I agree with Anne. You need to be clear that a half-hearted effort is an incorrect effort, and you need to work on timing. As Cathy said, ignoring a poor effort and giving a second command with no correction teaches the dog that the first command is not that important.

Based on what I've read, engagement may be a little weak. Everyone's suggestions should help, but I feel that there is something missing.
I cue engagement by giving the dog a clue that training is starting. The cue is "Ready", or "Are you ready?", "ready for some training?", "ready to do some tracking?", etc. When my dog hears ready, she immediately begins to react and focus. (Pavlov's drooling). I also give the dog a clear cue when training is over.

IMHO, if you cue the dog for ready and practice good engagement building drills, the dog's focus should improve. As far as getting engagement when you are not actively training, good luck. I think you will find that not all dogs respond instantaneously to commands given out of the clear blue, so I'm noty sure that you should put that expectation on your dog, especially if it is a puppy.

I was assuming that he was not actually doing a training session...just random asking for a command. My bad. I agree with Duane....if you were going to start an actual training session....the. the dog needs to be clued in. If not then you need to work on engagement & command training.
In
I start 7-8 week old pups with rewarding direct eye contact. Not formal training at that point...just when they give me total eye contact they get a treat. I eventually Turn thus into a "watch me" command which works as a means to get my dogs attention if needed in any situation. When I turn it into a command I do use markers. So for me that where it starts for my dogs. It I have also done it with older dogs. I play a lot with tugs & balls on a rope with my dogs for engagement. They are also with me in my truck a lot of the time when I timeframes etc.

I spent a lot of time with my dogs. Probably more than most....but I also feel it is quality more than quantity that makes the difference.

Anne, I wasn't sure if he was talking about a training session or not, so I just added to what everyone else said.

I would like to add that, if you just want to give the dog an everyday command and not start a training session, I second the suggestion of using the dog's name as an indicator that a command is forthcoming. In other words, if my dog is pacing and I want her to relax, I will say "Sadie.", followed by "go lay down". She might be wandering in a field checking out all of the distractions and I want to recall her. I will say her name loud enough for her to hear, THEN give the recall command.

I would caution, however, that there is a pitfall. I have found myself blurting out her name when something she does startles me. It is easy to use the name as a recall or a correction, so I have conditioned myself to avoid doing that. I specifically recall a situation where she had crossed a street when I wasn't looking. A car was coming, I panicked, and shouted "Sadie!". She started to come back across the street, ignoring the approaching car. I immediately started to undo that reinforcement and condition myself to not blurt her name out.

I use my "watch me " command if I see my dogs focusing on another dog or person etc that I do not want. ie..in the vets office when another dog is giving them direct eye contact. I use it to stop a focus..not to get their attention to give another command. Just wanted to clearify.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions!

We were not in a training session at the time, however I definitely use "Ready" to signal the start of training.

We've done some great training since the original post. Now I have an arsenal of commands at my disposal. I use "leave it" when he is focused on something . I use a kissy noise to signal "look at me" or attention. And I use "nope" to signal an incorrect response.

All from your very helpful tips and suggestions!