# I can train my puppy but not my girfriend...



## Keeptra (Mar 15, 2013)

First of all, sorry for my English.

I live with my girlfriend. We have been three years together and we got a Labrador puppy (Len) a few weeks ago.

I usually take Len out in the mornings and my girlfriend takes her out in the evenings. We have a big area with grass just beside our house so I take her out off leash. She has a rock solid recall and she's always aware of me so I don't have any problem when she is off leash.

In the other hand, when I put her the lead on (maybe twice a week) she pulls like a maniac in all directions at the beginning, but after ten minutes or so, shes ok, not perfect, but at least shes not pulling.

The thing is, a couple of days ago we took Len out together and I saw how mi girlfriend (which I love, by the way, don't get me wrong, shes adorable) handled the dog:

-First, she lets her pull like two meters away from her, while shes giving all sort of commands "no", "len", "len", "wait", "stop", "no"... All this with no correction whatsoever...

-Then, once Len is off leash she calls her one million thousand times, if she wants her to come she says "Len!"; if she wants her stop picking stuff from the ground she says "Len!", if she wants her to stop chasing other people she says "Len!" and so on... On our way home, I counted, I swear, she said her name 17 times, in 3 minutes!!

And the most annoying thing is my girfriend knows she shouldn't be doing it, she even went to puppy classes... Is like her thoughts were "ok, I know what I have to do, but I'm not going to do it, because..., I don't know... I'm just not going to do it!..." 

I'm not saying I'm perfect, I do things wrong too, but I'm finding it very frustrating and starting to wander if I will be able to make my dog behave.

I'm certain she will never listen to my girlfriend, but is there a chance of Len listening to me if I keep doing the things right?


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## ABBYLAB (Jan 30, 2013)

I think you have a good chance of the dog obeying you. We have Abby, a 1 1/2 yr old Lab. She listens to me very well. My wife not so much. Abby knows who will make her behave and who will let her get away with misbehaving....they are smart dogs. I think the wife is afraid of being the meanie. We also went to puppy training classes.

It sounds like you are on the right track. Consistency, repetition, and time is what worked for me. While she is still a pup spend all the time you can training her and it will pay off. If she spends more time with your girlfriend than you, it may more difficult.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Keeptra said:


> And the most annoying thing is my girfriend knows she shouldn't be doing it, she even went to puppy classes... Is like her thoughts were "ok, I know what I have to do, but I'm not going to do it, because..., I don't know... I'm just not going to do it!..."


Are those actually her thoughts, or are those what you are assuming her thoughts are? Maybe she doesn't remember everything from the class, or maybe there's another reason other than that she just decided not to do it. You should probably ask HER instead of US if you want her to change how she's doing things.


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

I'd talk to her about it, and maybe have her walk with you guys to see how you handle it so you can be on the same page. 

If that doesn't work, I don't know, maybe you're not giving the girlfriend high enough value treats?


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## Rays89 (Jun 29, 2011)

It might not be the content of the command but the tone of speech. I have learned you can get different reactions from the same command using a different tone. An example would be to first call your dog over with a low "serious" tone. Then call him over with a higher "Happy" tone. Myself I use a lower pitch for corrective commands and a higher pitch for praise and calling him over. I like a happy dog.


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## Vivyd (Mar 8, 2013)

Hambonez said:


> I don't know, maybe you're not giving the girlfriend high enough value treats?


Hahaha

But seriosuly, I'm having a similar problem with my girlfriend and my puppies. She just doesn't have it in her to do some 'tough love'...she's far too nice. It mainly concerns their crating, barking or wanting to get on the bed. If they start crying, or keep barking for a long time then she will always cave in. I've told her so many times how important it is not to cave and be consistant and she says she understands, but she never follows through.

Now Xiao Huang, our Pom has learnt that when he wakes up at 3-5am and starts barking he will get let out of his crate. Not only that, but he gets taken onto the bed and cuddled back to sleep.


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## Jackson5858 (Mar 13, 2013)

My wife is pregnant and it's the same thing, he whines she gives him attention, usually saying "No" but it's still attention. Sometimes she will even give him treats just to stop. I've told her countless times that to ignore it and if you can't ignore it anymore then wait till he stops for a couple seconds, give him a command and reward that behavior. She's also aware of this with out me telling her on a daily biases but she just can't do it. She blames her hormones of pregnancy making her a push over.


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## packetsmom (Mar 21, 2013)

My ex-husband was the WORST with our pug. He'd always cave and was inconsistent. He wasn't much better with kids.

I tried high-value treats with him, positive reinforcement, I even briefly considered a clicker for him, but apparently humans are far harder to train than dogs. I re-homed him and he seems to be doing well with someone who enjoys his behavior better than me.


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## gingerkid (Jul 11, 2012)

Your girlfriend sounds like my fiance! In his case though, I think most of it is just inexperience - I do most (all) of the serious training. He takes the dog for walks and things, but doesn't do much training on the walks because... well, Snowball is pretty good on leash, for the most part.

I do agree though - significant others are WAY harder to train than dogs are! I'm pretty sure I could teach the dog to pick up the laundry off the floor way before my fiance.... :wink:


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## Flaming (Feb 2, 2013)

gingerkid said:


> Your girlfriend sounds like my fiance! In his case though, I think most of it is just inexperience - I do most (all) of the serious training. He takes the dog for walks and things, but doesn't do much training on the walks because... well, Snowball is pretty good on leash, for the most part.
> 
> I do agree though - significant others are WAY harder to train than dogs are! I'm pretty sure I could teach the dog to pick up the laundry off the floor way before my fiance.... :wink:


...Manna already picks up my FI's dirty clothes off the floor and brings them to me...(a weird twist of drop it she started to do recently)


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