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Are some dogs just more stubborn than others?

3K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  seawater 
Some dogs are motivated by different things and that can make them seem stubborn or more difficult to train. Hounds are typically food motivated - what type of treats are you using? Alternatively, you might try Premack - what activities does he love to do? Use them as reinforcement.

For the jumping specifically, how have you taught him to greet people politely? How are you preventing him from jumping on people while you train?
 
I've alternated between training minis mostly when indoors, where distractions are fewer, and brought out chicken sausage patties when outdoors, as it's more high-value for him and he's more likely to come for them. But even then, he won't always come for them if the distraction is super interesting, like another dog or person.
So, you know what is distracting so you can use them as reinforcements. You also know that right now attempting a recall with certain distractions is unlikely to be successful.

In addition to treats, try making yourself the reinforcement - be exciting, play with your dog, making interacting with you the best thing ever! Build up a strong history of recalling in lower distraction situation before slowly increasing distractions.

You might look into Susan Garrett's Recallers (expensive online course) or Leslie Nelson's Really Reliable Recall (likely more affordable DVD / book) if you really want some extra help.

We have been having him meet other people, like friends or roommates both indoors and then moving to outdoors on a leash. I let him go to say hi, and if he jumps, the other person says "nuh uh," turns away, and ignores him. I pull him back with the leash, make him sit, and we try again. Sometimes it only takes once if he's doing good, but he never does it right the first time, and I want him to not jump at all.
That doesn't really teach him what you want from the start or set him up for success. One exercise I've done in classes is to
- have the dog on leash
- ask for a sit
- have another person slowly approach
- if the dog stands, the person backs up
- if the dog remains seated, the person continues to approach
- the reward for continuing to sit is interacting with the new person (verbal greeting at first, petting later)

It's important that he doesn't practice jumping - jumping is likely reinforcing for him (and most dogs) and every time he does it's a step or two backwards.

There are good training recommendations here, too: Polite Greetings with people and dogs!
 
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