Discover why your dog is ignoring your commands and learn how you can fix it!
Have you ever called your dog’s name or told your pup no and they don’t pay any attention to you?
They just continue to play or do something they aren’t supposed to… like grab your kid’s shoe after you said no and run off.
Or…
You just bought or adopted a dog and when you call their name they keep their head straight and side-eye you?
You get the funny suspicion that your new dog is purposely ignoring you!
Or…
Do you give your dog a command they know and they just don’t listen!? Or do a completely different command?
They know the command but it takes them a few times before they listen and follow the command. Once again purposely ignoring you.
You begin to wonder if your dog is stubborn or if they just don’t like you.
There is nothing more frustrating than your dog blatantly ignoring you and your commands!
I know… I have been there before.
Today, I am going to share with you how you can get your dog to listen to your commands without the dreaded side-eye, blank stare or look at the ground.
Before we can correct the issue we first need to know why they are ignoring you in the first place.
So let’s answer your question…
“Why is my dog ignoring my commands?”
Dogs usually ignore their owners commands due to insufficient training or lack of communication between the dog and its owner.
8 reasons that your dog is ignoring your commands:
- Your dog doesn’t know their name.
- Your dog is fearful, scared or anxious.
- Your dog is in pain.
- Your dog is distracted.
- Your dog doesn’t understand you.
- Your dog doesn’t like your reward.
- Your dog is challenging your authority.
- Your dog needs more training.
We will go over each of these issues and I will give you a solution to help solve the specific issue you are facing.
Your dog doesn’t know their name.
This is pretty self-explanatory. If a dog doesn’t know their name then they simply aren’t going to respond to it. Chances are if you are experiencing this then you are likely dealing with a puppy.
Problem: Your dog doesn’t look at you when you call his name…
Solution: To get your dog to look at you when you call his name do the following:
Say his name.
When he looks at you say mark it with a yes and give him a treat and praise him. (If you don’t have a treat highly praise him… yes, pet him, food boy! Be enthusiastic.)
You will usually find within a few days to a week your puppy will begin responding to his name. Looking at you when you call his name.
Problem: Your dog is ignoring you when he/she is called to come…
Solution: To fix this issue you will want to work with your pup more on recall training- to come when called.
To do this you will want to start your training in a place with low distractions. (No extra noises like TVs or kids screaming).
You will want a positive, excited attitude and some high-value treats (treats your dog loves for example cooked chicken). You will also need one other person to help you play this ‘game’ with your dog.
Each of you will start about 6 ft apart with the pup in the middle. Squat down and in an excited voice say your dog’s name and wave your hand towards yourself when the pup comes to you mark it with a yes and give your pup the reward and praise him/her.
Then have the other person do the same. Have them call your dog’s name and give the hand signal to come. Mark with yes, reward and praise when they come. Continue to do this getting further a part from each other.
You can then begin saying their name and when you give the hand signal say come.
Keep training sessions short and sweet as dog’s especially pups tend to lose focus more quickly.
Only give the dog treats or praise when they look at you and come.
Once he gets the hang of it inside then you can move your training outside. Once outside put your pup on a longer training lead.
Let him explore and then call his name and tell him to come. When he comes to you mark it with a yes and then give him a treat and praise.
If your dog knows his name and isn’t responding or giving you the side-eye, then He is probably ignoring you because he is scared, fearful or anxious.
Your dog is fearful, scared, or anxious.
Different environments can cause your dog to feel any or all of the above. That’s why it is super important to socialize your pup at a young age and take him and train him in different environments once he has mastered his commands at home in a comfortable and safe environment.
When your dog feels any or all of these emotions they usually will not listen out of fear. You may also notice that they pace and/or whine, or even tuck his tail and retreat (try to run away and hide).
This is also a reason that your dog may not come when called or look at you when you call their name.
Problem: Your newly adopted or rescued dog won’t listen or respond to its name (that it knows). Instead, when you call their name they keep their head straight, giving you the side-eye.
Solution: To solve this problem you will want to give your newly adopted dog some time to settle and get used to its new environment.
