Our dog ignores us!
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| What type of obedience training have you done ?
You might consider another round of training at this age. Our trainer suggested a "watch me" lesson per day. Take a favorite( to die for) treat, hold it under his nose, then draw it up to your nose, have your pup make eye contact with you. Say watch me, and treat him. Do this several times and throughout the day. You can increase the length of time of the eye contact by delaying the treat. We have found using the heeling exercise helpful for attention gettting. You are the leader, as opposed to off leash where he can do his own thing ! You can also let him chase a ball, that you toss and return to you. When he gives you the ball,give him a small treat. Follow the nothing in life is free plan, make him sit for meals, you go first at the door,etc We are currently in another round of training with our 11 month old.. We hope to obtain the AKC Canine good citizen. (The requirements are at the AKC site on the web.) Hope this is helpful Best wishes.... |
| I don't want to sound alarmist, and I could be dead wrong, but it just doesn't sound right to me, assuming this is a sheepdog. It doesn't sound like appropriate behavior in any sheepie that I've heard about.
I would speak with the vet about this, and again assuming this is a sheepdog, have then vet check thyroid levels... and ask the vet about this strange detachment. Anybody else ever hear of such an aloof sheepdog? |
| Hi,
I'm sorry to say I went through the same thing with Merlin and ironically he was the same age as your boy. Your boy is going through his teen years and is at the testing stage...trying to assert his dominance over you, for example not coming when he's called. Hmmm reminds you of a human teen doesn't it? 
Merlin wasn't a face licking pup either but was very docile when he was younger and I had a strong bond with him by the time he was six months old. Something changed and it could have been that I spent a lot of time with my new rescue Sheepie which made Merlin distant as even my trainer noticed it. It could also be that I have three dogs and Merlin was a tad jealous of the attention I paid them. Not to worry however, as if it's the same case as you, Merlin did eventually return back to the same lovable boy he was a few months before. Obedience training is probably recommended as he'll continue his "testing" stage for a few more months if that's what he is experiencing. Not noticing if you are leaving may have some explaination in that he knows you are leaving. Would be worse if he wouldn't let you out of the house and would show distress if each time you left. How is he when you return? Just asking as now all three of my dogs know not to follow me downstairs as I leave for work in the mornings as they know my schedule. It's a different story other times of the day (walk times) or on weekends. My trainer explained that the majority of the time the dogs will sleep when I'm gone and perk up when I return. I have seen this to be true when I was home for 10 days on Easter vacation as they continued with this schedule. Good luck and I hope that's all it is. Marianne and the boys |
| I stand fully corrected! |
| Many thanks for the advice. We haven't really done much obedience training with Sam and perhaps this will help. In most respects he is a great dog - totally non-agressive, rarely barks and loves playing with other dogs. It's just that over the last month or two he has become increasingly less affectionate and almost indifferent to us. However, he does show signs of tail-wagging affection towards other humans he is familiar with, which is doubly galling!! Hopefully then it is a combination of him going through his adolescence and a lack of obedience training...? Mark. |
| Here's my 2 cents,
Take him to the vet just in case, spend the $300 for testing etc. That was my first reaction, as Ron was saying they don't usually act that way unless they are sick. He might be going through teenage years, but I have never had a dog do that, although Marianne is very knowledgable so I would listen to her also. Here is what I would do go to the vet, and do special things with him like go to the dog park, go on walks in different places. Sit on the floor drag him into your lap and rub his head, talk very sweetly to him and tell him you love him. Give him a few treats, in short treat him special for a while. And don't forget this is sort of an alpha behaviour, he is becoming aloof and you are going to him, so in the mean time don't let him get away with any unaccepable alpha behaviour. Have fun. |
| Excellent point, you would want to rule out any medical
cause for his behavior by consulting with your vet. Good luck, please keep us updated.... |
| Let's hope this is indeed teenage apathy and not something more. Anyway, it's easier to get your dog to the doc for testing than your teenagers! At least we can rule out drugs and alcohol.......unless there's a K-9 kegger in the woods your dog knows about. |
| Not an authority here but... Is your dog neutered? Could this be a
hormonal thing? I mean the begining of teenage-hood time for a male dog can be a time for change in behavior. Maybe your dog is now gaining his independence- could this be the case? It may not not typical, but I wouldn't rule it out. If you are to see the Vet, maybe this is a question for him. Some of our kids certainly go through this when the hormones kick in, or even slightly before the big changes. Who knows, maybe it is a 'dog thing' too! Shellie |
SheepieBoss wrote: Let's hope this is indeed teenage apathy and not something more. Anyway, it's easier to get your dog to the doc for testing than your teenagers! At least we can rule out drugs and alcohol.......unless there's a K-9 kegger in the woods your dog knows about.
