"My dog knows commands, but he doesn't listen!"

Many times I hear this type of comment from frustrated dog owners: "My dog knows commands, but he doesn't listen!"

I hate to break it to them, but it has less to do with the dog listening and more to do with the relationship between the two, the owner's efforts to train the dog, and the dog's reliability (with regards to an accurate response to commands). And remember, commands are not only verbal in nature; commands/cues can come in many different forms.

Many people teach their dogs some basics as puppies, when they are fun and cute and easy to work with. Pups are taught to sit, down, stay and come, typically, in the living room or the yard, for food or a toy, for one second or two. Then the pups jump up from the sit or down, leave the stay location, and run away from the recall, but the owners find this acceptable because "he's a puppy" (by the way, I hear that phrase well into the dog's second year, but I find it a completely unacceptable excuse for a lack of manners). "My dog knows commands..." means little to me as a trainer unless I see the dog responding reliably in a new location and with multiple distractions around. Until then, the dog has some room to learn more about obedience, and most likely the owner has room to learn, too.

Especially with large and powerful dogs, it is essential to give them some tools to help them learn a sense of responsibility and self-discipline. Without these and other important aspects of good character, large dogs can become a terrible nuisance (or worse, dangerous) to everyone they meet.

Puppy training and Novice/basic obedience training differ in a number of ways. A puppy is simply learning to learn, enjoying the process, and getting down some of the basics as they learn how to communicate and get around in a people-oriented society.

The adolescent and adult dog should be taught to respect and trust the handler and to respond to commands quickly and reliably. This is where most people, at least in America, seem to forget their sense of responsibility and drop their training goals altogether. And this is precisely why so many people give up their dogs, get bitten by their own dogs, or kill dogs-- they don't train them properly and thoroughly beyond puppyhood. It is often when the dog reaches adolescence or adulthood (about 6 months to three years or so) that some owners starts to blame the dog for not "listening".

They need to take responsibility for the dog's instruction so he knows, first of all, exactly what is expected of him. He needs to know how to comply, when to comply, and that it is in his best interest to do so, even when he would really rather not. Unless an owner is responsible for the dog's training in this way, the dog cannot be blamed for his behavior.

It is when a dog owner becomes responsible for completing the dog's training that the blame game stops and the dog becomes easier to live with. It is much easier for a dog to "listen" to an owner who is actually providing some information, isn't it?