Your new dog is ignoring you because they are most likely feeling scared, fearful and anxious. They are unsure if they can trust you yet.
Think of it like this… You have a toddler or young child and you uprooted it from its home and normal routine and you go drop them off at a new place where they don’t know anyone.
Give your dog some space. If they are pacing let them pace. If your newly adopted dog is already crate trained then you can also put him in his crate (his safe place) after pacing for a bit.
When they come up to you or near you mark it with yes and praise them.
You don’t even have to pet them just let them get comfortable being near you. After a few days you will begin to see them pace less and finally sit down and get comfortable. Soon after you will notice that they will begin responding to their name.
Tip: If your dog is ignoring his name and you don’t really like his name- now would be a great time to change it!
You can do this by say his new name when he looks at you or comes to you mark it with a yes and reward him.
You will be very surprised at just how quickly they will respond to their new name.
Your dog is in pain.
Maybe you are asking your dog to down and your dog just won’t do it. He knows the command he just won’t listen. Instead, he just sits and stares at you.
It doesn’t matter how good your treat is he is just ignoring your command to go into his down command.
If you notice he is doing every other command on command and it is just a certain command he won’t obey (like down), It is highly possible that he isn’t going into a down because it is painful.
This is more likely to occur when you have older dogs but it can happen in younger fast growing dogs as well (such as German Shepherds).
They may be experiencing joint or hip pain and that certain position puts more on it causing more pain.
Solution: You can give your dog a supplement for hip and joint health and see if it improves. If you see your dog is beginning to follow his command, YAY… it’s working! If not it I would highly recommend you take your dog to the vet so they can further evaluate him.
Your dog is distracted.
When your dog is distracted simply put, they will not pay attention and may appear to be ignoring you and your commands.
When a dog is distracted they are focused on that one thing. Everything around that distraction is just a blur to them.
Think of it like tunnel vision. They are so focused on that noise, or person, etc. that no matter what you say they just will follow a command or look at you.
This is why when you begin any training of a new command for your dog you do this in a non distraction area. No extra noises, people, animals, etc.
You may find that your dog obeys and follows commands at home but when you take him to the store or park it’s a whole different ball game.
Solution: Take a step back. Take your dog into a room of the house where there are no distractions. Work with him on his commands.
Be sure he does each command in a no distraction area before you make your way to a low distraction area (a room with people and noise) and then eventually into a high distraction area (outside, then park or store.)
You can also teach a look at me command to redirect his focus off of the distraction and onto you.
To do this you will have a high-value treat. Hold you finger up and slowly move it to in front of your nose with the treat in your hand. While saying look at me.
When he makes eye contact with you mark it with a yes and give him a treat.
Your dog doesn’t understand you.
Most dogs are very smart. But no matter how smart they are they don’t understand the language that you are speaking.
You are basically speaking in tongues to them which is why it is important to keep commands simple 1-2 words.
Sit, stay, down, lay down, heel, off, no, go to bed, crate, etc.
OK, Go to bed is 3 but they are short words.
If you say or yell a full sentence to your dog then chances are they will just look at you, tilt their head or even run for the hills.
This lack of communication between you and your dog can also be a reason for your dog doing a different command then what you are asking. He just wants to please you and if he is unsure of what you are asking he may try everything he knows until he gets the right one.
Sometimes dogs can understand you even better when you say nothing at all which is why you teach hand signals before or with the command.
For example : Come- You wave your hand towards yourself when giving the command.
This also helps your dog understand you when there is a lot of noise.
Solution: To help your dog better understand you, teach hand signals before you introduce a new command and then put the command word with it.
Or you can use the signal with the command word at the same time.
Use 1-2 words for each command and be sure you speak clearly and in the same tone each time. Start from a normal tone and increase excitement if you need to.
Your dog doesn’t like your reward.
If your dog isn’t interested in the treat that you have then you need to up your reward with something even better.
Dogs use their nose for everything and if that treat smells oh-so-tasty then they just can’t resist.
The level of distractions going on can also impact your dog’s response to your treats.
