come here baby" and he'll look at me and he would sit there and stare.:rolleyes:.lol It's been so long since I had a puppy in the house. I mean he loves to play with my hands,so when i go to reach for them he automatically thinks I'm playing, and sometimes I REALLY be wanting him to come here, and he no LIE, looks at me like english isn't his first language:eek:.lol.. So when do they learn their name, and learn to come when you call them?

He knows his name, but he doesn't know what you expect of him. You'll need to teach him commands.:)

To teach him his name, say his name and when he responds by looking up or looking at you, give him a treat and praise. He'll soon recognize name equals treat, so he'll want to start responding to when you say "Dolce". And like someone else said, teaching commands like "come" help too.

That's the stubbornness in them. lol I have one that always comes when I call, one that only comes when I call one of the others and one that comes at her own sweet time. They all come if a treat is involved. You can train her to sit, stay and come using treats and a lot of repetition.

Okay some tips on teaching come; it does seem like he knows his name:

1. Always use his name First before the command - like Dolce...COME
2. First try to get him to Come to you from a very short distance - living room or kitchen. Stand up - Dolce ...Come - voice intonation Dolce firm but not harsh. Come ... try having an uplift lilt to your voice on the Come... At the same time you say the come...open your arms wide, bend at the knees. Have your reward handy.... if he comes immediately give him the treat, and lots and lots of verbal praise.... Good come Good come, Good boy, etc.
3. If at step 2...he doesn't come... Stay where you are; and repeat name...repeat Come but this time add a sound that he might like to investigate like a squeaky toy.

4. If this in Not working, then try this: Have him on his harness and lead indoors... Same command sequence as No 2. If he doesn't Come, give a gentle tug on the leash, and if he starts to move towards you...say good come good come.... and Reward.

5. Repeat ad infinitum lol.... Eventually once he has a solid come on the leash,,,train in house off lead.

6. ONce that is solid,,train outside in backyard, on lead, then move to offlead in yard.

Hope this helps

Lexie is the same way, sometimes she comes sometimes she just looks at me like "huh?". I think you have to keep re-enforcing the "name-treat" connection like gemy said until they absolutely have it. Lexie started answering to her name then i started calling her with no treat cause i thought she had it but now she only comes sometimes so i'll have to go back and re-enforce it for a while

My Elsa is 1 1/2 yrs. old. Sometimes when I call her she totally ignores me. I mean we could be sitting within inches of each other and when she doesn't want to be bothered she flat out ignores me saying her name. If I have her outside and she wanders a little too far from me (we have have 10 acres and a few hawks) and I call her name she will stop dead in her tracks and look in every direction but mine. But, let her hear my foosteps going towards her and then it's like, "oh, you were calling me?" and she comes a running. Hard Head!!!!

Forgive me, but I had to laugh at this...

1 - you are speaking another language as far as Dolce is concerned and

2 - english is not his first language, dog is.

Just laughing out loud when I read this.

Training is hard. During our obedience training, our trainer told us that we should not keep repeating the command. This only reinforces to them that they can decide to listen to you at the 10th time you give the command. Hot Rod is infamous for taking his sweet time when I tell him to "come". He and I will have staring contests for 5 minutes. lol I will only say the comand 2x at the most. After the 2nd time I will just hold my ground and he will do everything he can think of to take his sweet time. He will take a step, stretch and sit, then look at me. Then he will move his head side to side as to look around but I see him sneak a peak at me, lol, then eventually he will come within a step or 2 away and I will still hold my ground and then he will give in and come right up to me. I praise him up and down once he has come over to me.

There is an occasion that I can't wait him out and after the 2nd time, I will go and get him. And even though I do this, I will praise. This gives him the reinforcement that is is a good thing he is in my arms. I know it may sound confusing but it doesn't help to make him feel it's not a good thing to be in your arms so that is why I never scold him when I want him to come.

Our trainer also recommended that you use a word for come other than "come". The reason for this is that we tend use "come on", "come here", etc. It kinda confuses them to here it different ways. She recommended using "front". I still come though as that's what we started with for both.

As for getting them used to their names, you just have to keep repeating it over and over to them and acknowledge them once they seem to respond to it. It will happen. :) Good luck