Selective hearing

[nevikrmsw]

So levi will do whatever i ask him, sit, shake, high five, other paw, lay down and stay and i can walk off, i say "come" and he comes runnin to me... when he knows i have a pocket full of treats. If he knows i don't have a pocket full of treats, he kinda does it if he really feels like it at the moment. Is there anything i can do to work on this or should i just accept the fate of walking around smelling like liver treats all the time?

 

[Sansal]

If I take my dogs for a walk off the leash or to the dogpark I always take treats with me and I will let them know I have them. I rather carry them around forever but at least I know they will come when called.
Also, you should only call Levi when you think there is a high chance that he will come. Otherwise he learns that it is okay to ignore you. My boxer usually comes when called (if we are walking off the leash I just keep on walking and I know she will follow) but my puggle occasionally won't come, especially if she found something more interesting. In that case I go get her and put her on the leash - fun is over.
I think a reliable recall is one of the most difficult things to teach. I work on it every single day with my dogs. I will also call them many times when we are at the dogpark and then just praise them and give them a treat and send them off to play again so they don't learn to associate coming when called with going home&all fun is over.
I sometimes take a squeeky toy with me as well. For some dogs that works better than treats.

 

[whiskers]

Another thing you could start doing is keep the treats off of you. So work with him at home, but keep the treats up on a shelf or something, away from you. Have him do a couple commands and then get all excited and run with him over to where the treats are and give him a couple. And I would always vary where you put the treats. That way he starts thinking that treats can come from anywhere, and just because they're not on YOU, doesn't mean he won't get rewarded.

Also--do you always give him a treat, every time he obeys a command? Like if you tell him to sit 10 times, do you give him a treat after each time he sits? Like BadAxe was saying, a variable reward schedule might help. So if you ask him to sit 5 times, maybe you only give him a treat 4 of those times. And then only 3 times. Then all 5 times, then only 2 times, etc. Keep it unpredictable so he never knows which time will earn the treat. This will teach him that he doesn't always get a treat for obeying (but still reward him with lots of praise), but that he SOMETIMES gets a treat, so he'll realize that it's in his best interest to keep listening to you because a treat might be coming.

This is also where I've resigned myself to the fact that I will probably always need to bring a squeaky toy to the dog park. I wish Juno could be like all the other dogs and just come when I call her because that's what she should do, but that's not what she does, and so I'd rather just bring the toy so I know I won't have any issues.

 

[nevikrmsw]

Thanks for all the help guys im tryin some of your ideas and i can see an improvement already. He's extremely smart so it doesn't take him long to pick up on anything. I'm glad i found this site it's really helpful.

 

[samsons]

Hiding treats !

we keep treats all over the house ... and i also keep some in my pockets ( or a bate bag ) so sam NEVER knows when or IF he will get a treat !! when he has earned it, i put him in a stay - and head to the nearest treat spot ! he has a great stay ! ...

sometimes he just gets a treat when i call him into a dif room !( we are working on recal - we have NONE )

so this has really worked for us 2 !

 

[nevikrmsw]

ive started holdin out on the treats every once in a while when he comes.. he really expresses his discontent but he gets over it. he is doin better but we still have work to do. he has a really good stay, if i tell him to stay his whole world ends until i call him, but he still has a little problem coming to me if he thinks he won't get a treat or if there is something really interesting he wants to investigate.

 

[bradford]

I've been working on the "come" command with Tucker. Treats work for him, but he doesn't care too much about them with this command for some reason. But, lately I've been using a hand gesture that he loves to see. I put both my hands up, palms outward, as if I'm about to either scoop him up or give him a hug. He gets excited about it for some reason and comes to me. Maybe some type of hand gesture will work for you too?

 

[CoraBoxer]

Wean off the treats slowly? Don't reward each time he does what you want kind of deal, spread the reward out more and more. Takes time.