# Dog won't listen to commands in public



## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

Hey guys,
My dog has been doing fantastic at all of the doggy tricks I've been teaching her. She's almost 9 months old. She has a ton of tricks she can do now and loves doing them for treats in our house. The problem is...as soon as we leave the house everything changes. I can't even get her to sit on command when out in public or at the park. I have a feeling she's over stimulated and it's hard for her to want to perform. She isn't even interested in her favorite treats when we're out! Any advice? It's important she listens to me out in public...especially for safety reasons. Did any of you struggle with this? I've been trying to practice her tricks on our walk but it's like pulling teeth!


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

Yes, she's definitely over excited. Gustave used to be like that when he was a puppy. I promise you it can get better with some work. 

Couple of things you can do -
1. Introduce a mini step between indoors and outdoors. Go to a park at a time when it's relatively empty. Give her 10-15 min to soak it in. Then just whip out the smelliest treats. Don't ask her to do anything or call her to you. When she comes to you and is focused, say 'yes' or click and give her a treat. Then again, let her be free to do what she wants. 

2. When you've done that for a day or two, she will realize focussing on you is so much fun even outdoors. That's when you introduce a simple command like 'sit'. But only do it 20% of the time. The rest 80%, treat her when you have her attention. When you do the sit, go back to basics, I.e. lure training. 

3. Usually after step 2 your progress will be much, much faster. Now she knows that first, paying attention to you pays off no matter what and two, the trick games she loves playing at home are even more fun outdoors. Because she gets to play AND enjoy the outdoors. At this stage you can fade out the treat on attention. 

4. Start asking for her attention (call her name) and reward. Then let her go back to people watching. 

I would say forget the saying "you should be the most interesting thing". You cannot compete with a squirrel running away. Make the dog feel it's not either/or. She can check out the cool stuff AND she can have fun paying attention to you. 


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## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

Thanks Aastha! I will definitely start this! Will let you know how it goes!


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## eiksaa (Jun 8, 2012)

I would like to add that last part about it 'being Ok if you're not the most interesting thing' is not me coming up with my own theories. 

I read this book called Control Unleashed which has been very helpful in making all of this easy to understand. The author talks about this mindset (it's not either/or, your dog doesn't need to choose etc.) and it makes a lot of sense to me.

Would definitely recommend the book to anyone interested in having your dog be less distracted. 

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Control-Unleashed-Creating-Focused-Confident/dp/B000UCF53A]Control Unleashed: Creating a Focused and Confident Dog: Leslie McDevitt: 9781892694171: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

Good luck!


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## Tashulia25 (May 19, 2013)

I am not alone  i bought the book Sylvie recommended me, couldn't wait till i get it as we are great at home and bad boy in the park(hope my girl will be good all the time lol)

Train Your Dog Like a Pro, I bought hardcover with DVD but they have other, plus on eBay one used was so cheap with DVD but I wanted to make sure the DVD is working, so i bought new one on amazon


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