Training Issue

[Jondell Ritchie]

My husband showed me a new trick that he taught Teddy over the past couple of days...he got him to "shake".  He's doing pretty good with it and my husband demonstrated it with him a few times.  Fast forward a few days later....we also have a bird, a cockatiel named Bernie.  Teddy loves to chase Bernie and I'm pretty sure Bernie does his best to tease him (he flies to the floor and waits until Teddy gets really close before he flies off).  The other day, he didn't move fast enough.  No worries, he's okay. However, my husband had to pry open Teddy's mouth to get him loose.  Ever since that happened, Teddy will not obey commands my husband gives him.  He won't sit, shake....nothing.  He's still loving with my husband: cuddles, plays, gives him kisses, and goes with him for a ride, etc, but he just turns and walks away when my husband gives him a command.  We experimented with me giving him commands then having my husband try to make sure it wasn't a matter of Teddy just not being interested at the time, but sure enough, he would do it for me and walk away when my husband did it.  We've also used his favorite treats to entice him to comply to no avail.  Has anyone else experienced this sort of behavior?  Any advice to get our stubborn little doodle to listen to his daddy again?  I might understand if he was showing signs of being afraid of my husband, but that's not the case at all.  If anything, this reminds me of a teenager rebelling against one of the parents, but he's only 10 months old.  

[Julie and Max]

I'd be a little scared for the bird I think. :(

Every time your husband gives a command and the dog doesn't obey it's reinforcing to your dog that he doesn't have to listen. I would suggest never giving a command unless you are sure you can make it happen. You can give some gentle help like have him on the leash, have your husband tell him to sit, and then just gently raise the leash up while very gently pushing his bum to the floor (this is assuming he is still not doing it on his own). This way Teddy knows that if he doesn't do what he's supposed to do, you or your husband are going to make it happen, and he will get it after a few times. I think at 10 months he is a teenager :)

I know that my Max has a similar reaction when he picks up a dead thing and tries or does eat it. To me it seems like his prey drive goes into overtime. When I had to "wrestle" the dead thing away from him it actually made it worse. So I've tried to make sure he doesn't go into that prey overdrive mode by being extra vigilant on walks. 

Good luck and I hope you get this figured out!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think this is good advice.

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

I would have your husband be the main person working on commands for now and to also be the person to feed him. He needs to see your husband as the leader, not just you! Our 6 month old doodle was only following commands from me and our trainer suggested the same advice I just gave you. It took about 3-5 days and Maserati is back taking commands from both of us consistently. 

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

I agree with Julie, your husband needs to gently bring him back with a sit/stay and then just as gently and calmly start over on the handshake.  Our girls always have to return to where we started and correct what they did not do right, then we love the heck out of them and move on.  Basic commands are never optional, tricks we are more flexible on, I know they don't always want to work.

[Jondell Ritchie]

Thank  you all for the great advice.  I can definitely see how allowing him to walk away is reinforcing the bad behavior, even though it was kind of funny at first (typical teenage behavior).  The bird is doing fine.  Teddy's been leaving him alone lately.  Since we clipped his wings, he's not so inclined to tease Teddy since he can't get away as quickly :)  

[Deborah Brown]

Maybe you should work on DROP?  My dogs will drop anything if I use a really fierce voice.  The times that I have had to take something out of a mouth, I've told them how good they are for giving it up.  If your husband chastised Teddy, then he may be a bit gun shy.  Yelling at a dog rarely gets the behavior we want but, I suppose, that's hindsight now. 

I wouldn't force Teddy to respond.  I'd probably wait a day and ignore him.  See how he likes his own medicine.  When he is ready and anxious for attention, have him leashed and have your husband give the SIT command.  Don't repeat it over and over or push him into a sit but wait him out.  You can back him into it by holding the treat up over this head and moving it back so that he looks up and moves back.  Just don't let him run off.  You MUST win this battle of wills so pick your time wisely.