My pup is coming up 7mths but quite a lot of the time he doesn't seem to know his name, when I call him he ignores me unless food is involved. Tonight he had his head the log basket trying to get bits of wood from the bottom, I called him to get his attention but no response, even after repeatedly saying his name and saying it louder he just completely ignored me and carried on, didn't even look up. Again at bedtime because he knows he's gets a biscuit in his cage he would not come out to go for a wee with the others until I lured him out with food.
I make strange noises to get his attention or say 'what's this' but he acts likes he's deaf which I know he isn't as he comes when I call him out on walks or to the whistle as he know he gets treats & he can hear in an instant when I banana skin snaps prior to peeling!
If on occasions he does look at me when I say his name he won't come when asked unless he thinks there is a treat.
I have done 2 lots of puppy courses with him and he can do things like lay down, give paw etc but he does it as knows there is a treat.
He certainly doesn't get down from counter surfing and his completely deaf when asked to get down! I have to remove his front feet from the work top.
Is he just being a bit defiant due to age or can I do something to make him re learn his name? I don't always want it to be done for food.

I don't think it's a case of he doesn't know it I think it's more a case of he is ignoring you as he is doing something more intresting. If he is busy sniffing, trying to pinch food or playing with something that is going to be more intresting, fun and rewarding than looking at you for no reason.

My girl knows a good few little tricks but normally won't preform them if she doesn't think the person asking for them has a treat to give her for doing it. A case of what's in it for me.

Sounds like a normal 7 month old hormonal dog puppy to me, as long as the basics were learnt, they will return eventually

You are less interesting than everything else, especially at his age of seven months. You really need to set him up for success, if you really need him to come back to you from somewhere where you KNOW he will ignore you.. go and pysically get him. The more you shout when you know he's not going to come, the more rewarding ignoring you gets for him.

Make sure once he knows a trick/behaviour that you start to randomly re-inforce it and use varying levels of treats. That way the dog won't always be expecting a treat and will perform the desired behaviour because of the anticipation of 'oh whats going to be next?!' sort of thing.

Same age as mine!  Not an easy age!  I have mine fixated on a ball - I started by getting to play tug games when he was little - then I got him to retrieve his toy - I would play with a squeaky tug toy on the lawn - get him excited and ready to play with me - I would throw it and then as he picked it up I would call his name and run away.  Eventually he would run after me with the toy in his mouth and we would then have a good game of tug as a reward.  This game moved on to playing with a ball.  Now when we are out he knows I have a ball on a handle in my hand - I might throw it for him, drop it and then send him back to look for it or call him to me for a game of tug.   However if I want him to go and 'be quick' for night time - the last thing I need about the place is a ball - he just stands there waiting for me to throw or kick it. 

when I call him he ignores me unless food is involved

That part is simple, you have simply 'trained' him to come and get a treat, you have NOT 'trained' him to come to YOU.

Its also probably to do with age but put simply, at the age he's at now he is more interested in doing other things than going to the trouble of running to eat a mediocre (to him) treat, treats are old hat stuff to him which he can get from you anytime he chooses to go & get one.

Treat training is just that, in humans we call it 'cupboard love', in dogs its good for tricks but the "come" command is a part of OB (ebedience) training not trick training.

The vid below is an interesting comparison between a treat trained dog, recalling for a treat & a non treat trained dog recalling because of its relationhship with the owner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkUGSvE4TmE
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You've brought shock-collars into the picture again, Denis. :-( The 'relationship with the owner' is one based on fear, and most people don't want that sort of relationship.

> The vid below is an interesting comparison between a treat trained dog, recalling for a treat & a non treat trained dog recalling because of its relationhship with the owner.
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but if the dog that  has not been trained with treats has been trained with a shock collar then it is not recalling because of its relationship with its owner. It is recalling because it doesn't want to be shocked. You might think the bouncing about at the end is because it is happy to see its owner but it is more likely to be appeasement behaviour and relief at not having pain inflicted on it.

we don't really want to get into that old argument again but hey ho this for the OP --- http://youtu.be/yQAayRtXkwE  - hope that link works!

you need specific training for the counter surfing - needs to be built up very gradually - I have just signed up to a newsletter that dealt with just that - it was from http://www.devondogs.co.uk/absolutedogscounterconditioning/  - don't know if it is still available.

Cupboard love ??? some of the best trained dogs are clicker trained & I don't just mean "Obedience"dogs, Assistance dogs are clicker trained & don't ignore instructions when weaned off the treats.

This puppy is at the 1st flush of hormone stage & nothing more. Stick with it & he will return to"normal", then prepare yourself for the secondstage after 12 months

As for force training-nah that sort of training(please excuse the pun)comes back to bite the owner in the end-BTW who is Dennis ????

