Okay. Now im confused.?

Question

Okay. My dog will sit, stay, laydown, rollover, jump threw hoops, and a gazillian other tricks. She takes regular walks with me next to my side and rides next to my bike everyday. She. just. won't. respect. me!! I've watched the Dog Whisperer constantly, I've practically memorized how he does everything. I try it myself but no matter what I do she will listen to my dad over me. She won't come if she's busy sniffing something, she won't sit when I tell her to if she is fixated on something else. So she reallys gets on my nerves and I've become obsessive over being her alpha. Ive tried to be nice and award her for the good things she does and correct her for the bad. No matter what I do she won't listen. I wonder if im doing something wrong? I walk threw doorways first, I make her sit and stay for her food. I do everything right but she still won't listen. I think she hates me now because im always telling her to do things and I get frusterated and yell and sometimes smack her. Help plz!

The reason I feel like she hates me too is because she use to follow me around everywhere like a duckling. Lay and sleep on my lap, come over to me and never let me out of her sight. Now she wants nothing to do with me, really and I miss my best friend.

I know she is my friend but I dont know the right times to give her affection. She is a year old a german shepard. She wont listen to me when people come over or when i ask her to come when the neighbor has his dog outside. She runs away from me and plays a game out of it. Which gets me really mad because i know she is mocking me and saying "na na na you cant catch me" that would make anyone mad. People are telling me to use "Pet Agree" it is a controller that gives off a ultra sonic sound that only dogs can hear. I would buy it if i knew more about it, so then i wouldnt have to yell.

Anotehr thing is that my dad and i always argue. He lets her get away with things and isnt even alpha material. Once I teach her one thing, he untrains it. Not purposly, but he does by joking and fighting and making the dog do things. I tell him to stop because i want to train my dog and he tells me to chill out and that he will do what he wants, so if i took the dog to a obidiance class my dad would just mess things up.

Answer 1

She doesn't hate you, dogs don't have those type of emotions, but she is obviously wary of you if you are smacking her. NEVER smack the dog, correct only. If you are following Cesar's advice then there must be something that you're not doing. If you're being alpha dog but you're screaming at your dog or using a high pitched squeeky excited voice then that might be a problem, I'm not sure it's hard to tell from the information. Dogs are pack animals and they have a tendency to follow their pack (you), some dogs attach themselves to one member more than the others, which might have happened to your dog. A dog won't hate you because you're always telling her to do things, it doesn't work like that but if you're always yelling then she will probably avoid you, it all depends on how you are correcting her behavior. While Cesar is good you might not have earned your dogs respect as a pack leader and that can be earned back.

Try reading "The Loved Dog" by Tamar Geller she's all about training using only POSITIVE methods rather than harsh methods often used by Cesar for dominance, you might get a better reaction from your dog if Cesar's methods are not working for you.

When a dog is outside and there are 100 distractions going on, no dog no matter how well trained EVER listens. Try doing something different when you're trying to get your dog to come to you:

1. Reward w/ a treat when you get her to come to you.
2. When your dog won't come, make a high pitched sound raise your arms and walk or run in the opposite direction to your dog, they think it's a game and they'll chase you, when she catches up to you, reward with a treat.

Some dogs cannot resist playing chase and I can get my dog to come EVERY time she refuses to listen. Remember some dogs are stubborn, I know mine is, and I've practiced Alpha dog since she was a puppy and she will refuse to listen also. I find rewarding with a treat goes a long way.

When you get a chance watch Animal Planet "It's Me Or The Dog" with Victoria Stillwell, she has different methods from Cesar Millan that you might want to try.

Don't give up, you haven't lost your best friend, you need to reestablish your place in the pack.

Good luck

Answer 2

Start by calming yourself down when you get frustrated. Smacking your dog will cause mistrust. try bonding with her in other ways too. like brushing her, giving her a little massage and never smack her again. using treats and coaxing her to do stuff in positive ways will work better than hitting any day. teach her a command word for coming to you by using a word like 'come' start by going kinda close to her so she can see the treat when you hold it out and say the word so she'll come to you. get farther and farther away each time. and finally somewhere where she can't see you. this command word should only be used when something good will be following, not ever when you're going to reprimand. that's how you get her to come to you no matter what she's doing. whatever you give her when you say the command word and she comes has to be more interesting than anything she's fixated on. eventually you decrease the treats until you only give attention or a little pat.

if during training she refuses to come stop for a minute and then try again, sometimes you might have to show her the treat again even after a while to remind her. good luck hope this works for you!

Answer 3

It may have something to do with your tone of voice. Generally dogs respond to men better because they have a deeper and more commanding tone. If you can try to deepen your commands without being overly dramatic and being firm with your commands, will help as well. Smacking her will prove to her that she shouldn't come to you because bad things happen when she does. It would be better if you were to praise her and give her a treat when she does come (even if you feel like smacking her at the time). Physical punishment doesn't endear you to your dog.

You may need to start doing some leash work with her to work on the come command and go back to basics. Maybe even take her to an obedience class. This is a great way to bond with your dog. If you don't like obedience try her at agility or flyball. Something for just the two of you. It will help with the bonding and it's a lot of fun to boot!

Good luck with your dog!

Answer 4

OK number 1 do not smack your dog and think it will respect you! The only thing that will do is make it scared of you, do not raise your voice and stick to one or 2 word commands. Your dog sees your dad as the pack leader and will always respect him more! you say she will do tricks, walk by your side. so other than the attention span thing what exactly don't she respect with you? You have been so obsessed with being the alpha as you say it you forgot to be her friend and trainer. you know dogs need love and respect too. Its not just one sided.

Answer 5

Don't smack your dog. That might be why she "hates" you (your words, not mine!)

Yelling at your dog is kind of like play-fighting to them. Don't yell or smack, it won't help.

Also, IMO The Dog Whisperer is a crock of s***. Even if I agreed with his old-fashioned and out-of-date methods, there's too much Before and After, not enough of the During-- but then I guess he'd be sharing his techniques.

Sounds like your dog sees your dad as the Alpha, and that's fine. In order to get her to obey you too, it would be helpful to know how old she is, and whether she only disobeys you in a noisy environment full of distractions. Because your first sentence kind of sounds like she's actually rather well-behaved!

Answer 6

you can overdo this alpha bit -- 99.9% of top dog training folks do not worry about ever little sign of alphness (just like your Dad)- even the alpha DOGS don't always insist on beeing first, having all the toys ect - they often let some things go. its highly unlikley your gonna convince her you are the household alpha because there are 101 little way it's clear your dad (and mom) re alpha over you! Chill a little and enjoy playing with her!

Answer 7

Just start over, put her on a leash and make her stay by your side, like she was a puppy.
Does the other person "reward" her for disobeying you? by petting her when she runs to him for "safety"? it undermines you big time. Ask them to stop.
same problem in my house when I tell my dog to go outside and he doesn't want to, he goes straight to my husband who pets him and he sits down and won't listen until I start walking over, then he RUNS outside as fast as he can because he knows he is busted. Pees me off..too.

Answer 8

It is common for dogs to see one of the adults in the family as packleader rather than the child. Usually it is Mom, but in your case it is Dad. It's ok. Adults usually have more stable tolerance levels and are less "willy-nilly' and more consistent in their actions and deeds because they are more mature. Dogs usually see them as packleaders.

Answer 9

Well, dogs don't respect people that hit them, they fear people that hit them. Would you feel like following someone around that got frusterated with you and hit you??

Answer 10

please don't hit your dog! It's dog, not a circus performer