# Can't keep focused



## AshleyAndSophiePup (Aug 24, 2012)

Sophie has SUCH a hard time keeping focused when we do training times. She plays and bites and romps around and just doesn't stop. I've tried keeping her focus with treats- forget it. It makes it worse. She will do absolutely anything to get the treat out of my hand. I've been having such a hard time training her. How do I keep her focus? And if treats make training harder, then what? She's 8 1/2 months old, mostly house trained (potty pad, but I want her to be trained to ring the bell and go outside) and stubborn as an ox. How do I train her?


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## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

We can loan you Zach, LOL. We are trying to get Boo use to the bell too, but so far we just keep to a schedule and watch him for signs. Pee is easy, but he doesn't poop to any kind of schedule.


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## maltese manica (Nov 6, 2012)

Does she like the bells??? I know some are freaked out by the sound??? I think so far you are doing a great job with her!!!!


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## AshleyAndSophiePup (Aug 24, 2012)

maltese manica said:


> Does she like the bells??? I know some are freaked out by the sound??? I think so far you are doing a great job with her!!!!


We've had the bells hanging since end of December. She doesn't dislike them. I think for here they're kind of just there. I jingle them every once in awhile and she does go and check them out, but that's about it. I've always said I want her to be 100% on the pee pad first before changing it on her, and she hasn't had an accident in about a week


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

I always suggest getting a good book. I'm not saying you aren't doing a good job with the training, but sometimes people do the wrong thing. One common mistake people make is to repeat the command over and over if the dog doesn't do it. Do you use hand commands first? 

I used to think Ray could count, because I would say double, triple or quadruple rollover and he got it right. One day I finally realized that as soon as he did one roll he would look at my face, if I wasn't smiling he would do another and so forth. I'm pointing out that the most subtle actions on your part contribute to training.


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

Couple of tips and things that come to mind probably in the order they need to happen.
1. She cannot physically get the treats out of your hand if you don't let her. It is great that she is so food motivated because food is a great training tool. Just do a few sessions with her where you let her romp around, jump, be cute etc. as much as she wants to. She WILL finally tire and lay down or sit or atleast stand still, even if it takes 10 minutes (but trust me it won't take that long). As soon as she relaxes, click or say 'yes' or whatever your marker is and give her the treat. It will take time but she will finally get it. Gustave still puts his paws on my lap even when he knows that is a sure way of NOT getting any treats. But he recognizes 'eh-eh' and steps off, knowing he will get treats for sitting like a good boy. 
2. Ringing a bell is actually an advanced behavior to teach. You can start with making her touch your hand with her nose. When she is calm for training time, put your palm out about a few inches away from her nose and say 'touch'. She will eventually touch it with her nose. As soon as she does that, mark it and treat. 
3. Once she knows that really well, you can ask her to touch objects, like a bell, and ring it.

This will teach her mechanically ringing a bell. Now ringing a bell to go out on her own is a very different thing. If she is happy peeing inside, why would she ring to go out? Are you trying to wean her off the pads? 

One thing you can do is just hang a bell by the door and as soon as she touches it, open the door and go out with her. A couple of times of that and she will soon learn bell touching = going out. It does not require training beyond just you being aware to open the door every time she as much as touches the bell. Puppies are curious. If there is a bell hanging by the door, they will touch it 

Good luck!


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## AshleyAndSophiePup (Aug 24, 2012)

eiksaa said:


> Couple of tips and things that come to mind probably in the order they need to happen.
> 1. She cannot physically get the treats out of your hand if you don't let her. It is great that she is so food motivated because food is a great training tool. Just do a few sessions with her where you let her romp around, jump, be cute etc. as much as she wants to. She WILL finally tire and lay down or sit or atleast stand still, even if it takes 10 minutes (but trust me it won't take that long). As soon as she relaxes, click or say 'yes' or whatever your marker is and give her the treat. It will take time but she will finally get it. Gustave still puts his paws on my lap even when he knows that is a sure way of NOT getting any treats. But he recognizes 'eh-eh' and steps off, knowing he will get treats for sitting like a good boy.
> 2. Ringing a bell is actually an advanced behavior to teach. You can start with making her touch your hand with her nose. When she is calm for training time, put your palm out about a few inches away from her nose and say 'touch'. She will eventually touch it with her nose. As soon as she does that, mark it and treat.
> 3. Once she knows that really well, you can ask her to touch objects, like a bell, and ring it.
> ...


Aastha, thank you! See I thought I couldn't use treats because she got too energetic. I don't know why I didn't even think to tire her out first! Silly mommy moment, I will definitely try this and we will get this training DONE!  

I always get so irritated because my boyfriends dad has an almost 5 year old husky, and she's very calm, and doesn't require a leash when going outside. She stays in her invisible boundaries and does just fine, but she didnt start doing that until almost a year ago, he always asks me "why can't you teach Sophie to do that?" Or "can't you teach Sophie to be more calm?" I keep having to remind him it took awhile for Sasha to learn the things she did and his dad "taught" her the completely wrong way in my opinion. Sasha was scared into listening, I refuse to do that with Sophie. Training takes time. Though I usually just reply with "well, if your the expert dog trainer YOU do it." It all goes in one ear and out the other anyway..


