Obedience

Hi..
I wonder if you could help me.

I am having problems with my 10 month old Lhasa Apso. She will NOT do anything you ask her to do. Sit, stay, come...nothing.

I've been putting rubbish out and she comes out with me and i go back into the house and she'll walk the other way.

I have tried and tried and she'll not do it..

Any ideas?

What amount of training has she had? Do you attend a good dog club?
What methods do you use - and what rewards?

Good questions.

For a puppy to do what you want it to you have to show them that it is really rewarding for them to do it. So you have to find a reward that they really love and use the reward freely as well as using positive training methods (lure and reward rather than pushing and pulling to get them into positions).

Lots of people make the mistake of lower their voice and sounding sterner when the dog does not follow them but really you have to do the opposite and sound more exciting and interested than any other distractions there may be.

If you go to www.apdt.co.uk you will be able to find a good training class in your area where they use positive methods. YOu will also see some recommended reading on there where you can find out about positive methods, clicker training etc.

Good luck!

I agree with catrinsparkles. Join a training class! This way she can also learn from other dogs.

It is important to reward her with something she really likes if she does what you want her to do. You have to make it memorable.

Also, clicker training can help as it really helps to take the stress out of training. Watch her for a while; if she sits down coincidentally, click the exact moment she sits down, say 'sit' and reward. If you keep repeating this, she will soon know what to do when you ask her to sit.

Puppies don't know what we want them to do unless we show them. But as catrinsparkles said, don't pull and push her into the positions as this will be like forcing her. Training should be a positive and rewarding experience for a puppy.

I agree, you probably need someone to show you how to get the "behaviour" as it were

Try out this site for a trainer near you who can help you motivate your dog:

www.apdt.co.uk