hi i have a five month old west highland pup called dylan, whos great
he can already sit, stay and lay down. The only problem is he doesnt seem
to recognise his name and when you call him he wont come. What are we
doing wrong. Other words and sayings we use he will react to but not his name

any advice would be highly appreciated

Hi,
Just out of interest, what are you using his name for? I know it sounds like a stupid question, but dogs only really understand one word used for each 'order'. For instance, as far as they are concerned "Come", "Come here", "Here" and "Get over here" are four entirely different commands.

You'll probably have more success using his name to be the signal simply to get his attention, to be followed by what you want him to do. For example "Dylan, come!", or "Dylan, sit!"

If you say his name excitedly when you're holding his dinnerbowl, he'll learn that the sound "Dylan" means "Look at mum, something good's happening!" He'll soon twig what you mean
:).

I'd agree 100% with what Jean says - many dogs think there name is 'get off' or 'come here stupid' because nobody's ever taught them other wise (and lets face it - it's only us weird humans who give things 'names') I'd take some treats and say his name while giving him a treat. Have a bowl sitting beside you while you watch TV and do it several times during the evening. When he wanders off inbetween treats, you can start working on the recall connecting with his name.

At 5 months he would also benefit from puppy school for socialisation as well as training tips.........

The thing is if you continuously use his name it will have the opposite effect and he may end up ignoring it! Try putting his food bowl down while he is in a different room and calling his name to attract him to it. You may like to try saying his name every now and then and reward for even eye contact - anything that gets a reaction when his name is called.
Sarah

Our trainer used to tell us not to use the dogs name when you were teling him/her off for something or else he will associate the name with being naughty ( if you get what I mean ).
I think its instinct to shout the dogs name when he is doing something you dont want- instead of saying "No" or "Stop".
Hope that makes sense