# My puppy wont listen "all" the time



## sprasad03 (Nov 29, 2009)

My puppy is 5months old. I have been having trouble making him do commands. He is smart he knows how to shake, high 5, roll over, stay, come, sit, and lay down. However, the problem sometimes I tell him a command he will look at me and look away "ignoring it" or he will just walk away from me. (off leash). Another issue is when he is excited, he wont listen to any command and I dont know how to control him. Any suggestions?

Just fyi, yes treats he will always listen but when no treat--> refer to above. I do trade off with praise and treats but obv he likes treats more . and when he is exicited, treats do not work, he feels whatever person or thing he wants is more important.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Keep using the treats and slowly wean them off when he gets older. In time he will learn. Also he is getting to the age where he is getting more independent and is wanting to spread his wings.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Welcome to the "teenage" years! He'll get better as he grows up. Keep up the training best you can and try to enjoy the puppy antics all of a sudden you'll realize that puppy is gone and there is a grown up, well behaved dog in it's place.


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## Maya's Mom (Apr 13, 2009)

sprasad03 said:


> My puppy is 5months old. I have been having trouble making him do commands. He is smart he knows how to shake, high 5, roll over, stay, come, sit, and lay down. However, the problem sometimes I tell him a command he will look at me and look away "ignoring it" or he will just walk away from me. (off leash). Another issue is when he is excited, he wont listen to any command and I dont know how to control him. Any suggestions?
> 
> Just fyi, yes treats he will always listen but when no treat--> refer to above. I do trade off with praise and treats but obv he likes treats more . and when he is exicited, treats do not work, he feels whatever person or thing he wants is more important.


I think the key is him not knowing if he is going to get a treat or not. Don't show him the treat before you give the command, but then give it to him after. Also, be unpredictable about where you get the treat and what you give him. He probably can smell whether you have treats in your pocket, so give him a command without any, then when he does it get a treat from somewhere else. You can even stash treats in different places throughout the house so they're available. Another thing that might help is alternating higher value treats. Sometimes give him a regular dog treat, but unpredictably alternate something like cheese or turkey hot dog. Every once in a while, give a jackpot treat of maybe 4 or 5 little pieces of hot dog or cheese. If you are unpredictable about when/what you give for treats, your pup will be hoping for the jackpot treat every time. Also, you may need to keep using more treats throughout the teenage stage. Good luck!


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