Hi everyone. Story time, I guess! Bare with me if you can.
I have a 1 year old female St Bernard names Mocha. I’ve had her since she was 8 weeks old and she was 9 pounds then, she’s 105 now.
When she was a puppy, she had pretty much nailed “sit”, “shake”, “roll over” and “lay down”. BUT she only knows the hand signals, not the words. So if she’s not 100% focused on me she doesn’t listen, or in this case, see what I’m asking. I always paired the word with the hand signal but she just never caught on. After that I haven’t been able to teach her ANYTHING.
I would love to say it’s just her being “stubborn”. But I can’t, because she doesn’t know anything. Not even her name, or fun words like “walk” “peanut butter” “treat” “Let’s go out” “good girl” etc. Nothing. She barely ever responds when your trying to catch her attention. The only way she looks at you is if you talk in a ridiculously high pitched voice, pretty much screaming. Sigh. I seriously thought she was completely, or at least mostly, deaf for months. But when I got her spayed I had the vet check her hearing and apparently it was perfect.
I’m at loss here. Mocha is the sweetest thing, adores people and every animal she meets, but she doesn’t learn. I tried treating her everytime I said her name with no improvement. I still had to wave my hand in front of her face to get her to look at me. Trying to teach her to recall is pointless, even on a leash I literally have to pull her all the way to me after say “come here!” no matter how many times I do it, or how delicious or exciting the reward is.
How do I teach a dog that’s unteachable? I’m so ready to give up. It’s been months and she hasn’t learned a single word, much less a vocal cue for anything. I use positive reinforcement, keep sessions short and exciting, use very high value rewards, set her up so it’s nearly impossible to fail, but she doesn’t learn.
Any advice? Tips? She’s too big to not be trained...
I have a 1 year old female St Bernard names Mocha. I’ve had her since she was 8 weeks old and she was 9 pounds then, she’s 105 now.
When she was a puppy, she had pretty much nailed “sit”, “shake”, “roll over” and “lay down”. BUT she only knows the hand signals, not the words. So if she’s not 100% focused on me she doesn’t listen, or in this case, see what I’m asking. I always paired the word with the hand signal but she just never caught on. After that I haven’t been able to teach her ANYTHING.
I would love to say it’s just her being “stubborn”. But I can’t, because she doesn’t know anything. Not even her name, or fun words like “walk” “peanut butter” “treat” “Let’s go out” “good girl” etc. Nothing. She barely ever responds when your trying to catch her attention. The only way she looks at you is if you talk in a ridiculously high pitched voice, pretty much screaming. Sigh. I seriously thought she was completely, or at least mostly, deaf for months. But when I got her spayed I had the vet check her hearing and apparently it was perfect.
I’m at loss here. Mocha is the sweetest thing, adores people and every animal she meets, but she doesn’t learn. I tried treating her everytime I said her name with no improvement. I still had to wave my hand in front of her face to get her to look at me. Trying to teach her to recall is pointless, even on a leash I literally have to pull her all the way to me after say “come here!” no matter how many times I do it, or how delicious or exciting the reward is.
How do I teach a dog that’s unteachable? I’m so ready to give up. It’s been months and she hasn’t learned a single word, much less a vocal cue for anything. I use positive reinforcement, keep sessions short and exciting, use very high value rewards, set her up so it’s nearly impossible to fail, but she doesn’t learn.
Any advice? Tips? She’s too big to not be trained...
