I have a miniature pinscher named Roo who is going to be two years old in August. Right now, I have trained him on marker. We were in puppy and basic obedience classes. I want to take him way farther than basic obedience. I would say he does ok-ok in the classes, but I know he can do way better than that. I have tried to make him very very hungry so the only time he gets to eat is in the class.

I would say it doesn't help that much. He doesn't care much for food, toy, or anything, but he enjoys observing people and dogs. I believe he finds me very boring I guess I don't have anything to offer him. I can show you a few youtube. I need to ask my sister to make them while I m outside working with Roo. You can see the difference between me working with Roo and Teddy who is my parents dog. Teddy is very interested in what I do or what I'm doing. All he wants from me is food, attention, and play with toy.

I noticed that Roo likes to chase small animals and tries to get inside the hole like earth dogs do. I think I need to find him a fun activity where I know he likes then I can work on him with his obedience then reward the fun activity like sniffing and digging in the hole to find vermin. I really hope to title him in CD, CDX,and UD if it is possible.

I don't mean to hijack your thread but my bf has a similar problem with his 6 month old pup. I too would like to hear some remedies for an unenthusiastic dog.

The dog seems more content sniffing and discovering things on his own than coming up for attention/affection and just generally interacting with him. It doesn't matter how excited you get, he just doesn't seem to respond.

He compares him to my dog and gets a little upset. My dog loves attention and is always underfoot wanting me to interact with her.

His training is slow as well and unless he can smell food on you he is slow to do any work whatsoever. Like your dog, he will watch others and their dogs at a distance-especially an interest in their dogs, yet he isn't allowed almost any contact with my dog. She wants nothing to do with him and all to do with me-I think it just drives the bf nuts that no matter hard he tries he just doesn't have that bond.

Lindsey, how do you find him when you are by yourselves training? Perhaps the distraction of people and other animals in the classroom setting is too much for him at this stage.

Do you work with him in a low distraction environment?

Are you using really good treats, like bits of steak,chicken or cheese?

Are you keeping your training sessions short?

Have you guys seen the Marker training DVD???? In it, you will see my pup Drift with me (unenthusiastic) and again with Cindy (crazy hyper dog)... minutes apart. What was the difference?

Cindy MOVED. Drift has NO food drive. None. Moving and running and being crazy with her are what gets her going. I have to roll around on the ground with her and squeal like a little kid to get her attention... once I do, she learns SOOOOO quick.

I highly recommend this DVD if you have a dog with these issues. Main point is: be crazy with your dog. If you have fun, so will your dog. The neighbors may think you're loony, but who cares?

I might add, that while Drift knows Cindy, there is not what I would call a "bond" between them. The movement and the high voice is what got Drift's attention and held it... even in a highly distracting environment.

Try it

 Quote: Heather Perring

I don't mean to hijack your thread but my bf has a similar problem with his 6 month old pup. I too would like to hear some remedies for an unenthusiastic dog.

Tell him to keep at it. At 6 months, his pup is acting like a pup. I would suggest the same as above; keep sessions short and fun, and use really good treats. Keep distractions to a minimum and introduce them slowly...

My dog was way more interested in other people than me as a 6 month old (at least that's what it seemed like) but as she has matured her focus and attention span has greatly improved. (as has our bond )

Heather,

It seems like I have the same problem with your boyfriend.


Lynne,

When he is almost never alone, we live in a kinda busy household. Many things happen all the time and we come in then go. I try to work with him one on one. It seems to be helpful, but when someone comes in the kitchen to get something. He would be like what are you doing in the kitchen and walk over there. I try to keep him on the leash all the time when working with him, but he breaks the sit and stands watch the other person doing errands.

Roo is get older and he hasn't break that habit. Honestly, it is driving me nut. When I work with Teddy, I felt like we make many progress. I was able to get him to heel, sit stay, down stay, and teach some cues for bed, other things. He is only 9 months old and he doesn't care much for other dogs or people. He is interested in what I'm doing totally opposite from Roo.

I will try to keep the training very short with a very good treat. Roo likes home made turkey and sausage. If I kept giving him the turkey and sausage, he will get bored and become very distract easily. He doesn't care for cheese, peanuts, or anything else.

Hi Kelly,

Thanks for replying to my thread. I haven't seen the Marker DVD because I brought two dvds from Ed. They weren't captioned and it seems like too much talking and less action.. I am deaf and I need more visual videotape. If this marker dvd showed a lot of action and easily understood, I wouldn't mind to get one.

Lindsay,
Are there other animals in the house? If so your dog may be getting it's social needs met through them instead of you. Same thing can be true with other people. A lot of it has to do with your dog's pack drive.
In the learning phase you must control the enviornment. Another words don't allow distractions during this phase of training.

Michael,

There is only two animals at home beside Roo and Teddy. I don't have cats or another animals. We have four people who live there right now include me. I live with my parents and a sister and their young dog (Teddy). Are you suggesting that I should start with a quiet room and do the session for less than 5 minutes everyday? You are probably right about Roo is getting his social needs from someone. At this stage what should I begin with? Do you guys still want to see the video? I can get it done right now. My sister has arrived from work.

Another link I found is. http://www.trainpetdog.com/difficult-to-train-dogs.html

I don't know what to think about shaking the coins as correction.