# Mini Aussie's attitude and inability to listen/follow commands



## raeland (Nov 3, 2015)

We have a 14 week old mini aussie pup. I have done tons of reading and researching into training these types of dogs, and nothing I've done has worked! He will not sit/lay/stop/down unless he WANTS to. The only thing he knows is his name (hah). He pulls on his leash, won't come when we call him, run away when we try to go towards him, and does whatever he sees fit for him. If he doesn't want to do anything, he crosses his little puppy arms and stares at us like we are idiots.

What we have tried so far:
* Establishing dominance - going out of the door first, "trying" to have him do a command for food/water... he could care less
* Positive reinforcement - no raised voices, no physical consequences, treats whenever he accomplishes a task, praise constantly
* "leash training" - getting him to understand "heel" and "come" with the leash both indoors and outdoors with no distractions.

Potty training is going okay, only minor accidents of little piddles when he gets overly excited (I am not complaining about that for sure!). I think he's starting to play mind-games by going to the door and sitting there until I let him out when he doesn't really need to potty (I really need to stop that).

Any advice for getting him to learn basic commands? It's getting frustrating that I can't even call my dog down the hallway and have him come to me. We are constantly chasing each other around the house! I'm at my wits end!


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Have you actually taught him to sit/lay/stop/down? I would be very, very surprised if a 14 week old puppy of any breed had mastered all of those skills to the point where you could expect him to perform them consistently.


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## raeland (Nov 3, 2015)

sassafras said:


> Have you actually taught him to sit/lay/stop/down? I would be very, very surprised if a 14 week old puppy of any breed had mastered all of those skills to the point where you could expect him to perform them consistently.


No, we have not taught him to do any of these commands. I usually try to train on the tile floor of our kitchen without noise or distractions, but he doesn't do ANYTHING. I try to pat his butt to sit; nothing. I try to pat the ground to get him to lay down; nothing. I try to catch him in the act of these things, say the command so he understands it, and yet I still get nothing in the training process.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Drop any dominance ideas.

Check out clicker training and shaping for connecting the dog's own actions of sitting down etc to pair with a command.

And remind yourself that the dog doesn't know what you want yet so there isn't any "attitude" towards not doing that action.


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Yea, he's not giving you attitude. He just has no idea what you want him to do until you train him.

A good puppy class or beginner obedience class will give you some skills to train him, or there are tutorials all over YouTube for training basic skills. Google clicker training and do some reading and you'll get an idea of one good way to teach dogs skills.


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## Kona'smommy (Aug 4, 2015)

Get into a good obedience class or hire a trainer to come to your home to get you started. And then once you have a method of training established you must be very consistent and patient. It does sound like you may have a bit more stubborn of a dog than some but I am sure he is trainable with the right methods and motivation.


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## raeland (Nov 3, 2015)

Kona'smommy said:


> Get into a good obedience class or hire a trainer to come to your home to get you started. And then once you have a method of training established you must be very consistent and patient. It does sound like you may have a bit more stubborn of a dog than some but I am sure he is trainable with the right methods and motivation.


I'm thinking he's going to be a stubborn one, for sure. Thank you for the advice rather than making me feel foolish for posting my concerns. I understand he is a puppy and doesn't know these commands yet, but he seems to have no want to learn! 

We have looked into puppy classes, but they don't start until Nov 21st. What do you suggest I do until then? Do I continue to follow him around the house? Do I ignore him and let him wander? I really don't want to regress or make him harder to train, that's my only apprehension.


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

This is your *Key* to this pup """ * He will not sit/lay/stop/down unless he WANTS to* """. what what he wants and use that to teach... you want to build willingness in strong natured individuals..


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

raeland said:


> I'm thinking he's going to be a stubborn one, for sure. Thank you for the advice rather than making me feel foolish for posting my concerns. I understand he is a puppy and doesn't know these commands yet, but he seems to have no want to learn!
> 
> We have looked into puppy classes, but they don't start until Nov 21st. What do you suggest I do until then? Do I continue to follow him around the house? Do I ignore him and let him wander? I really don't want to regress or make him harder to train, that's my only apprehension.


Dogs basically have a "want to learn" only when it benefits them. Which generally means treat rewards, sometimes play or toy rewards, but overall, there has to be a motivation for him to learn a command and do a specific action on that command.

For potty training, yes, follow him around the house in the sense of either tether him to you, keep him in one room visible to you, or crate him when you are not there. You're aiming to set him up for success by not giving him the chance to sneak off and pee/poop somewhere without you being able to intervene and get him outside where he should be rewarded for eliminating outside.


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## Kona'smommy (Aug 4, 2015)

I'm guessing this is your first dog? It wouldn't hurt, if you are willing, to hire a trainer to come out once or twice to give you some beginning pointers as they can focus in more on one-on-one house training stuff. We did that with our current puppy since all of the the other dogs we have owned we got as adults so I was a big unsure of how to deal with a puppy. Then you could start the group class on the 21st also.

