# No Attention Span



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Brady will be a year old in the end of November. I took him to Puppy Kindergarten and then waited until 2 months ago to take him back to basic obedience. My problem is that when we are in class, he becomes 80% of the time totally "deaf" to my commands. He is so busy smelling the floor, or paying attention to what the other dogs are doing. He is not interested in any of the "good treats" I have (hot dogs, cheese, roast beef, liver treats), all things that I can get him to do anything with at home. At home, I can get him to do all the commands. I have noticed in the classes I am in, all the males are neutered but there have been a few females (show dogs) that aren't. 

I thought maybe it was all the smells of the dogs, but when he goes shopping to Pet Smart or any of our smaller pet stores, he is totally attentive, people comment on how well behave he is, and walks perfectly. He is coming in contact with just as many dogs. But I am thinking maybe there are less dogs "in season" at Pet Smart than there would be at a training facility.

Does this sound like just "male adolescent behavior"? My trainer seems to think it is because he is still intact. I don't think she believes me when I tell her he does these commands perfectly at home. Is this typical Golden behavior? Will it get better in time? Or after he has been neutered? There are classes that he seems more attentive than others, but I cannot figure out why.


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

Brady is still young and I wouldn't worry too much. I'm sure he will become more focused on you in time. I'm not sure if neutering would make the difference or not.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Normal for them to be distractos out in public. Could partly be b/c he's intact. Try getting him to class early and let him soak up the enviornment a bit first. Just sit there with him. Also, take him to class really, really hungry. Definitly no dinner on class night and possibly no breakfast, or at least a much smaller breakfast than normal.


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## MisterBailey (Jun 28, 2007)

Baileys younger than Brady, but he does the same at obedience classes. Once I DO get his attention he follows my commands instantly, but getting his attention is a night mare!
But I was able to take comfort in seeing 2 of his brothers do the exact same thing with their owners at the same class! :doh: At least I didn't have the barker though!


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## TheHooch (May 9, 2007)

Now what were we talking about?????????


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

TheHooch said:


> Now what were we talking about?????????


I think it is time for Hooch to be neutered, too.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Normal for them to be distractos out in public. Could partly be b/c he's intact. Try getting him to class early and let him soak up the enviornment a bit first. Just sit there with him. Also, take him to class really, really hungry. Definitly no dinner on class night and possibly no breakfast, or at least a much smaller breakfast than normal.


I had to do this with my two. Once they got used to all the smells, including a dog who was in heat who left some scent behind, they did much better. If no one was there it was best if I let Tucker investigate the place. Shadow made me talk to the paw on a number of occassions so I worked with him away from the group for week one.

Shadow worked better for his tennis ball...


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

_*RUN HOOCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*_


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Normal for them to be distractos out in public. Could partly be b/c he's intact. Try getting him to class early and let him soak up the enviornment a bit first. Just sit there with him. Also, take him to class really, really hungry. Definitly no dinner on class night and possibly no breakfast, or at least a much smaller breakfast than normal.


I do bring him to class about 20- 25 minutes early without any supper, but I do not know how many treats my family has already given him before I come home from work. I guess I need to make sure he is not "grazing" before hand.


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## Angel_Kody (Feb 27, 2007)

It sounds like there are just too many good smells for him there. Jester does the same thing and he is neutered. We are going back to school next week...Jester is repeating second grade (level 2) :uhoh:. His trainer doesn't believe that he does much better at home either!


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

They were both behaved at RR! Brady was one of the puppers I thought should be Therapy Dog.

I wonder what would happen if you put their vests on!


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## Emmysourgolden (Oct 10, 2007)

cubbysan said:


> I think it is time for Hooch to be neutered, too.


ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Emmysourgolden (Oct 10, 2007)

AquaClaraCanines said:


> _*RUN HOOCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*_


But wouldn't that be one step closer to the final goal???? Or did that change?? LOL


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

GOOD POINT! Here Hoochie Hoochie... I have some new scissors.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

In addition to being really hungry and getting plenty of time to sniff before class....be sure you have REALLY, REALLY yummy bait!


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Maggie is like that and she isnt food motivated, so I finally put her in private lessons...and it made a difference. Tho the trainers dogs are in the room she could care less about them.


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## mdoats (Jun 7, 2007)

I also took off a couple of months after the Puppy class and we just started the intermediate class. Rookie was a bit of a horror the first night. Pulling like crazy on the lead, barking, not paying attention. He's usually VERY food motivated, so it was a bit frustrating. About half way through class, the trainer offered me some dried liver treats to try with him. He paid excellent attention with the liver treats.

This week was a bit better. Rookie hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and it is a 7:00 class. I used chicken as a treat. I definitely had his attention with the chicken. In fact, there was a bulldog in the class that was following MY recall commands because he figured out I had the chicken! I gave some to his owner to use because the bulldog was not interested in the treats his owner had. He was VERY interested in the chicken.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Yes, I have tried the liver treats, not much luck. I know the poodle next to me gets chicken from her owner's dinner every class, maybe I'll cook him up a chicken breast. It is good to know that it my Golden isn't the only Golden that does this. Thanks.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

I always tell my students on the first night of class - that when they bring treats, they need to bring something that will be more exciting than the other dogs' butts! That will vary from dog to to dog. When I was first training my Whippet, I had to not feed her breakfast on training day AND I was training with boiled chicken hearts and gizzards!


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