Party at the moon tower!!! |
| Jules is 14 1/2 months old and she has not been listening lately. This morning she had a toilet paper roll in her mouth. I said "Drop it" and she just sat still and looked at me. I said "Drop it Jules". I started to move closer to her and she started to move from me. She wanted to make a game of it but I hope she could tell I was not playing. She finally dropped it but I think it was an accident. I told her no as I held up the toilet paper roll and put her outside so she could not get any attention. I think lack of attention really bugs sheepies. Anyway, the adolescence thing makes a lot of sense. |
| Hi
Ron said he stands corrected..whew! Good thing as I pictured him bent outta shape..ha ha! (lame humor) Thanks for the nice comment Rogers dad . I am only drawing on experience of having 7 dogs past and present, 6 were rescues. Each dog is unique but sometimes when people write something I can relate to a post. I'm not 100% sure it's Alpha behavior but my hunch tells me it may be the case. I recently read a wonderful book called The Man Who Talks to Dogs : The Story of Randy Grim and His Fight to Save America's Abandoned Dogs, by Melinda Roth It's an amazing book!! Based on the life of Randy Grim a dog lover/rescuer that lives in St. Louis, MO. This man single handedly for many years rescued the feral/semi wild dogs that live in packs in the citiest poorest district. Facinating read of his visiting abondoned warehouses for months on end, feeding these dogs to build up their trust, so as he can rescue them. Each time he mentioned the Alpha dog would be aloof from the rest of the pack and although not the same heirachy as a wolf pack there was similarities. I'll write more about this book on another post. Another thing came to mind and I too am quilty of it. How often do we call our dogs when we are upset over something they did or are not doing , like running away from us when called. I hear myself doing that sometimes, Merlin!!! get back here!! Oops! No wonder he continues to run. Instead I have to remind myself to run the opposite way and say it ever so nicely...commmme oooon Merlin...gooood boy!!! Amazingly he turns around and follows me each time. Food for thought anyway. My gut feeling does tell me that Mark's dog may be experiencing his teens and he will be testing for the next few months and then return to his previous lovable self. Good Luck! |
| Thanks to everyone for the tips. We do hope - and agree - that it's mostly teenage problems, but Sam is tricky. There's another weird thing about his behaviour, which is when we try to give him titbits to try and teach him the "Come" command, and which makes teaching that command really difficult - infact, impossible to date. When I get some tasty cheese snacks and stand away from him by about 6 feet or so, and wave the cheese invitingly and say "come Sam", he slinks off with his ears down as if he doesn't trust my intentions. He just won't come for the snack. However, if I'm doing something in the kitchen and he is near me, and I give the "sit" command for a snack, he obeys immediately, no problem. But if I then back away a few feet and try the come command, he will slope off sheepishly. Any ideas???? As I've mentioned already, we are sure he has never been maltreated. |
| Er....I have to amend the last post. It seems that he will come to my wife for a snack, but not me! Aye caramba! |
| Have you tried the come command while he was on lead? I wonder if
you have him a lead of 6+ feet and gave the command and 'encouraged' him to come with a gentle tug and immediately rewarded him if his behavior would change? Maybe he just needs reassurance - maybe he is testing you? I would try the leader and the command and repeat it until this particular behavior fades. Just my 2 cents tho! Shellie |
| Just an off sided thought, taking him through an obedience course with other dogs might help to follow along. And then they can help you with your techniques, and other training areas. Find a reward based training program. |
| Years ago, I learned the secret of training a dog for the really reliable recall. The secret is MEAT (unless your dog hates meat for some reason)! Whenever I am training a dog for something that is extremely important, I break the reward in smaller pieces and give the dog a lot of small pieces, one at a time at the reward point. For some reason, the dog thinks he is getting a lot more when you give him inidvidual pieces rather than a big chunk. Some trainers call it a "jackpot" reward. Since I use hot dog bits and pieces of string cheese for regular training, for the special meat treat, I use tiny pieces of meatball (from the frozen food section) or roast beef (from the deli) or steak (leftovers). That's the only time they get the special meat.
Regarding your sheepie ignoring you, that's pretty unusual in my experience. I think a health evaluation is in order. Best wishes, hope this is a phase. |
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