If every dog trainer got a dollar whenever they heard the words ‘my dog won’t listen to me’, there’d be a lot of millionaire trainers in the world right now.
And it’s frustrating (for the dog owners – the trainers are used to it).
If yours is the only dog in the doggy park not to come when called…
…If you’ve given up telling your dog not to jump on the sofa…
Or if you’ve shouted yourself hoarse trying to make yourself heard.
Yep, it’s frustrating. But not unusual.
Show me the dog owner who claims their dog hangs on their every word, and I’ll show you a liar. Almost every dog is guilty of a bit of selective deafness from time to time. The problem starts when ‘time to time’ becomes ‘all the time’.
If your dog is a serial offender, you’ve probably tried every trick in the book to get them to listen. Count how many books you’ve read on the subject; how many times a day you’ve said ‘no’ in an assertive way; how many times you’ve gazed meaningfully into their eyes as you say their name…
It’s a lot, right? But has any of it worked?
By the fact you’re here, I’m guessing not.
But don’t write your dog off as a lost cause just yet.
Unless there’s a medical reason underpinning their decision to ignore you (more on that coming up), every dog can be trained to listen. Or rather, every dog owner can be trained in how to make their dog listen.
Because that’s the thing.
If you want your dog to listen, you have to find a way to make yourself heard. Your dog’s not going to do it for you. Before you can train your dog, you’re going to have to train yourself. And that might mean changing how you look at the very concept of training.
If you’re ready and willing to make some positive changes, then let’s get going.
WATCH VIDEO: Discover How To Get Your Dog To Listen EVERYTIME Without Spending Hours Of Training Or Thousands Of Dollars!
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Common Reasons Dogs Won’t Listen
To solve a problem, you have to understand what’s causing the problem in the first place.
Not all dogs ignore their owners for the same reason. Understand what’s making your own pooch throw a deaf ear in your direction, and you’re one step closer to finding the solution.
In the vast majority of cases, the reason is behavioral. But occasionally, it can be down to something else entirely.
If your dog has only recently started ignoring you, a medical condition could be to blame. A ruptured eardrum or depression can both make it seem like your dog isn’t paying attention, but in this case, no amount of training is going to help.
If you’ve any reason to suspect your dog is unwell (a dog with a ruptured eardrum may tilt their head, rub their ear excessively, or experience a discharge from the affected ear; a dog with depression may seem lethargic, experience a loss in appetite, and take to hiding away), get them checked out by a vet asap.
But ultimately, medical issues account for only a tiny proportion of cases. The rest are behavioral.
If your dog is anything like most, they might be ignoring you because…
You Won’t Shut Up
If you keep the radio or TV on 24/7, how often do you actually pay attention to what’s being said? Not a lot, right?
After a while, background noise becomes exactly that… noise.
If you’re spending half an hour asking your dog to be a good boy on the walk today, and another half hour explaining to them why you’d prefer them not to eat that little girl’s ice cream, then that’s the problem, right there.
Don’t get me wrong. Talking to your dog isn’t a bad thing. We all like our chats. But if you suffer from a case of verbal diarrhea at the wrong time (i.e., when you’re trying to get your dog to do something or stop something), all those words are going to merge into one thing: a lost message.
They Haven’t Been Trained
Training can do wonders for a sudden attack of deafness. If your dog’s never received any basic training, they probably have no idea what you’re asking them, why you’re asking them, or why they should care either way.
Clever though they are, no dog is born knowing basic commands like ‘sit’, stay’, ‘heel’ or ‘come’. It’s down to you to teach them.
WATCH VIDEO: Discover How To Get Your Dog To Listen EVERYTIME Without Spending Hours Of Training Or Thousands Of Dollars!
They’ve Been Trained… (The Wrong Way)
There are good training techniques and then there are bad training techniques.
Good training techniques are reward-based. Bad ones are punishment-based.
If a dog has been conditioned to associate certain commands or actions with a negative consequence, they’re likely to ignore it.
Think about it. If you’re used to receiving a scolding whenever you hear your name being called, how long before you start ignoring the call? Whereas if you’re used to receiving a treat when it happens, you’ll be there in a shot.
Dogs are the same. Punishment based techniques don’t just endanger your relationship with your dog, they don’t work. Simple as that.
They’ve Suffered a Trauma
If you’ve given a forever home to a shelter dog, their current problems might be linked to their old life.
If they were neglected or mistreated in the past, they may be having a hard time trusting you. Until they stop seeing you as a potential threat, it’s likely they’ll think it’s safer to just ignore you.
Your Body Language is Confusing Them
Dogs are visual creatures.
Eye movements, posture, hand gestures… even if it seems your dog isn’t listening to your verbal cues, they might well be paying attention to what you’re saying with your body.
And if your body language doesn’t make sense, or if it isn’t saying the same things as your mouth, then as like or not, they’re not going to waste valuable time figuring it all out.
If you want your dog to listen to you, it may be time to start learning to speak their language.
‘No’ Has Lost Its Power
If your dog actively does the opposite of everything you want them to, you probably spend most of your day saying ‘no’.
