My Rescue Noah, who is approx. 3 1/2 yrs. (while I've only had him 6 mo. He eagerly obey's EVERY command I give him at home ,(my house and the small open yard around it) but about as soon as we step on the sidewalk, it's all bets are off. EVERYTHING is more interesting and important than me. When we go to the local park, having him come when I call is next to impossible. Off leash ,his nose is ALWAYS to the ground, rarely giving me a glance when I call. I've done the practice with getting further and further away with commands at home which he happily obeys,But as soon as we hit the sidewalk and beyond,it's as if he doesn't know me. Any and all suggestion or guidance will be greatly appreciated Brent
Hey Brent! Do you know anything about Noah's past? Was he kept in a cage all the time or not taken out etc. this could be a reason why he is so excited, like a child in a sweet shop. Practice with him walking beside you while holding a treat for him, hold it so he can see it and watch you. Stop and then ask him to sit and treat. Try also changing directions so that he is always focused on you. This will help with his lead walking and keeping focus on you. For recall, we still have to work on this as there is going to be things that are super interesting for the pups no matter what age. To start with use a long house line while out at the park and try go when no-one else is about. This will help with the additional attraction of dogs and people. We haven't used any books but I know Pippa's Total Recall has amazing reviews and success! Never tell him off for not coming to you regardless of how long it too, always make a fuss and praise when back at your side. It will help to reinforce that good things happen when with you and worth coming back for! We have some toys that are for outside only (balls) that she absolutely loves and will do anything for it (we now have 2 the same so always have one to get her attention with). Find something that Noah enjoys playing with and gets his attention the most. Sorry for the rambling! Hopefully you can find something that works for you. At the start Luna wouldn't listen to me at all when out and just looked like a little jumping biting bundle of excitement. Now she listens and we have a great bond together.
I would first make sure you are using tasty enough treats. They should be things like meat, kidneys, heart, liver (you can boil this stuff up in a saucepan) and then chopped to the size of a large pea. Then - get a clicker. You can get these online. Then I would put the leash on, and go stand on the sidewalk outside your house. Do not move or walk anywhere, just stand still. Click every time the dog looks at you and then give a treat and - before he has had a chance to look anywhere else - say 'go sniff' and release him to sniff the floor. Then wait again for him to offer you focus. Remain at this until you just can't get him to sniff the floor, he just wants to keep offering you fluent focus. You can then move on and find a new static location. You can also try this at the park, on leash. The more different environments you work on it in, the better it will get and the more it will generalise.
Our puppy is similar... he’s really good at following commands when at home and when no one else is around, but today he was off the lead in the woods (we were practicing recall with treats and a clicker) and he saw a family and ran to see them and completely ignored the ‘come’ command. Also our trainer said that when their nose goes down to the floor their ears are turned off!
Probably things are different for rescue dogs but my understanding is that this is normal. It is not reasonable to expect a dog to follow the commands he learns in the house in a new environment and particularly an environment as exciting as the outdoors. This can be managed by starting to introduce distractions in the home during training. For example, when working on sit stay, you would add a person walking past or you sqeeking a toy...There is no way a dog who breaks his stay at home with minor distractions will maintain a stay outside. This is just an example but it's the idea....
