Name Help
As you all know, Jonathan and I settled on the name Dodger for our corgi pup. The only problem is he's just not getting it. He's completely uninterested whenever we say the name and doesn't respond to the name at all. We've been trying the Name Game with him and we've been saying the name to him every chance we get. Still he's doing nothing but ignoring us. Now, I've always been a strong believer that animals choose their own name and I was wondering if "Dodger" isn't the right name for him. I sat down with him and said "Ludwig" (for Ludwig Van Beethoven since it's literally the ONLY music he actually likes and falls asleep to) and he came and crawled right up in my lap and actually responded and showed interest. So I'm a little confused and would really like some opinions from fellow corgi lovers. Do you think this is just a phase for him, do you think we should keep using "Dodger" or switch to "Ludwig," or any other thoughts; I'd really appreciate the help everyone and thank you in advance.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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You've only had him a few days and he's still a baby, they don't always learn that quickly. Heck we thought Luke was deaf he ignored us so much as a puppy. I'd give it some time if you want that name, he will learn it.
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Permalink Reply by Autumn and Jonathan on
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Thanks for the advice Jane! I really appreciate it.
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Permalink Reply by Nicole Edwards on
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We did the name game with our puppy too. It just takes some time and treats help immensely! We would say her name "Selkie!" and if she responded and came to us she got a treat! Warning though it does take some time.
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Yeah I think that's one of the main problems that we were having. We didn't have any treats so we couldn't rewards him with a treat only a rub down. Thank goodness that we found out we have a Petco that's literally right down the street from us. So we picked him up a bunch of goodies and he's actually improving on quite a few things just not the whole name situation.
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You could always use teeny (and I mean TINY!) pieces of cheese, chicken, or even a hotdog if you're in a pinch. Mine will work for carrots, lol.
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We got him these organic oven baked dog biscuits, Z-Filets the grilled chicken recipe, gourment tails mint cookie treats (which will have to be broken down because they're huge), and these peanut butter crunchy treats by Nutro. He's been doing good eith the filets and the peanut butter treats. He only gets one when he responds to his name though. Haha that's a really great idea actually. I almost got him some sweet potato treats and carrot treats (Jonathan thought I had too many treats though).
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Dogs are not verbal animals and we are. We talk all the time and most of what we say has nothing to do with the dog. Words and the desired response are taught through training ( for example, sit, wait, come, treat, etc) but the name is of a different nature. The name is simply an attention getter, which tells the dog some word or short phrase, MEANINGFUL TO THE DOG, will follow, so this is not bla,bla,bla, as he perceives most speech, but something to pay attention to. What this means is that, when teaching the name, you'd better have something that the dog understands come next, or it will not be worth paying attention to as far as he's concerned. Use the name (Ludwig! for example) and, immediately as you see the dog looks toward you, say the next meaningful thing. With very young puppies, this is usually "come" followed by praise and a treat. But it could be the name, then when he looks at you throw a toy, not too far, or anything pleasant and simple to start. The problem you are having is most often seen in households with children, who delight in saying the dog's name over and over for no reason the dog can understand, so that he actually learns to tune it out, as we all tune out meaningless repetitive noise.
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That makes so much sense. I've done the whole "Dodger, come" and "Ludwig come," but he hardly responds to "Dodger" and is more responsive to the name "Ludwig." He's been slowly improving with simple commands (sit, stay, no, etc...), but the minute you say his name (whether by itself or with a command followed) his mind completely just goes blank and he'll stare at you or scamper off after the cat. I've been wondering if he might need to be encouraged by a treat or go in a room with no distractions. Jonathan and I have also been looking into scheduling training classes for him at Petco.
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Your puppy is too young for classes at Petco. He needs to be more fully protected from contagious diseases and Petco is a high traffic dog area. Consult your Vet regarding this issue in your particular area.
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Thanks for the help!
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on
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Heh my daughter chants Shasha or puppy All the time. Seems like Sasha has started to tune me out a bit
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Permalink Reply by Sarah Weippert on
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True story. It takes a very conscious effort to not overuse a dog's name. I try to only use Nemo as a preparatory command or when I am trying to get his attention. Even harder is to not keep using his name when he ignores the command.
I am clicker training Nemo; I "charged" his name right after I charged the clicker. Like any good corgi dog, he loves his noms so he learned his name after about 5 reps.
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