One Step Forward... Two Steps Back

When I adopted my first dog, a Black Lab/Dalmatian mix at four months, I began training her right away. She knew most of the basic commands, and she learned with lightning speed. Even now at two years, she's still soaking up new commands like a sponge. It's amazing to watch her! With Bella though, she doesn't seem to catch on. She'll finally understand a command, so I move on to the next step and she'll look as if she forgot the last step. I know she didn't forget, but we're constantly struggling with her grasping the concepts of each new command. I'm not going too fast and I'm not going too slow for her. We're working step-by-step along with what our obedience trainer has us do, and I always review even after the class has moved on. It's just how training goes. I just don't understand why Bella isn't grasping the concepts. When I thought she was doing pretty well walking in public and the down command at home, I try reviewing the down command and she acts as if she has no idea what to do! Gah! Dogs really, really are the true test of patience. ;P

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Comment by Nicola Porter on November 13, 2009 at 10:08pm: Can't figure out how LO knows night night to indicate bed time ( he needs to be out on the bed cos he's too small to jump on it) but looks at me like I am crazy when I tell him to come in.

Comment by Beth on November 13, 2009 at 9:45pm: Ha, Bev, I love your description of Izzy, because that is Maddie!

Emily, my Jack learns most things after just a couple repetitions. If he doesn't learn a new command in 2-3 training sessions, I totally change my approach just because I know it must not be making sense since that would be slow for him. And once he learns something, he will remember it months later even if we never practice.

My sweet, lovable, cuddly Maddie is, er, not the fastest learner. As her first owner said "Her attention span is that of a fly." She's like Bev said: out in left field, picking daisies. But she tries so hard and I can see the little hamster wheel spinning, and she'll do anything you ask what she figures out what the heck you're asking. :-)

They are all different. Give her time, and be consistent. Do you use the lure method? That works well for some dogs.

Comment by Bev Levy on November 13, 2009 at 9:20pm: Yes they are! And they are all different. Sparty gets things very quickly but he will be the first to challenge. Once he has it it seems like he never forgets. Izzy is like the kid out in left field picking flowers. You have to move very slow with training and she gets confused easily but she never challenges a command. Misty is usually on another planet altogether counting stars or something. One of her early obedience instructers called her a dumb blonde!