As for your questions about letting him wander around the house or follow him, I would recommend he is only getting a small space as his for now and doesn't have access to the full house. We had a X-pen that we used and attached it to the kennel area. Puppy stayed in that confined area except when we were interacting directly with her. Slowly we expanded the pen area giving her a bit more freedom. She is now 7 months old and 90%+ of her house time she is still confined to one room in the house with gates used to keep her there. You need to show the dog limits and who is in charge and that will help with the training process. Giving the dog free roam of the house isn't a good idea for many reasons. Believe me 14 weeks is a piece of cake in puppy training compared to 6 months when their energy level and size have tripled and the puppy isn't as eager to please the owner as it is to explore and have fun!!! You want to make sure the boundaries are set NOW as it is hard to take them back.


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## BKaymuttleycrew (Feb 2, 2015)

raeland said:


> I'm thinking he's going to be a stubborn one, for sure. Thank you for the advice rather than making me feel foolish for posting my concerns. I understand he is a puppy and doesn't know these commands yet, but he seems to have no want to learn!
> 
> We have looked into puppy classes, but they don't start until Nov 21st. What do you suggest I do until then? Do I continue to follow him around the house? Do I ignore him and let him wander? I really don't want to regress or make him harder to train, that's my only apprehension.


What I would suggest you do in the meantime is get a copy of any (or all) of the following books - 'How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves' by Dr. Sophia Yin. 'Perfect Puppy in 7 Days' also by Dr. Yin. 'The Power of Positive Dog Training' by Pat Miller and/or "The Ahimsa Dog Training Manual' by Grisha Stewart. 

He's still a baby, and (as others have said) NOT giving you 'attitude' or being 'stubborn' - he simply has no idea what you want him to do at this point. Please - don't listen to any source that suggests you need to become his "ALPHA" by force (or any other even seemingly benign means) What you want to do at this point is establish a base foundation of trust with your precious little puppy, and that will be done through positively reinforcing the behaviors you DO want to see & preventing those that you don't (so they won't become a self-reinforcing problem)


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## Kona'smommy (Aug 4, 2015)

Also being in the pen is a great training method. Our puppy learned in a few days that she had to sit and be quiet for us to come acknowledge her in her pen. If she was whining or jumping up we ignored and walked away. That was how she initially learned sit.


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## Margot49 (Oct 2, 2015)

Oh my gosh, he is just a puppy! I think you are really trying to do too much too soon. Puppies have very short attention spans. First, you need to get him to connect with you. Get your treats, hold them up by your face and get him to look at you and listen. Start with a simple Sit command and teach him that. When he does it, reward and praise. Make the sessions short and a few times a day. Play and interact with him in between. When you feel he has that down, move on to something else. If you feel aggravated, stop and try again later. He will get it eventually. Have fun.


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

Welcome to Dog Forums and congratulations on your new puppy! 

Right now, he's a baby puppy who has no idea what you want. Your interactions with him should focus on building a positive relationship (*not* "dominance") and learning how to learn. As Sass suggested, a force free / positive reinforcement-based puppy class would be an excellent opportunity for you and your pup to learn how to communicate with you. The books BKaymuttlycrew recommended would be good resources, too. I'd add Paul Owens' _The Dog/Puppy Whisperer: A Compassionate, Nonviolent Approach to Dog Training_

This was posted in another thread about a dog "blowing off" his owner. Again, excellent advice that applies to perceived stubbornness:


trainingjunkie said:


> I personally don't believe that dogs "blow us off." I don't think that believing that they intentionally try to hurt our feelings is helpful. Here's what I believe instead:
> 1.) Dogs are over-faced by stress/environment/distractions. They can't work because their mind gets lost in these things.
> 2.) Reinforcement gets too low. Either the rewards aren't good enough or aren't given often enough.
> 3.) The dogs goes not understand the task. He/she isn't sure what he/she needs to do to succeed.
> ...


In your case, since you haven't actually taught your puppy what you want and what nonsense (to him) sounds mean, he simply doesn't understand. There's no stubbornness.


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## Dog Person (Sep 14, 2012)

First priorities before sit, stay whatever is bathroom training and recall ... But at 14 weeks old he won't get it right away. Be prepared to take him out side all the time and bring treats with you - high value treats. If your dog is not food motivated find out what he likes and make sure there's plenty of it when he does a good thing that you are looking for.

Others have already mentioned keeping him with you or penned/crated up but at 14 weeks old expect bathroom breaks in the 20 to 30 minute range, not hours. After eating expect a bathroom run, playing expect it and doing nothing expect it. 

Zoey is 3 YO and I still give her treats when I call her and she comes, recall is my number 1 priority (she's been house broken forever). Heck I give her treats when she comes into the house from being in the backyard ... I want to reinforce that home is a great place. When I was potty training her I used freeze dried chicken liver as her special treat, she was a little older than your pup but in 3 weeks she was trained, my wife trained our last dog in about 2 weeks and she was about your dog's age, but she was an extremely smart dog.


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