We’ve all been there.
You call your dog, and they pretend not to hear you.
You ask for a “sit” and they look the other way.
You repeat yourself (maybe louder this time), and still...nothing.
It’s one of the most common frustrations dog guardians face. But the good news is: it’s also one of the easiest to understand once you know what’s happening beneath the surface.
Most of the time, your dog is just confused, overwhelmed or missing information. Let’s explore the three most common situations where dogs “don’t listen” and how to help them succeed:
- When Your Dog Listens at Home but Not Outside. This usually happens for a couple of reasons:
First, your dog might not have generalized the cue yet. This means they’ve learned what “sit” means in the living room, but not what it means in the park. Or they sit when you ask while standing in front of them, but not when you’re sitting by their side.
Dogs don’t automatically understand that a cue applies in every context. Each environment and situation feels different, and they need a bit of help transferring the meaning.
Second, it might be emotional: some dogs feel relaxed and confident at home but anxious or overstimulated outside. If the world feels overwhelming, their brain simply can’t focus on your voice.
So, what can you do?
If it’s a generalization issue:
Take a step back. Re-teach the cue in each new place.
If your dog sits perfectly in the living room but not in the backyard, start again there: lure + reward, then lure + cue + reward and finally cue + reward. Then practice in quiet outdoor areas first and slowly build up to more distractions.
That’s how solid learning happens, one step at a time.
If it’s emotional:
Focus first on confidence and emotional safety.
Repeating “sit” when your dog is in a different mental space won’t take you far.
A qualified trainer can guide you step by step through the process of building a solid foundation, helping your dog feel confident enough to hear your voice and work with you in different environments.
2. When Your Dog Normally Listens… Except When Something More Exciting Appears: if your dog’s recall vanishes the moment a squirrel, dog, or ball appears, you’re dealing with focus, impulse control and motivation. Most of the time, it’s simply that the distraction is more valuable than what you’re offering.
So here’s what to do:
Start with realistic expectations:
If kibbles are enough as a reward at home, don’t expect the same to work outdoors.
There’s actually a fun exercise you can do to figure out what to use in different situations and if you want to try it, I’ve prepared a free worksheet for you to DOWNLOAD HERE.
But the general rule is: the bigger the distraction, the tastier the reward: chicken, cheese, steak, whatever your dog loves most!
Keep your dog engaged:
Play games, change your pace, and make yourself part of the fun.
In real-life situations, practicing connection and having fun together (in a structured way) is more important than obedience, where you’re just putting your dog in a position instead of working on their internal state.
Note:
If your dog has a very strong prey drive, that’s more than just a common distraction, we’re dealing with instinct and genetics.
If your dog loves to chase to the point that nothing works, seek help from a qualified trainer who can teach you how to channel those instincts into something safe and acceptable and how to work together rather than against each other.
3. When Your Dog Seems to Ignore You Completely: you find yourself repeating the same cue over and over, and your dog doesn’t even acknowledge you exist. Not even a reaction. You’re not alone.
This usually happens when a cue has lost its meaning or never had a strong one to begin with.
Here are two common situations and how to fix them:
The reward disappeared too soon in the teaching process.
Many people stop rewarding once a dog “knows” a behavior. But dogs repeat what pays off.
If sitting no longer earns them something good, motivation fades over time.
Think of it like your paycheck: would you keep working if your boss stopped paying you just because you’re already good at your job?
You don’t need to give the same amount of treats you used while teaching the new behavior forever.
Over time, you’ll be able to reward only at the end of the behavior, but you do need to keep rewarding consistently, sometimes with food, sometimes with play, sometimes with enthusiasm and real life rewards.
The cue got “poisoned.”
This happens when we repeat cues too many times before the dog responds, or use them inconsistently.
It’s like being called by name every half hour at work, sometimes to be praised, sometimes to be scolded, sometimes to be asked for help. After a while, you’d pretend not to hear it anymore, just to avoid the mental overload. Dogs are the same. When our words become confusing, they learn to tune out. It becomes meaningless background noise.
To fix it, say the cue only once…then wait.
Give your dog time to process and respond! Even when someone asks you to do something, you don’t always respond in a fraction of a second like we expect our dogs to do!
If they get distracted, try again. If it still doesn’t work, go back a step in training and rebuild the association between the verbal cue and the action.
Bonus Thought
Dogs are thinking beings.
There are moments when they understand perfectly, but they’re trying to tell you something about how they feel.
For example, it took me a little while to realize that, when Nala was young, she didn’t like to sit on grass that was even slightly wet.
And because I respect my dogs’ preferences whenever possible and I don’t need to prove that I’m “the boss” to feed my ego, I simply am aware of the environment before asking them to sit or lie down.
If I need them to “stay” somewhere, for example, I might just ask them to stay in a standing position instead.
Our dogs are always communicating and giving us information, we just need to quiet our ego and listen.
And because that’s easier said than done, qualified force-free dog trainers (like me and many others around the world) are here to support you in your beautiful and unique journey. So don’t hold on to reach out and give yourself and your dog the best life possible!
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