# 13 week old. How long to learn name?



## redddog (May 9, 2009)

Hey all. Brand new owner here. 

Callie is our new little beauty and we seem to be getting along pretty well with her. We're staying very close and making sure she's getting out between 20-30 minutes after eating/drinking and when she's sniffin' around. She's had a few accidents but for the most part, she's been pretty darned good.

The one thing is that she doesn't seem to have any response when we try to get her attention. If I clap, call her name, just about anything, she won't even acknowlegde us. 

I would have just chalked this up to puppy-ism but when my wife talked to a trainer about Kindregarten, theb trainer said that she felt that Puppies should respond to their names within one or two days. 

We've had Callie for 2 weeks with no improvement on the name thing.

Are we in trouble?


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

She is definitely not going to know her name at just 13 weeks. It takes time. You need to associate her name with positive things. When you give her a treat or a toy, say things like "Good girl Callie" and keep doing that. She will get it eventually, but right now she is just way too young.


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## Heidi36oh (Feb 27, 2007)

I think she is way too young too, just keep calling her by her name and she will get it soon.


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## redddog (May 9, 2009)

Cool. We were really worried. 

Thanks guys.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

I agree with the others that you need to wait until she is giving you attention to use her name a lot. Give her loving and treats and she will soon learn her name. Give it time.


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## spruce (Mar 13, 2008)

i've only had lab pups, but it took awhile to figure out "that's me!". sit, stay, come were absorbed lst. 

When we got little Bridger (always "little Bridger" no matter how old he is or how big his butt is) at 6 months it took him about 2 days to adjust to a new name in his new home.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Don't even bother using her name when you don't have her attention. Repeating it when you don't just makes the word hold less meaning for her.

We actually teach the names with treats. When you have their attention, hold out a treat. When the dog makes eye contact with you, say her name and treat. Gradually move the treat further away from your eyes as you go, and say her name and treat when you get the eye contact. Once your treat is all the way out to the side, you have to be a bit patient to get eye contact, and your timing with the name and treat has to be precise. Soon you get a dog that looks you in the eye joyfully when you say her name.


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I was going to say the same thing... get lots of good treats, sit there and say her name followed by a treat. Doesn't take them long to figure out their name if they're having food shoved in their face after you say it! 

I also use their names as a command to go through doors or in/out of crates - so you can do that too, say her name as she's entering the crate for a treat and then as she walks out again. This works well here as I can say one dog's name and have that dog come out of the dog run while the other two wait (or SHOULD wait.... they tend to assume I meant to say their name sometimes).

Lana


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

I agree that you really have to train name recognition, and treats work wonders to do it. Does she respond/startle at loud noises? I ask because on rare occasions, a puppy is deaf. She sounds like she's being a normal pup, but for your own peace of mind, note whether she responds to sounds other than "frustrated owner trying to get puppy to acknowledge the owner"


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## redddog (May 9, 2009)

We thought about the deaf issue. The one thing is that she freaks out when the vacuum is going. 

Wouldn't that rule out deaf?


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

redddog said:


> We thought about the deaf issue. The one thing is that she freaks out when the vacuum is going.
> 
> Wouldn't that rule out deaf?


Not necessarily. 

Do you have something that makes squeaky noises? Wait until she's looking completely away from you and squeak it really loud and fast. If she doesn't turn around, I'd be worried.


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

Agree with tippykayak. She could actually be aware of and afraid of the vibration from the vacuum. Use a squeaky toy as your first test; no golden puppy can resist that noise. If she doesn't respond, try clapping loudly when she's facing away from you. If she doesn't respond, get a vet check. Fingers crossed that she's just busy being a butthead puppy


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Butthead is sooooooo much more likely than deaf when it comes to a Golden puppy...


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## redddog (May 9, 2009)

Yeah, so I've been basically terrorizing the dog all night. Clapping behind her, squeaking the hell out of the sqeaky toys, yelling her name ...

I'm pretty sure she can hear. She's unresponsive to the squeaky toy but if I stand hehind her and clap, she'll jump. If she's asleep and I clap, she'll jump. 

What do you think?


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

jwemt81 said:


> She is definitely not going to know her name at just 13 weeks. It takes time. You need to associate her name with positive things. When you give her a treat or a toy, say things like "Good girl Callie" and keep doing that. She will get it eventually, but right now she is just way too young.


 
Max is almost 11 weeks and he seems to know his name. If I say it and he's in another room, he comes a running. I can say other words and he doesn't. I said his name tons when we first got him. When I would cuddle him and give him scratches I would say Max over and over with words like good and boy.  Maybe that helped?


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## redddog (May 9, 2009)

Yeah, that's what we do. We've said her name probably 10 thousand times and she has no response to it. 

She is not deaf. We spent about 2 hours last night testing that out and we're sure of that. 

Someone told me that hard to train dogs are very intelligent. Am I just grasping at straws here? lol.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Don't worry, one day it will click. There were 6 dogs in Flora's puppy class, and she and another pup were the only ones that didn't know their names. We worked on calling their names and treating them when they made eye contact. Eventually by the third class (she was 11 weeks by then) she knew her name very well.

Another game I played (and I don't know if this was a good game or not) was to hide nearby and call "Floorrraaa!" and when she came I would give her a big hug and a lot of praise.

She'll get it eventually.  I know how it is to worry over seemingly trivial things, and trust me, everything sorts itself out; sometimes it just takes longer than we'd like.


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

Fabulous news that she's not deaf.....she's just a butthead puppy This, too, shall pass, and you'll have a wonderfully obedient dog. This will happen after the selective hearing, land shark phase is over!


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