_"As for force training-nah that sort of training(please excuse the pun)comes back to bite the owner in the end-BTW"-

Yes your right, theres plenty on youtube showing the fallout, heres one, she seems to be trying to force the dog not to pull her all aover the place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOl2qbdSF6M

Lorripops dog seems to be trying to to force her to accept if it dont want a treat its not coming back.
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Denis, you keep pushing your films of the lady with Charlie, who admitted that she'd taken him to one training class and then hadn't found the time to go to any more, and you still have the gall to claim that his untrained behaviour as a means to rubbish reward-based training! I remember someone offering to visit her, free of charge, to help her but this was refused.

Tommee, Hethspaw's real name is Denis, and the only training methods he believes in involve the use of shock-collars or prong collars (which he recommended for the dog in the video).

Ceejay, that is a brilliant video showing hw much quicker and easier on everyone reward-based training is rather than punishment-based. :-)

Didn't they teach you fun recalls with your dog in puppy class? I would be very surprised if this wasn't covered as having a good relationship with your dog and getting the dog to come running happily as soon as you call him is one of the key foundations of successful training imo. The puppies in my class learn to do recall in many different ways, without even realising it is an exercise as such.

It was funny JG - someone posted a link video on FB only this today - very apt.

Ah all is revealed I thought I had missed or couldn't see a post for some reason.

An accolyte of the"world domination"believers AKA flat earth society

How sad to believe the only way to train a dog is through force, pain & punishment. I was taught that "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"

That's what I have always taught too

Thanks for replies.
When we are out his recall is pretty much there, if I use the whistle then I always reward as this is what we were taught but if I just call his name he either gets a fuss and 'a good boy' or a treat.
It's more in the house when he is doing something he shouldn't or just seems he can't be bothered to come over to me!
Like i said previous - the other night he had his head in log basket to get the bits of wood but wouldn't even lift his head out to see if I was offering anything when I called his name. Total deafness, and if he knows its near dinner time he just waits by his spot until he's given his food, he won't come to me if a call him, it's like 'I'm staying here until I get my dinner' and that's before I've got the bowls out, he can obviously tell the time. i suppose this is something to praise as he has learnt this and sticks to it.
On the whole he is very good it was just him not coming when called sometimes but guess its age.

Mine likes to get in the wood pile too - and goes to wait for his food.  I have problems too with my youngster - he is too full of himself - normally he listens but only little things will wind him up totally - we have a bad morning today - I swatted a wasp and he starts jumping up and nipping me - as I have said on my post about marking in the house - he can be an absolute dream one moment - the next a total monster!  I can calm him down quickly but he becomes full on in a blink of an eye - so I do know how you feel.  I wish mine was just deafness! 

When you call his name for him to come to you do you use another command as well - such as come or here? If you just use his name then he probably doesn't realise that he is meant to recall when you say his name. I use the word come, along with the particular dog's name, when I want them to return to me and  I expect I must use their individual names many, many times a day for many different reasons.

Teach him a specific word along with his name means that he has to return to you. Apologies if I have misunderstood your posts and you already do this but to me it read as though you were wanting the dog to return to you if you just used his name :-)

Thanks I do use the word 'come' but more so when out, I will try it in the house today and see what happens.

Great post from Harley.  I use my dogs name as a 'look at me' command then, once I have eye contact, I issue the instruction.  Stick to simple one word instructions such as come, sit, down, off etc and keep the 'chat' to a minimum.  Be really clear about what you are asking him as, not only is he at a good age for questioning his instruction, sometimes he genuinely won't know what you want him to do so be really clear and concise.

If you genuinely think your dog doesn't know his name then re teach it - do it like you do a tiny puppy, with treats.  Selective deafness is a phase though with youngsters and it's sometimes worth experimenting with other sounds and noises to get their attention.  A whistle, a raspberry sound, a hand clap can all work but if you are at home then you might find other ways to distract such as opening the fridge door to reach for the training box...  My boys used to be able to hear me open their training treat box at a 1000 paces and all still come zooming from all corners of the house if I start chopping veg!!  Don't underestimated their powers of selective hearing :)

Currently one of mine, at three years old, has gone a bit deaf in the field (lots of interesting animal smells at the moment) BUT if I shout "Do you wanna berry?" he clocks my position by a blackberry bush and comes running as if his life depended on it.  Little horror xxx

It's more in the house when he is doing something he shouldn't or just seems he can't be bothered to come over to me!

Oh right, I thought you mean outside he just bogged off & wouldn't listen to your recall!
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Sounds like a typical 7 month old, selective hearing, very inquisitive, stubborn and 'testing' all the boundries.  Have patience and continue with his training, it WILL all come back.  Then you'll go through it all over again just after a year old (the dogs version of the terrible 2's.lol) Treats and food will always be more interesting and it will take time to 'wean' him off them, I wouldn't worry about that for a while yet, at 7 months he's still a baby and will need the positive reinforcement all the time when he's done well.  I'll be honest with mine I ALWAYS treat for a recall even in their dotage, its such an important part of life that they come back when you need them to, if it's for a treat every time so what they come when they're called.. and if it stops them chasing something into danger (roads, hunts, fields they shouldn't be in etc) all the better.