And there’s only so many times a dog (or anything else for that matter) can hear the same word before it loses its meaning… not to mention its power.
The other problem with ‘No’? It changes YOU. It changes the tone of your voice, the way you stand, the way you move your hands, everything… and trust me, we’re not talking positive changes here.
Dogs pick up on those changes. And they don’t like them. And what does a dog do when it doesn’t like something? You got it… ignore it
WATCH VIDEO: Discover How To Get Your Dog To Listen EVERYTIME Without Spending Hours Of Training Or Thousands Of Dollars!
How To Deal With A Dog That Won’t Listen
Now you know the reason why your dog might be ignoring you, it’s time to start doing something about it.
Easy to say, you might think, but how exactly do you do that?
Basically, with patience. None of the methods I’ll discuss next are going to give instant results. Re-training your dog is going to take time. There’s going to be setbacks along the way. But keep going. You’ve got this, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.
Go Back to Basics
If you’ve spent countless hours training your dog but nothing seems to stick, it might not be the dog that’s the problem.
Maybe it’s the training.
Fortunately, you’re not stuck with it.
Go back to basics and get to grips with some techniques that actually work. If you’re not sure where to start, I’d highly recommend taking a look at this free 4-part obedience course. Once you start to see the results of a training program that actually works, then trust me – training is going to get a lot more interesting for both you AND your dog.
Stop Saying ‘No’
You might not think you talk too much. Your partner might not. Even your kids might describe you as quiet. But there’s someone in the house that wishes you’d just keep it shut… especially when it comes to one little word in particular.
Think about how many times a day you use the word ‘No’ to your dog. Then consider how many times they listen. If they ignore you nine times out of ten, that’s nine times your dog probably hasn’t even picked up on what you’ve said. Bluntly put, you’ve become white noise.
If you want your dog to stop ignoring you, stop making yourself ignorable. Saying ‘No’ on repeat doesn’t work. So stop saying it. In fact, stop saying most things.
If you want your words to count, start using less of them. And while you’re at it, pay attention to what you’re saying with your body as well.
Dogs are visual creatures. They communicate through body language, and they expect you to do the same. If your mouth is saying one thing and your body is saying another, they’re going to get confused.
Changing your focus away from ineffective words and onto more positive techniques is one of the most crucial things you can do. Speaking of which…
Use Positive Reinforcement
If saying ‘No’ doesn’t work, what does?
I’ve got two words for you…
“Positive Reinforcement”
Write them down, stick them on your wall, and commit them to memory.
Punishing your dog when they don’t listen won’t make your dog listen more. It’s just going to make them unhappy.
Rewarding them when they do listen, on the other hand, is the surest fire way of getting them to keep doing more of the same.
Every time your dog responds to your call, sits when you ask them, or does anything else on command, let them know how pleased you are.
Most dogs are people pleasers. If they know that doing something makes you happy (and if they get a nice little treat out of it too), they’ll be far more inclined to do it.
But remember – timing is everything. Dogs forget, fast. When they do something good, reward them straightaway. If you leave it for anything more than two or three minutes, they’ll already have forgotten what they did that was so great.
Take Training on The Move
Most of us probably learned the word ‘sit’ in our nurseries. But we don’t need to go back there to understand what it means now. Whether we hear ‘sit’ in the classroom, the office, the bus, or the plane, we know what it means and we know the action that accompanies it.
But guess what? Dog’s don’t think like us.
While we’re capable of abstraction and generalization, dogs aren’t. They might know to plonk their behinds down when you tell them ‘sit’ in the house, but in the park? Not a clue.
Quite often, your dog isn’t ignoring you out of belligerence. They just genuinely don’t know what you’re asking them to do.
If you want your dog to understand certain commands in every kind of situation, then you’re going to have to train them in every kind of situation.
Make it your mission to spend a few minutes on basic training wherever you go. The more reps you do, the better they’ll get.
Re-establish the Bond
If a dog’s been neglected or badly treated in the past, it might take some time before their past becomes history.
If you want them to eventually listen to you, first you need to get them to trust you.
Factor plenty of doggy one-on-one time into the day. Go for walks, play games, even start teaching them the basics of obedience (if you haven’t already, check out this four-part obedience course for some great tips and tricks).
It’s not going to be achieved overnight, but the more time, effort, and patience you put in, the sooner you’ll be reaping the rewards.
Final Thoughts
So, we’ve established that having a dog that doesn’t listen is frustrating. We’ve gone through some of the reasons they might be ignoring you. We’ve even learned how you can stop making yourself so ignorable in the first place.
And now it’s over to you.
No one said having a pet is easy. Having a dog around the house has its charms, for sure. It’s why we domesticated them in the first place.
But not all dogs are easy. Actually, most aren’t. But it’s in your power to effect a positive change, whether that’s through learning new training techniques, re-establishing the trust, taking obedience classes in the great outdoors, or dropping ‘no’ from your dictionary.
Training your dog to listen can seem like an uphill struggle at times. But the view from the top is worth the climb.
WATCH VIDEO: Discover How To Get Your Dog To Listen EVERYTIME Without Spending Hours Of Training Or Thousands Of Dollars!
(video will open in a new window)