In short, the higher the distractions, the higher value (tastier treat) you need to used to reward with.
Solution: Up your treat game! If you are using your dog’s food as a training treat or a taste similar to it (chicken) then want to try a liver treat.
If the liver treat is not getting her attention, use real chicken or beef pieces.
Something else you may want to consider is your training times. If you are trying to train your dog after he just ate then chances are he will not want the treat because he is full.
Start your training session at least a couple after they eat. Or you can use smaller meals while using the rest of their meal for rewards for training.
If you dog has no interest in food as a reward (some don’t) then try to use their favorite toy or ball. Some dogs are ball driven and not good driven. Only allow them to play with their toy or ball when they follow through with the command they are given. Do NOT give it to them when you are not training. This will take away the value or the toy or ball.
Your dog is challenging your authority.
When you have a dominant dog they think that they are the leader and do not see you as their leader or alpha.
A dominant dog can have many unwanted behaviors but one of those behaviors is being resistant to or ignoring commands.
Your dog thinks he is the boss so why listen to you. The leader does the bossing…
This also applies if you just adopted a new dog. Your dog doesn’t yet see you as their alpha and they may be for lack of words seeing what they can get away with.
Solution: How to show your dog you’re the alpha…
You need be sure to remain calm and have a confident, strong personality.
Don’t hold your dog down or pee on him. Yes, I said pee on him! This isn’t good advice to take (it is given) for showing a dog your dominance.
Doing the following with help you establish dominance over your dog:
- Make eye contact with your dog.
- Do not allow him on the bed or the sofa.
- Don’t let them eat until after you eat.
- Have them work for things such as his food, going outside to play, etc. (For example: Have them sit and stay or wait until broke before they can get what they want.)
Once your dog realizes and sees you are the leader of his pack then the behavior changes will follow and that includes listening to you!
Your dog needs more training.
If your dog is ignoring your commands then the #1 reason is simply because of insufficient training.
Insufficient training leads to unruly dogs just as it would if you let your child get away with anything (no boundaries or teaching manners). The same principles dog training teaches.
I am going to say something and I don’t want you to take it personally…
Your dog isn’t stubborn nor does he have a dislike for you.
At the end of the day the problem isn’t your dog. It is you! I know that sounds harsh but it is the truth.
Truth that I had to learn myself as well and the sooner you learn it the faster you will be able to attack and solve the problems.
Without proper training in a variety of settings, at home, in high distractions you can easily have a dog that just does not care about what you have to say. And one that will ultimately ignore you.
Solution: Start back with the basics. Teach one command at a time. Once you teach a new command and your dog has mastered it then you can apply it to their everyday life.
One of the easiest commands and first to teach is sit. Once you teach sit you can then have your dog sit before going outside, sit before they can get their food, sit before they can get their toy, etc.
Then once you teach stay, have them sit and stay before they can do the things they really want as I mentioned above.
I also believe it is important to teach a ‘break’ or ‘free’ command early in their training. So once your dog sits you can say ‘break’ or ‘free’ and they can move freely. This will help as you progress into an extended sit, stay or down. (Lengthening the time in the command.)
(In doing this you are doing a few things… teaching a command in an easy to understand way, showing your dog you are the alpha, and having your dog work for what they want.)
Once your dog has mastered the command at home (inside). Add distractions (TV, kids running), then move outside and then to a different location.
This will help you to build a better bond with your dog and will ensure that your dog listens to you anytime you ask them to perform a command.
Conclusion- Why is my dog ignoring my commands?
It is more than likely that your dog is ignoring your commands because of insufficient training or lack of communication.
Some other reasons are because they don’t know their name, they are fearful, scared or anxious. They are in pain, distracted, challenging your authority, don’t understand you or like their reward.
Now that you have a better understanding of why your dog is ignoring your commands, you can apply the solutions I have provided to get your dog following and listening to every one of your commands.
If you found this post helpful feel free to share it or leave a comment below. If you have any questions or specifics you need help with leave them below and I will be happy to help you!
Happy training,
Lisa Marie
Sharing is caring! 😉