At the first puppy classes we were taught to treat every time the dogs turn their head to their name (in a training session) to build up that recognition. Say name, head turn, treat. No head turn = leave it a moment and try again. We were also told to not oversay their name repetitively otherwise they might come to blank it out. Let us know how you go!
How old is Phoebe? I was worried that Archie didn't know his for a little while, but once he hit the 12 week marker he began to respond. We did connect his name with treats. It just seemed to take him a little while to click in. Deb
I never do anything special, they always seem to get it sooner or later. It probably sinks in over the course of many sessions of using his name in various connections...meal time, treats, training, etc.
Was told and did exactly as @DebzC . Maybe not always a treat for his name but some play, a walk, supper. I was cautioned about telling the OH about all the cute and wonderful things the puppy did during the day and to call him "the puppy" so as not to keep saying his name with no immediate consequence. Good consequences for his name too, never bad.
Good one! We always call her pup anyway by coincidence. Or Miffy! My 2 year old granddaughter can't pronounce L or B very well yet (or couldn't in August anyway) so from the start called Libby Miffy...she comes to both!
I very loosely train names - I don't bother with it a whole lot, and both my dogs just picked up that the sound was sort of an attention getting noise. Because my dogs are pets, and people use their names all the time 'Hi Charlie!' for example, I don't put the effort into training names to mean anything much. The training would soon be ruined by over use. And anyway, I want to say my dogs names if I'm just cuddling etc. I don't want to have to 'save' their names because they are cues. So I let the name be just what it is, used casually by everyone, and train a separate attention getting noise which other people don't know!
Interesting - I never thought about having to "train" a name. Guess I just talk to my dogs so darn much that they pick it up sort of naturally? Also not that this applies to you, but having had lots of foster dogs, even adults getting a totally new name adapt to it really quickly. I had one particular foster who came in as a mystery name (we didn't know what it was as she'd been abandoned), then her first foster mom called her "Krystal", then I got her and renamed her "Emma" (I felt "Krystal" sounded like a middle aged pole dancer in a dive bar in Mississippi) and a year later her forever family renamed her "Winnie". She didn't mind a bit! And of course all of our dogs actually have more than one name. Brogan for example was also Brogie, Handsome Pants, Dude, Goob, Sweet Pea, Bear and a host of others - all of which he answered to.
It depends what you want your dog to do when it hears its name. If mostly, but definitely not always, look round in the vague expectation of dinner/a treat/something to do, fine, they just sort of pick that up without you doing anything. If, however, you want a whip lash turn towards you (which is what most people seem to expect when they shout their dog's name in a busy park ) then you have to train it.
You will also shout their name if they are running towards danger and you REALLY REALLY need them to stop! I'd train it even if for this reason only. My friend's pup, Bella, who we walk with every Wednesday was very sadly killed by a car last Tuesday for not coming back. It's devastating, you don't want to even take the chance!
Sort of along that line I've noticed every lost dog I've found and was able to put my hands on responded to Hey Fella or Pretty Girl like it was their name. I've been incredibly lucky to get each dog back to it's owners and not one had a name anything like that. Consequently I am always bit disturbed to see, on two of the lost pet boards I am on, people asking others to say their lost pets name to see if there is a reaction and thus possibly the cat or dog the other person found is their lost pet. When they are frightened and lost they might not even respond to their owner calling their name. And the friendly ones might respond to anything.
There is no way I'd use a pet dog's name in this situation. I might if I were a professional trainer, my dogs were kennelled away from family life, and they never, ever heard their name unless it was being used as a recall cue. For a pet dog, that will hear its name in a thousand different ways, I'd try my emergency recall, my stop, my recall....before I tried shouting the dog's name.
Stanley knew his name when he arrived. We picked him at 3 weeks old & I'd already his name so the breeder started calling him it
When I ha When I had an emergency (Tatze chased a sheep which appeared out of nowhere in a non-sheep area). I swore a bit before I gathered myself and blew the whistle. I didn't even consider using her name - as JulieT says, you need a foolproof recall sign which isn't overused in any way.
I tend to call 'pup puppy puppy' for recall at first as it's what is used at the breeders, then I slowly move to using their name. ...
