Why Does Your Dog Struggle To Listen Sometimes?

It can be frustrating when we ask our dogs to do something and we don’t get the response we’re looking for. In the old days this was just simply viewed as disobedience. The thing is, there is a lot going on at any given moment and we have to look at the big picture as to why our dog isn’t responding. Here are some reasons:

1. Motivation- Our dogs are motivated by things in the environment. When they see something, they’re generally motivated to want to go to it. When this happens it causes us to want them to ignore it or come back in our direction. In these moments, there is a clear motivator off in the distance, and then there is us, a person that may not be as motivating wanting our dog to do what we want instead. When you think of it this way, it makes a lot of sense why dogs ignore humans.

When we get ignored, we generally repeat ourselves or start with threats. Repeating ourselves won’t help. Threats can be a type of motivation so they technically could work but the end result is a dog that is afraid of their person.

2. Not Practicing Properly- IF we want our dogs to respond a certain way, we have to introduce the behavior with no distractions. When it’s going well, we need to gradually add in distractions. This is where it can fall apart. If we go from one extreme to the other, it’s unlikely it’ll work. So practice indoors, then go outdoors to a boring area, then find a place with some distractions and so on.

3. Battery Too full- “A tired dog is a good dog.” This basically means that a tired dog will just lie around and sleep. It means that they have less energy to do “bad” things. There is truth to this. Because the opposite, a “full battery” means that your dog has so much energy that it’s very hard to get them to listen. This is one reason why dogs struggle on walks. Higher energy dogs often need to get some running our tugging in prior to going for a walk. Doing so will help them listen a bit better.

Remember, dogs are just trying to enjoy their lives. Their unwanted behaviors don’t inconvenience them, just us. So it’s our job to help them do the behaviors we’d like to see instead.