Hey guys! I'm hoping for some advice from all you more experienced poodle owners really. Millie is my first dog, we've only had her since she was 7months old (she's a rescue dog) and she's now 9 and a half months. When we got her she didn't seem to know any commands at all, not even 'sit'. She wasn't interested in toys as she didn't know what they were and fought against the lead. She loves people so I don't think she was treated badly however I get the impression they didn't really give time to train her or play with her, and maybe even walk her.
Training indoors is going well, she's more than happy to learn things for food! She now knows "sit", "high five", "down", "go to sleep" (lies on her side), "rollover", then she can get back up to "sit", back up to "stand", and "jump". We're working on stay - she's okay if I stay in sight! She also knows "dinner", "biscuit", "look", "find", "come here", "drop it". I may have forgotten some! We're working on heel with and without the lead.
However outside it's like she chooses to be deaf. She loves being outside and finds it very exciting exploring everywhere. She often stops to smell things, but mainly it's a big hunt for food - she loves finding food that people have dropped. She doesn't listen to any commands unless she feels like it. Most often there's something else more interesting than her ball (which she will fetch endlessly indoors) she runs off sniffing and finding scraps and she certainly isn't interested in coming back if she sees some food or another dog to play with. She's very confident and doesn't mind running quite a way from me. She ran out of sight last week and when I caught her up she had sat down waiting for me, not headed back to find me. She's also not so bothered about food outdoors, I can offer her a treat for listening to me but she just turns away and trots off to explore something else!
Walking on the lead she often ignores me too. She may make a couple attempts at walking to heel and getting rewarded before deciding that it's more interesting to go sniffing at something off to one side. On the extending lead in open spaces she tries to pull me her way rather than following me or listening when I say "this way". However she does have her moments when she listens instantly so I don't have any doubt that she understands what I'm asking of her!
I'm not sure if is due to her age as she is just over 9months and I've heard this is like a teenage phase for dogs where they can be stubborn and decide not to listen, or if it's due to maybe the fact she didn't get to explore much before she came to us? Or if it's even to do with the way I've been doing training and the fact I've done lots of training indoors but probably not as much outside?
Any advice on how to get her to listen outside? I know we've not really had her a long time yet - only two and a half months - but she absolutely loves playing off the lead and I really want to get this sorted as soon as possible so that she can have fun and get exercise while also being safe and under reasonable control!
We have got a dog training book but not sure what to do when she's not bothered about her toy or food or praise etc outside! I have also thought about dog training classes for her but she has absolutely no attention for me when there's another dog in sight so I think that would potentially be very frustrating!
Sorry this is so long and thanks for reading :smile:
Training indoors is going well, she's more than happy to learn things for food! She now knows "sit", "high five", "down", "go to sleep" (lies on her side), "rollover", then she can get back up to "sit", back up to "stand", and "jump". We're working on stay - she's okay if I stay in sight! She also knows "dinner", "biscuit", "look", "find", "come here", "drop it". I may have forgotten some! We're working on heel with and without the lead.
However outside it's like she chooses to be deaf. She loves being outside and finds it very exciting exploring everywhere. She often stops to smell things, but mainly it's a big hunt for food - she loves finding food that people have dropped. She doesn't listen to any commands unless she feels like it. Most often there's something else more interesting than her ball (which she will fetch endlessly indoors) she runs off sniffing and finding scraps and she certainly isn't interested in coming back if she sees some food or another dog to play with. She's very confident and doesn't mind running quite a way from me. She ran out of sight last week and when I caught her up she had sat down waiting for me, not headed back to find me. She's also not so bothered about food outdoors, I can offer her a treat for listening to me but she just turns away and trots off to explore something else!
Walking on the lead she often ignores me too. She may make a couple attempts at walking to heel and getting rewarded before deciding that it's more interesting to go sniffing at something off to one side. On the extending lead in open spaces she tries to pull me her way rather than following me or listening when I say "this way". However she does have her moments when she listens instantly so I don't have any doubt that she understands what I'm asking of her!
I'm not sure if is due to her age as she is just over 9months and I've heard this is like a teenage phase for dogs where they can be stubborn and decide not to listen, or if it's due to maybe the fact she didn't get to explore much before she came to us? Or if it's even to do with the way I've been doing training and the fact I've done lots of training indoors but probably not as much outside?
Any advice on how to get her to listen outside? I know we've not really had her a long time yet - only two and a half months - but she absolutely loves playing off the lead and I really want to get this sorted as soon as possible so that she can have fun and get exercise while also being safe and under reasonable control!
We have got a dog training book but not sure what to do when she's not bothered about her toy or food or praise etc outside! I have also thought about dog training classes for her but she has absolutely no attention for me when there's another dog in sight so I think that would potentially be very frustrating!
Sorry this is so long and thanks for reading :smile: