Dog Won't Listen? She Is Probably Not Stupid!

dynamic, obedience - By Staff Writer on Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - 16:18

When it comes to training why is it so easy for some dogs to pick things up while others simply just can't seem to understand? One of our office dogs a pit bull seems to learn things on his own without us actually trying to train him while the beagle. . . well, she just can't seem to get the basics.  So what gives?

There are a few things involved in a dogs ability to learn commands and they don't all have to do with IQ.

Intelligence
The word intelligence can be interpreted in a variety of ways but right now were talking about a dogs ability to learn and perform tasks on command.  Like with people dogs vary in their level of intelligence.  While some breeds appear to be more intelligent than others it can vary greatly from dog to dog within a specific breed.  Some dogs will learn faster than others and some will simply not learn certain tasks.  As you will see below this is not the only factor that will determine a dogs ability to learn but it is definitely a factor.

Desire To Please
The stronger the drive to please an owner within a dog, the easier it will be to train.  Dogs that have a high drive to please will do what they can to figure out what you want and produce results even without the use of rewards.  Their reward is simply you responding positively. This drive to please can vary between breeds and even between dogs within breeds.  Pit bulls are one example of a breed known for their desire to please which makes them very easy to train.

They Don't Understand You
Your dog may be smart or have the desire to please but you might not be communicating your message in a way that your dog understands.  Mixed signals, inconsistency, too complicated commands and unclear messages can all cause problems in training.  Before you begin to train make sure you read our 5 Cs Of Training to understand the fundamentals of training before you get to the practical stuff.   Making sure your dog understands what you are asking is the most fundamental part of training that must be there before your dog can learn.

They Don't See The Benefit
If your dog is not a people pleaser, you need to find out what your dog is driven by.  Some dogs are food driven others love toys.  Find out what your specific dog loves and use that as a motivational tool.  For our beagle food is the only thing that will get her to do anything.  As long as food is around or even the promise of food she will listen. Figure out what motivates your dog and use it to your advantage.  Once she begins to see that listening to you is to her benefit you will have much less of a fight. 

Fear
If you are asking to do something your dog is not comfortable doing it is natural they will be fearful.  You need to develop good communication and trust so that your dog is willing to do what you ask.  If you ask your dog to walk on a surface they have never encountered fear may keep them from stepping on it.  While it's not intentional disobedience, fear can paralyze a pup so you should try to figure out what is spooking your dog.

Stubbornness
The last reason is simply that some dogs are going to do what they want regardless of what you offer them.  Some dogs are just stubborn.  They understand you perfectly well, they know what you are offering and what the benefit is or perhaps the consequences are and they just don't care.  Some breeds are inherently more stubborn and will happily continue to disobey your orders regardless of the situation.  If you have a stubborn dog you it is possible to train them it will just take a lot more work so get ready to put in the effort!

So if you find your dog just refuses to listen to you it's time to stop and think about what the cause is.  It's easy to dismiss a dog that wont perform as not smart but there could be plenty of other causes including things you do that are causing the problem. A little introspection and you may just figure out how to get your pup to listen every time.