Puppy only listens to 1 person

[ASyversen]

I wasnt sure where to post this, but anyways I have a 3-4 month old Rott Puppy that Knows most if not all of her baisic commands, But she will only listen to me, She will never listen to my dad (Im 15 and live with my dad). Again she is very smart so I know that she understands, but she will just not obey anyone but me. Is there anything i can do to teach her to obey other people?

And also, Ive been trying to get her to Not jump on people when greeting, and I tell people To say "down" when she jumps up. But they never seem to Say anything. Should I just keep her away from the people who thinks its mean to tell a dog to stay down, so that she doesnt think its ok to jump on some people?

Sorry if Its hard to understand.

Amber

[Luvs]

Have your puppy on a leash when greeting people, put her in a sit and YOU keep her from jumping up. If she tries to jump up anyway walk her away and don't let her greet them. They are not allowed to pet her unless she is sitting. Sometimes crating until company has been at your house for a little while seems to work better. Be sure that she is on a leash when you do let her out tho, so you can reinforce her not jumping.

Dogs usually listen to the person who does all of their training. Does your dad work with your puppy at all?

[ASyversen]

Thanks for the reply. No my dad doesnt work with her which is Probobly the problem.
Should i have him take her for walks or something, or give her comands so that she will learn to obey him?

[JeanT]

If you have friends or visitors who will cooperate, warn them in advance (if they don't already know) that she may jump in greeting. If she starts to jump, they should turn sideways-as soon as there's airspce between the floor and the front feet- and not look at her, ignore her. She's looking for the attention, and if she gets none with that behavior, it will not be enforced (repeated because it "worked"- even if the attention is a "bad dog" response). If you can practice with a leash on her, it would be additional help to get the point across. While the visitor does as described if a jump is about to start, give the leash a pop while saying sharply "off".

I suggest "off" instead of "down" because the down command is something different and a little more difficult to teach. Maybe almost impossible when she's excited. The point you want to get across is stopping the jumping behavior and I wouldn't try to combine it with teaching another behavior ("down"). One successful step at a time.

Someone here once suggested having the leash on and having it on the floor somewhat loosely with your foot on it so that the jump is self-corrected when the leash tightens as she tries to jump. and I think saying "sit" as the leash tightens so her butt hits the floor. It sounded good but I was too clumsy to get the leash in position and my foot on it as I tried to open the door.

I found the turning sideways and ignoring worked best because the desire for attention was so strong. My vet did it the first time he met my wild child. It worked like a magic trick! It didn't work like a magic trick for me, but it did work. Would have worked faster if all friends and visitors could have done it consistently!

If you pay attention, I think you'll see that your pup is always looking intently up into the face of the jumpee as the jump occurs - that's the desire for attention.

Your father - does he sometimes say "off" or "sit" or "down" or "go away" without really paying a lot of attention each time, sometimes really trying to demand the correct response but other times just sort of letting it pass if the command is not obeyed? Sort of inconsistent about whether he really means what he says? You need to train your father! If your father will take your dog on walks or spend sometime specifically training a few simple commands, then I think your father and your dog will be more interested in each other. Your dog will start to pay more attention and be interested in listening, and your father will be pleased to get the response he wants. Happy dog, happy father.

[thezookeeper]

Added to JeanT's perfect reply is- have your Dad teach for about 5 min. 2-3 times a day. Have Dad start teaching "Sit" . This way you are setting up the training for good results. ( pup knows command - Dad knows command- But the training is for the pup to respond to Dad) Then work on 'Down' . After that I normally suggest that the 2nd trainer(Dad in this case) work on tricks. (shake-like after getting wet; Hand- handshake right paw;: Paw- handshake left paw; roll- rollover ) plus keep the downs;sit;stay ect mixed in.
Happy Dad -Happy Pup

[ASyversen]

Thanks for the replys, I will try having her sit and get petted, but ingored when she jumps, and try to have the people turn away when she jumps. The hardest part is getting people to Cooperate*. And yes, My dad does seem to just give commands without enforcing, same with my friends who come over and will sit for 10 minutes trying to get her to shake there hand. I just tell them To not give her any commands unless there willing to enforce it.
And i will try to get my dad to take time to train her, but thats easier said then done.
thanks for all the help- Amber

[JeanT]

Friends and Dads can be very hard to train. If you train her well and reliably (sounds like you have a good start on that), that's most important. Oh, and "shake" is a fun trick, not a command. She has to understand what it is that they want before there is anything to "enforce". If they can't be counted on to *cooperate* with the not jumping (and lots of people just can't seem to be counted on for that additional help), just be sure they don't scold her or punish her in any way for not learning it. They are the ones who don't know how to teach it.

Don't let other people scold or punish your puppy. It's up to you to protect her as well as train her. I am always amazed at how many people feel it's OK to smack a pup in the nose or throw something at it because *they* don't like what a pup is doing and think they have the right to correct it. Don't let people (really, it seems like boys/men almost exclusively do this) play rough with your pup. Your pup will think it's lots of fun, but then you are stuck trying to teach your dog when it's older and has big chompers that it's not OK to bite someone or rip their clothes. They same people who played rough with the pup are the ones who will be complaining that she's "mean" when she's bigger and stronger than they are. She won't understand why it's not a fun game anymore, even when it's the same game they liked to play with her before.

[ASyversen]

Yes it seems to be very hard to teach friends and dads. When i said Enforce i ment like putting her in the posistion, and then rewarding her instead of just letting her win by not doing the command. And i haven't done to much rough play with her, but when she gets kinda crazy ill make her lay down or sit all of the sudden which kinda keeps her from Going wild. I guess from here the hard part is gettting my friends too cooperate.

[thezookeeper]

When my Hagrid was little he was on a leash int he house. If someone came to the door- I held the leash and controlled the situation- evan if it meant answering the door on my knees or having them open the door. After my saying hi- the first thing out of my mouth was "we are working on not jumping and sitting to be petted" by then Hagrid who would be wildly dancing trying to get attention would be commanded to sit and his treat would be to get the petting that he - oh! so wanted. When his bottem left the floor the petting stopped. By then the greeting was over.
It always helps to thank the visitor for helping.

keep us posted as to how it's going.
kris