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Help! My Dog Ignores Me

Q:     Every time I take my dog anywhere she pays attention to everything but me. She is good at home but sometimes I don’t think she even realizes I am holding the leash. I am scared to let her off leash even in the dog park because she won’t look at me or listen to me. What should I do?

A:     Many dogs have similar behavior to what you are describing. I will need to know some more specifics about your dog like breed, age, etc. to give you a more specific answer. It is also helpful for me to see things like body language and behavior in context so I can try to identify the cause for this behavior. I like to treat the cause and not the symptom, you should get better results that way anyhow. I can come take a look and help you out later this week but for now here is some information.

There are a few points to be made about your situation.

  • Many dogs do not generalize behavior to new locations. This means that if your dog does what you ask in your living room (an example could be sit/stay), it may not know what you mean out on a walk – or anywhere else for that matter. We may need to train your dog ‘from scratch’ in a few new environments so she understands what you mean.
  • Distractions may be undermining you. Most dogs are easily distracted by things like new smells, other dogs, people, etc. Puppies are especially susceptible to distractions. You may be on to something when you say your dog may not be aware of you – sometimes they get so focused on one thing (or lots of things) that they don’t think about the rest of their surroundings, including their company.
  • Another possibility is that she may have inadvertently been ‘trained’ to ignore you. This is always sad to see but the good news is that it is usually easy for the dog to change their patterns once their person has been trained. Although I am a dog trainer, I also do my fair share of people training. Some things people commonly do that teaches dogs to ignore them are: talking too much to the dog in words it doesn’t understand, giving mixed signals (body language and verbal directions often do not agree from the perspective of the dog), expecting too much of the dog, constantly touching the dog, not understanding that dogs are not furry people, using punishment (it damages trust and the relationship), and allowing dogs to reinforce themselves for inappropriate behavior (like pulling hard on the leash toward another dog to smell it or greet it).

 

For now I would recommend trying to reduce distractions and practicing the things your dog is really good at. If your dog sits consistently when you ask her to, work on ‘sit’ in short sessions around the house and the yard. Make sure you have some tasty treats to give her when she does a good job and that you finish on a good note, play is a nice way to finish training. I would not recommend taking her to the dog park if you don’t think she would respond to you; try low distraction leashed walks or playing a game like fetch in the yard for exercise. I will see you soon to help further but for now try these things. Good luck and I will see you soon.

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