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

Tell me about it. It's so frustrating when I go out for a walk and see someone passing by with their perfectly trained giant dog off leash. Gustave is going crazy trying to meet the dog, and the other dog just goes 'whatever' and ignores him. 

Makes me wish Gustave was that calm. But the truth is he's not even 1 yet. So it will probably take many years of training. Although my husband reminds me I got a maltese because I wanted playful, not calm. 


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## Yogi's Mom (Jan 6, 2013)

*Awww---A Teacher Iam Not. Yogi Is Yogi!!!!!*
*We have come a long way. I Think Maybe with age you will have this worked out.*
*Thats My Wish For You both.*
*Keep On Trying and Good Luck.*
*Nickee in Pa**


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## hoaloha (Jan 27, 2012)

eiksaa said:


> Couple of tips and things that come to mind probably in the order they need to happen.
> 1. She cannot physically get the treats out of your hand if you don't let her. It is great that she is so food motivated because food is a great training tool. Just do a few sessions with her where you let her romp around, jump, be cute etc. as much as she wants to. She WILL finally tire and lay down or sit or atleast stand still, even if it takes 10 minutes (but trust me it won't take that long). As soon as she relaxes, click or say 'yes' or whatever your marker is and give her the treat. It will take time but she will finally get it. Gustave still puts his paws on my lap even when he knows that is a sure way of NOT getting any treats. But he recognizes 'eh-eh' and steps off, knowing he will get treats for sitting like a good boy.
> 2. Ringing a bell is actually an advanced behavior to teach. You can start with making her touch your hand with her nose. When she is calm for training time, put your palm out about a few inches away from her nose and say 'touch'. She will eventually touch it with her nose. As soon as she does that, mark it and treat.
> 3. Once she knows that really well, you can ask her to touch objects, like a bell, and ring it.
> ...


Excellent advice! Ashley, one thing I wanted to add was that you should adapt the "currency" of training with what Sophie is in the mood for. For Obi, he is sometimes food motivated and, othertimes, motivated by play. In the latter case, I use a toy/fetch and if he does the trick/command well, I will throw the toy for him to chase. Owen, on the other hand, is VERY food motivated. I would check youtube for "It's yer choice" training. It is impulse control training techniques that have helped wiggly-butt Owen learn quickly. Good luck


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

Grace is like you describe... Even if I think I tire her out first. That one didn't work for us :huh:

Except then I was tired and she was still her wild self.

When I am training Grace I have to step up my own energy. I have to make it into a game. Which, after I figured that out and started doing it that way, it dawned on me that it is exactly how Grace is... she has moments where she is sweet and cuddly, but then she is super playful. No in between.

So we play games. Sometimes it's just me using a more upbeat playful voice. It gets her attention, she wants to focus.

But, the most important thing is I keep the sessions short for Grace.

Maybe it's my illness and I get tired easily... so she picks up on that. But I find if we try to go too long, even if she is doing really well that session, it ends badly. So I always end on a positive note, and I always keep it short.

One thing I had a trainer tell me was to do short sets of training during commercials, and rest when the show was back on. Kept it short, but you can get a few sessions in just in one show.

Sorry if this is jumbled.

The bells -- I had to ring them every time we went out. Every time. It took Grace a bit to figure out the bells. And over time she has gotten away from them. She only rings if no one sees her sitting on the rug at the door. She even tries her dead goose whine, and if no one hears or pays attention she will do the bells as a last resort.

But, it did somehow teach her to let us know she needs out. Because she will sit there and whine. She has even started to come get me...she runs in, jumps on the bed, and does this jump thing on my shoulders, like she's shoving me lol.

Anyway.... not all training styles work for all dogs. Some you have to be creative


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## Aarianne (Jul 22, 2005)

Here are some videos that might help with developing focus doing great basics.

First up, is to discourage the mugging of your hand with the treats in it:






Another video from kikopup (for "leave it") that briefly goes over how to teach your dog not to mouth your treat hand (same idea as what she showed above, but with another dog):






A longer video with another trainer showing the same thing with another dog. 






This is a great clicker starter task--the "watch me" game--that helps your dog focus on you (your face) while training: 





It also helps your dog focus if you use a high value treat (teeny tiny pieces of chicken or chicken liver work great) rather than a packaged treat. Most dogs will take a packaged treat but it doesn't excite them as much as meat.

Another way to help her focus is to train before meal time (assuming you don't free feed), when she's most likely to be hungry and her desire to work for the treat will be higher.

You should aim for short training sessions that end before your dog gets bored of it or full of treats and is likely to lose focus. You don't want your dog getting into a habit of ending the training sessions and deciding when to listen to you (only when she feels like it--when she's hungry or nothing more exciting is going on). 

And if you're getting frustrated, take a break. It should be a fun experience for both of you. If you're having fun, your dog will have more fun as well and want to listen to and interact with you.

Aim to end on a good note... even if it means getting her to do something really easy that you know she already knows well. 

Hope that helps a bit!


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