Stubbornness

[StellaLilac]

Our puppy Stella is very very stubborn ! I have listened and tried all the advice with patience. Please someone tell me at 8 months Stella still has the potential to listen to a command. And maybe let me know what I can do. We love her so much, she is our best friend. We love her and always will, we just would love her to be well mannered.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

Our puppy Stella is very very stubborn ! I have listened and tried all the advice with patience. Please someone tell me at 8 months Stella still has the potential to listen to a command. And maybe let me know what I can do. We love her so much, she is our best friend. We love her and always will, we just would love her to be well mannered.

They definitely can be very stubborn at times!

She definitely will listen to commands once she fully understands she needs to listen! She is probably going thru a stubborn phase.

Is she fully house /potty trained?

Is it just manners in public she is being stubborn about??

Have you tried the spray bottle consistently, when she is being rude then saying NO or quiet and then reward when she does listen?
You being calm and confident helps(I know easier said than done at times), cause she picks up on that energy too.
Everyone in your house must be on the same page with training or she will figure out who she can get away with stuff with. They are very smart.

It took me around 4-6 months of constant repeating training to not bark at people in public when he was unsure, but that was all from bad experiences Rusty had with kids and dogs in the past as a pup, so I would bring hike everywhere that allowed dogs and ask people to pet him and ask him to sit and be gentle with him and ME staying calm and confident for Rusty cause if we are nervous, he will pick up on that and react and bark more.
if you are hesitant they know and will misbehave.

Is Stella food motivated?? Does she have a favourite treat or meat?
Rusty is very foot motivated but when I have to do his stretching exercises, I only give freeze dried 1 ingredient Minnows as that special exercise comes with a special treat that isn’t always used so he is less likely to get tired of it.
For everything else I give Rusty Freeze dried beef liver and beef heart and dehydrated kangaroo and goat all 1 ingredient treats I rotate thru.


Another thing that will likely help you is make sure she knows YOU are the boss and NOT her! That’s part of why they think they don’t have to listen.

So for now, try NO to letting her on couch or bed, and nothing in life is free until she learns you are boss..
When you feed her, ask her to sit a few times, ask her to lay down, or sit and Wait until you say OK and let her eat.

This not only teaches them patience and they have wait until they are told OK to be able to get what they want.
YOU enter the house before she does, make Stella be patient, everyone must do this so Stella knows she has to listen to everyone. You all need to be calm confident, Stella will get there, it just takes time and patience and repetition. Just keep thinking she will listen.

When you let her outside, ask her to sit before you let her in and out.

When you walk her, do not let her walk in front, make her follow your lead.

When you give her treats, you ask her to sit and do something.

This sounds like a lot but all this until she starts listening and knowing YOU are boss and she has to listen and follow your lead.


They are such amazing dogs, very smart!

 

[StellaLilac]

Hello ! Definitely a stubborn phase She is potty trained. She is stubborn at home and in public. She loves water so the water bottle didn't work. We reward her when she listens but she doesn't listen very often. We absolutely stay calm 99% of the time. It is hard but we want to do what is best for Stella. We take her to the park, out walking, camping and she spends time with family and our friends. So she is socialized. Stella does jump on everyone she meets and is a barker. She barks a lot and at everything. My husband and I try to stay consistent with her. She definitely thinks she is the boss with me. (I will work on it) Will use the feeding method starting tonight and will make her wait until we say ok to follow us out. We are not giving up I will start with making her wait until i say its okay to come out and start making her walk behind me. I have not been doing that. Stella's amazing and sometimes I think too smart. hehe Thank you for so many answers to my questions. I'll check in in a few weeks and let you know how it is going.

 

[Rusty’s Owner]

Hello ! Definitely a stubborn phase She is potty trained. She is stubborn at home and in public. She loves water so the water bottle didn't work. We reward her when she listens but she doesn't listen very often. We absolutely stay calm 99% of the time. It is hard but we want to do what is best for Stella. We take her to the park, out walking, camping and she spends time with family and our friends. So she is socialized. Stella does jump on everyone she meets and is a barker. She barks a lot and at everything. My husband and I try to stay consistent with her. She definitely thinks she is the boss with me. (I will work on it) Will use the feeding method starting tonight and will make her wait until we say ok to follow us out. We are not giving up I will start with making her wait until i say its okay to come out and start making her walk behind me. I have not been doing that. Stella's amazing and sometimes I think too smart. hehe Thank you for so many answers to my questions. I'll check in in a few weeks and let you know how it is going.

Was she sprayed with the squirt bottle when in the act of being rude??
Rusty hates water so it worked great, even my other dog that loves water she didn’t like the spray of water unexpectedly.
So odd it didn’t work for Stella.

Does she dislike a sound- like if you clapped your hands 1-2 times when she is being rude just to get her attention that’s unexpected to her, it’s just something that she will associate the unexpected noise(spray with water for Rusty) with the rude unwanted behaviour and then when they are good listeners they will associate it with a really good treat and a happy owner!

For when you walk her- she can walk beside you ideally Or behind you just NOT in front of you.

Does she have a favourite type of protein or a favourite treat?
Save her favourite treats for only training ,then use can use other different treats for just treats.

When you know she is about to jump or bark at people- ask her to ‘watch me’ or ‘Look’ which is what I ask Rusty to do if he knows a ride bad energy dog is coming walking by(only time he barks back if he knows there is a threat coming for him /us), when I say ‘Look’ that means he looks right up at me, and I say ‘good look Rusty, good boy’ until we pass those people/dogs that are potentially a threat to Rusty or us in Rusty’s mind.

To teach them a Look command, just say look or watch me, and as soon as Stella looks up at you then reward and say good Look. Repeat and she should know what it means. Then that’s a tool you can use Before Stella starts barking or jumping at people.
Or a leave it OR OFF or NO you can use too, and ask her to do something she knows how to do like sit.

Good luck!
Keep us updated

 

[StellaLilac]

Thank you !

 

[2bullymama]

Yep -- they are stubborn little buggers! You're doing great stay consistent and she will come along in time