is it normal for dogs ignore commands given by people who don't work with/train them?

or should dogs globalize commands, once learnt?

In my opinion, Yes, it is normal.

My dogs can be led to a vehicle and loaded by someone else, while walking calmly on lead away from me (requirement of testing) and occassionally they will sit for someone else....however....they usually ignore others.

They can be handled by Doug and Heather, but getting them to perform obedience commands or work is not something they do well.

It is normal, and many times, desired.

In my opinion, it really depends on the dog.

Harder dogs would be less likely to follow the commands of a random person, because they do not have a bond with that person...
On the other hand a soft dog, trained with lots of food, might be more eager to listen to the command and do the command because they may think a treat is coming.

It should depends on the temperment of the dog, and depends also on the command you are asking it to complete. Ever dog would be different.

It is normal really, dogs are very orientated to the 'what's in it for me?' way of thinking.
If a person is not respected by the dog and doesn't have a reward, a lot of dogs will not obey - afterall you do not want your dog responding to a burgler etc.
Two of my dogs will obey others if they want but they aren't asked to and usually will not bother.

My male GSD does school demonstrations etc. so he has to do what anyone incuding small children tell him. From an early age he was asked to obey simple commands from anyone but will only actually do so if I am there. Occasionally I need to reinforce with a hand signal but very rarely is this needed now he is mature and not as likely to act dominant.

However he will not 'out' on command to other people in general. This is where his natural drives really show and I don't want him to let go of an object without my control. Things like drop recall and leave - again he will only do them with the people who have earnt his respect.

When he was younger he was taught to 'drop' toys if a child grabbed it because we lived with kids at that point - so naturally he will drop a toy for a youngster when asked. Of his own volition he has extended this to include nervous adults, I have not asked him to do so but he figured it out on his own.

thanks everyone.

it came up b/c none of my dogs listen to other people, which with teagan, fine, i kind of expect. it surprises me more in luc. all the dogs can be handled (taken outside or walked) by other people - aka toby or my brother - but they don't respond to commands from either of them.

i've seen it for awhile now, but each of toby and my brother had a moment this week where they were like 'arrrgh!' if they're asking one of the dogs to do something, i normally just give the command. toby ended up this week saying 'no, he (luc) always listens to you! i want him to listen to me!' so i gave him so treats and they did a training session. and then i watched my brother trying to get teagan to sit, which was a bit awkward.

like i said, i expect it more from teagan, but realized it's true of luc as well, which surprises me since he is a big soft suck of a dog. neb also generally will only listen to me. i just wondered about it, b/c i feel sometimes like they expect since the dogs know the command, that they should respond (well, not teagan, being how she can be), and i wondered if it was something we'd missed in training.

Sometimes it's also a matter of the dog not truly understanding the command.

For example, they sit when YOU say sit, but not BECAUSE you say sit. Your body language is the command. No one else is going to have the same body language. If the dog is really cueing off body language and not verbal commands, it *can't* obey other people, unless their body language is very similar.

If this is your situation, and I'm not saying it is, adding clear hand signals to the verbal command, might make it easier for trusted family and friends to give the dogs simple commands. Hand signals are easily mimicked by others- subtle body language (leaning forward, jerking of the head, pursing the lips, etc) are not.

with teagan, i think it's because she's a little strong-willed at times. i found that with her. i think it took 6 weeks before she sat for me. one night, she cocked her head at me, considered, and than sat, and we never looked back (at sitting anyways, sigh).

but that's a good point about luc. i've gotten terribly lax about his training, i have him do stuff all the time, but we haven't been doing a lot of specific sessions lately. i use hand signals, and we do a lot of non-verbal communication. he knows, situation-dependent, if i say 'luc' while we're walking, i want him to heel. if i say 'luc' at the front door, i want him to sit. if he's shoving forward while neb is getting pet, and i say 'luc!', he knows it means he has to move away and/or sit. maybe i need to tighten up what i do with luc and get back to using more verbal commands. it's not that i never tell him sit or down, but a lot of the time, i just say his name, and he knows what i want based on the context. wow, does that make us sound routine-bound or does that make us sound routine-bound....think i need an early new year's resolution to work more specifically with him and do more new things with him. yikes!

I think in large part it depends on the dog. I have always had guard-type dogs and most of them generally ignore OB commands from others. Cleo, our 8 m/o Presa, will only respond to commands from me and my wife. Alex, an 11 y/o Rottie (who is kind of a Lab trapped in a Rottie's body ) , will obey friends but not strangers. I don't know about other types of dogs (e.g. sport or hunting types).

I strongly agree with Alyssa and Tanith that refusal to obey others is, in many instances, desirable. My dogs are family companions, protectors and guardians. I want my dogs to be friendly to those I allow close but indifferent to strangers. Whenever my dogs around other people, I (or my wife) am/is there also. I can't think of too many situations where I would want my dog to obey someone else. I certainly wouldn't want my dog to "come" when a stranger calls. When around friends or especially in public places, I want my dogs' focus on me. If we are at the beach or park, I want to be in complete control to the exclusion of all others.

LOL, my female will not return a ball if the person who threw it is not me nor her "uncle". She will chase a ball thrown by, for example, an extended family member of mine that she does not know very well, but will only bring it back to me.

Which gets silly when I'm trying to, for example, help my grandmother with yard work, and to give the dog and my grandmother something to do, I get the ball out. But I have to keep stopping to return the ball to my grandmother LOL.

As for obedience, I would be surprised if one of my dogs obeyed a command from someone it did not have a bond with.

In your case, isn't Toby your boyfriend? Does he ever work the dogs? I would think they know him well and respect him, unless he never gives them commands or walks/plays with them. In my dogs' case, my friend, who helps me with the dogs regularly and they know him, has invented his own games he plays with them that they don't play with me and vice versa. He enforces certain rules (like do not jump out of the car unless told) and they follow them. But I truly think the commands they follow only for one or the other of us has to do with body language/tone more than stubborn refusal.