Please help

[Rayna 3]

Hello all, I've just become a member and hope I can really get some help. I have 2 new puppies and have been training them from day one. I've had them 4 weeks now. The problem is that I can't seem to hold there attention. Even if I'm holding a treat and they're hungry, they won't pay attention to me for more than a couple of seconds - they would even rather look at a speck in the floor than me!

I've somehow managed to get them to learn to sit on command, but it seems anything else isn't working. What am I doing wrong?

I've read ALOT of different websites and watch the Dog Whisperer religiously. I've tried just about everything I can think of to get & keep their attention to no avail. If anyone could please offer some insight or let me know if I'm doing anything wrong I ( and the puppies! ) would greatly appreciate it Thanks.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

how old and what breed are the puppies?

Do you train them together or seperately?

 

[Gallien Jacks]

yes more info is needed, and how about puppy classes they are great for soclisation

 

[Fran27]

Your best bet is to train them seperately, in a place low on distractions. But yes, puppies have a very small attention span.

 

[bubbatd]

This is why no one should get 2 pups from the same litter.....yes age/breed please, and buy the book " How To Raise A Puppy You Can Live With "...Paperback from Amazon...used and cheap !

 

[Gallien Jacks]

This is why no one should get 2 pups from the same litter.....yes age/breed please, and buy the book " How To Raise A Puppy You Can Live With "...Paperback from Amazon...used and cheap !

yes that is a good book, and two pups from the same litter is fine if you have the experence to be able to train then corectly, its not for the first time owner

 

[bubbatd]

Thanks for agreeing.. GJ ....the book goes into raising more than one pros and cons too.

 

[Gallien Jacks]

yes there are some great books out their, i am suprised that more people dont buy books and read up first, i know i do its part of the build up to getting a new dog

 

[Rayna 3]

Thank you all for your replies - they were very helpful I will check out the book you guys mentioned. See, I've had plenty of dogs before, but never pups. I'm very surprised by how different it is to deal with puppies.

To fill you guys in, they are male and from the same litter. They are a mix breed of ( I hope you're sitting down! ) a Jack Russell Terrier and a Black Lab. They are around 8-9 weeks old. The previous owner was going to take them to the pound and since I love dogs I had to have them.

Anyway, I just really want to train them right and have them be healthy and I was concerned since they weren't paying attention. Since my last post, I also read the sticky posted here about owning puppies and that also helped alot!

Thank you all for your advice and anything else you might want to let a first-time puppy owner know!!

 

[Gallien Jacks]

I am glad you are finding out lots of info, i asume the mum was the lab? I hope for your sake they are more like labs to train than Jacks lol

 

[Rayna 3]

Haha - actually the mom was the Jack Russell. She also had 6 pups in the litter! Out of curiosity are Jack Russell's hard to train? I'm in for a rough time aren't I?

 

[dani12]

Don't get discouraged. We have two puppies from the same litter and in the beginning I had a ton of questions and wondered if we did the right thing. They are now 8 months and yes, they can drive me crazy at times but don't all puppies!!

 

[Saje]

Awww. They were taken from their mom at four weeks? That's going to cause problems too. From my limited perspective they just sound like puppies. I'd definitely work with them separately and for short periods of time. Don't expect a lot. Just keep at it

 

[Rubylove]

Much much better to train them separately from each other - we still do that with our two.

It is the best way to get their attention on you and keep it on you - and you'll need to have that control when they're together, too - paying attention to YOU not each other.

Hopefully, as mentioned earlier, the lab part will respond to the training...lol. Labs are nutty little lunatics as puppies so I'm not surprised you can't get their attention, and also terriers are pretty stubborn and wilful, so it's a difficult combination.

As Saje said, they were taken from their mum VERY early and didn't get to learn anything much from her, which won't be helping.

Just train them separately and do things with them separately each day. They will soon learn that you are the one they need to look to. Just be consistent and you should be fine!

 

[Rayna 3]

Thanks guys, I will. You've all been a big help I will keep you posted!

By the way those dog pics you guys included were great! - they are soooo cute