# Doesn't come when called and completly egnores family members?



## clairythefairy88 (Dec 6, 2010)

Noodles is 14 weeks now.
He goes to puppy classes every friday and we have three, five minute training sessions a day.

I'm attemping a new trick per week but I try to mix it so he's not sure what to expect. I use peices of chicken and duck for treats.

He did have a really good recall, Iv never scolded him even if it took a few minutes to come and I don't call him for anything he dislikes (if I put him in his crate to put him out I'll always go to him)

I often call him on walks or around the house and radomly praise or treat him so I really don't get where I've gone wrong.

Theres been so many occasions where he's the other side of the room and refuses to come to my mum or brother when called. He registers the're calling him but just sits there.

How do we deal with that? Are they supposed to go get him? keep calling or just give up?

He normally does come for me but there been occasions where he'll egnore me too. :/

Is it just an age thing or are we doing something wrong ?


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

He's just a baby, so not surprising... keep practicing. One sure fire way to get a puppy to come is to run away from him as you call him. Most puppies cannot resist the natural urge to chase. Then reward when he reaches you. When you ask for a come make sure you are doing in a very happy squeeky voice, too, another way to motivate.


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## clairythefairy88 (Dec 6, 2010)

Thanks, will start doing that on walks instead of just calling him then  I think a lot of the things he does are because he's young but I want to deal with them in the right way so that bad habits don't start.

On his second week at night, he howled, I thought something was wrong because he'd never done it before, so I went to check on him. The result is he howls everytime I'm brushing my teeth now. I figure so long as I don't go and re-inforce the idea that howling means he gets attention he'll grow out of it. 

I thought it might be adolesence because puppies supposedly ignore you during that stage but from what I've read its too early? 

He's so well behaved for a puppy that whenever something unexpected comes up it throws us all off balance.


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## poodleholic (Jan 6, 2010)

Noodles is still a baby at 14 weeks, so your expectations are a little high. All puppies readily come to us without much coaxing, so don't kid yourself by thinking you've got a great recall! Solid recalls take time, and consistent, persistent work. I never, ever use my recall cue *unless I can enforce it*. I don't repeat the cue over and over. Work on recall with Noodles on a long line (so you can "reel" him in). You need to train recalls in diverse locations, first without, and then with distractions.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Absolutely agree - I found it useful to think roughly in terms of 4-6 weeks of puppy age = 1 year of child age. At this age you are teaching him the basics of good manners and, most importantly, how to learn. Lots and lots of fun, and - as you say - lots of rewards (food, games, cuddles if he enjoys them). His focus is on you, so he is going to come to you fairly automatically at this age.

Have you seen the dogstardaily.com site? Lots of very helpful advice on raising a puppy.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

He's a baby, so expect that he won't have the mental abilities of an adult. I'm not sure (maybe others have opinions?) that I would even be putting behaviours on cue/command at that age.

When mine was a pup, we played TONS of recall games, without letting on that we were 'training'.

Running away from the puppy is good, especially if you have a toy. ESPECIALLY if it is a squeaky toy! You can play yo-yo dog, where you and a friend take turns calling the dog to you, back and forth, at increasing distances (we actually still play this, as it's great exercise when Vasco goes tearing full out between us and we are 1/4 mile apart). My trainer likes a game called wagon wheel, where the dog is the spokes and you are the centre. You turn and run from the dog, dog chases, when he gets to you, you turn and run a different way. 

When mine was that age, I was only trying to cement in his brain that being with me was the absolute best thing ever.

Sounds like you did the best thing when he howled for attention. It's hard to ignore the sounds of agony that come from a (even for a second!) lonely poodle :smile:. They can be absolute drama queens.


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## Purley (May 21, 2010)

Lucy has been to obedience classes too but if she is doing something interesting like rumaging around in the snow under the bird feeder, in the hope that some stupid bird will let her catch it -- then she totally ignores me too. 

We are going to have to work on that!!


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## Olie (Oct 10, 2009)

Too funny! Agree with those above. 

You might be surprised if you were to ask the forum at what age was your spoo when he/she had a solid come.......

I have a 3 year old who is solid UNLESS we are in the DP then it takes a couple calls. Olie - he is 19 months and let's say we still work on this 

If you don't use the command often they will get slack.


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

Olie said:


> If you don't use the command often they will get slack.


Too, too true. I am for at least five recalls a day. I think after a while it becomes more muscle memory than the dog consciously choosing to obey!


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## clairythefairy88 (Dec 6, 2010)

Thanks for all the helpful advice!

The only thing I disagree with has to be not putting his behaviours on que. (unless there's a real reason not to?)
He loves training sessions, and he loves all the attention he gets at puppy class when we show them off.

I know he can't do agility for physical reasons until he's a year old. but I can't see a problem with him learning quirky tricks

Infact its because of all his tricks we've got in to the puppy class advanced level (which is invite only, at the place I take him.)

I would love to do recalls from friend to friend on walks but he doesn't leave my side long enough for me to call him back. We've been doing it indoors though and seen a little progress


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## AgilityIG (Feb 8, 2009)

clairythefairy88 said:


> The only thing I disagree with has to be not putting his behaviours on que. (unless there's a real reason not to?)


What Poodlholic is saying is that you should not use your recall cue unless you are able to enforce the recall. If you call your puppy over and over, without them coming to you, all you are teaching your puppy is to ignore your recall cue.


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