It is possible that at some point you have found yourself in the situation where your dog does not listen to you and disobeys your commands. This situation can be very frustrating and exasperating. Disobedience can have different levels and appear in different contexts. To help you solve this problem, we show you how to get your dog to listen to you.
Why doesn’t your dog pay attention to you?
The education and training of dogs in their early stages of life is very important since they will largely avoid behavioral problems in the future. On many occasions, dogs disobey orders and behave badly, becoming a frustrating situation for owners. At this point, it is normal for you to ask yourself: “Why doesn’t my dog pay attention to me?” We show you some of the possible reasons:
- Lack of training or education: sometimes, inexperience or ignorance means that appropriate behavioral patterns are not established in dogs. It is possible that difficult situations may arise during learning: reinforcement of behaviors that are not desired, trying to go faster than the animal can assimilate, lack of patience, etc. Therefore, it is important that you train and prepare for these moments.
- Age: it is important to take this factor into account because we do not learn in the same way at all stages of development, nor can we demand the same level from all dogs.
- Problems in interpreting commands: many times dogs do not pay attention to commands because they do not interpret them as such. It is important that your verbal and non-verbal language reflect the same message and that it is consistent with the order you want to convey.
- Problems in emotional bonding: having a dog at home as a companion is much more than meeting your basic needs. You have to establish a solid emotional bond and trust if you want your dog to listen to you.
- Use of punishments: dogs, as they grow, learn to relate to the environment around them. It is common for them to do things that they don’t like and make mistakes because they are learning. In these situations, it is normal for you to raise your voice and scold him. However, punishment cannot be the basis of learning. It generates feelings of fear, makes learning difficult, and affects the bond. It is much more effective and rewarding to use positive reinforcement.
- Very demanding standards: we must not forget that dogs are very different from people, they learn and process differently. It is important to understand this and accept that they also have their needs and need a certain level of freedom. Just like when a person sees something they like or catches their attention they stop to look at it, a dog needs to stop to sniff, play, run around, etc.
- He does not like the reinforcements used: reinforcements are very stimulating to increase appropriate behaviors. However, it is important to use a reinforcement that the animal likes. Find what you like the most: sausages, sweets, etc.
- An environment with many distractions: if there are many elements in the environment that generate distraction, the animal’s ability to obey decreases.
How to get your dog to listen to you? Keys
Become a leader
Dogs are animals that move in packs and need a leader. It is very important that you become their leader with respect and trust. It is essential that you show him that he can trust you and that you have the ability to protect him and resolve complicated situations.
This way, he will trust that the decisions you make and the things you ask of him are in his best interest, and your dog will be much more likely to listen to you.
Get their attention
In order for your dog to obey you, it is important that you first have his attention. To do this, you can teach him a command that shows him that it is time to direct his attention to you. Try picking up a treat, putting it in your hand, and bringing it up to your eyes while you give the command. It can be: “Look!”, “pay attention!”, or whatever you like the most.
Improve communication
Dogs do not innately understand the words you use but are guided by the tone of voice and non-verbal behavior. Therefore, it is important that you take care of these factors when placing an order.
On the other hand, it is advisable that you do not use his name to scold him or indicate that the game or the walk is over, because he will associate it with something negative and you will not get your dog to pay attention to you.
Establish clear rules
Choose the norms and rules you want your friend to learn and then show him the commands clearly and consistently. It is very important that you maintain consistent guidelines regarding his behavior so that learning is consolidated.
You can apply different exercises and turn the training into games to make it more stimulating. This step takes time and it is advisable to practice it daily. Sometimes you have to invest weeks or months in it.
Tricks and commands you should know
Within the learning possibilities of a dog, there are a series of commands that it is essential for it to know. Among them are:
- Sitting
- Still
- lying down
- Come here
My dog doesn’t pay attention to me when I let him go: What do I do?
One of the most common problems is that dogs do not pay attention to their owners’ calls on the street or when they are released. There are some guidelines that can help you solve this problem:
- Choose a word to call him and always use the same one.
- Associate that word in your dog with something positive such as rewards or caresses.
- Give him a treat or reward every time you use the word.
- Start training this word in an easier place, like at home, and little by little generalize the behavior to other contexts.
- Don’t use that call to scold him .
If you follow these tips, you will see how you will end up getting your dog to listen to you and thus enjoy each other twice as much.
