5 Reasons Your Dog Isn't Listening to You

We humans are primarily verbal communicators. When we want someone to do something, we ask them. When we want someone to stop doing something, we speak. Talking is our default.

When dogs come into our lives, that default doesn’t go away. If you want the dog to come, you call him. If he’s chewing the baseboards, you tell him, “no.”

Problems happen when the words don’t work, and frustration mounts when he seems to know what you’re saying, but chooses to ignore you. What is going on there?

Here are five common reasons why your dog isn’t listening to you:

1. He doesn’t know what you want. Simple, yes, but worth considering. Because dogs aren’t born understanding English, they have to be taught what words mean. Dogs are keen observers of body language, and often understand what the body is saying before they understand what the mouth is saying. That doesn’t mean they can’t learn to respond to your words (called ‘verbal cues’), but it takes a specific process to make sure they’re learning your words and not your actions.
   
   Have you systematically taught your dog what the words mean?
   

2. He’s too worried about something else. Imagine you’re home alone late one night. You’re busy trying to complete a work project when you hear breaking glass and the sound of an intruder. Where’s your attention now? Will you continue working on your project?
   Fearful or anxious dogs cannot respond to requests—even requests they typically understand—because their brain is too concerned with staying safe.
   
   Is your dog worried?
   

3. He’s too distracted by you to know what you want. Talking, and motioning, and moving all at the same time is a lot of input for your dog to process at once. It’s like being asked to work a long-division problem while the teacher keeps repeating the problem out loud AND telling you to look at the white board AND moving candy around for you to see the problem worked out in real life. Woah. Slow down.
   
   How many pieces of information are you giving your dog at once?
   

4. There’s something else available that is more rewarding than your request—did someone say squirrels?! Dogs tend to operate in a “what’s in it for me?” mindset most of the time. If your dog hasn’t learned that listening to and engaging with you is fun, he’s going to ignore you in favor of the fun stuff.
   
   Has your dog learned it’s fun to pay attention?

5. He’s never learned that skill in this environment—dogs don’t typically generalize behaviors as quickly as humans do. I can rent a car that’s very different than my personal car, but still drive it after a few moments of orienting myself. I don’t have to re-learn how to drive. Dogs aren’t like that.
   Your dog might understand Sit at home, but he will not automatically transfer that Sit to the park. Dogs have to relearn their skills in many new environments before they can automatically do it in a brand new environment.
   
   Has your dog practiced that skill in that environment before?

If you need help getting your dog to listen, I’d love to help!