Okay, so, as the title so aptly indicates- my 8 month old sheltie is STUBBORN.
She has very selective hearing. Basically, if she feels like listening to you, she will. If not, she won't.
Here are some specifics:
Problem 1:
Trying to get her to bring her ball inside when we're done playing, or trying to get her to drop it at my feet instead of laying down with it/dropping it ten feet away from me. RETRIEVE IS COMPLEX BEHAVIOR YOU NEED TO BREAK IT DOWN IN SMALLER PARTS FOR YOUR DOG TO UNDERSTAND
What does she do?
She looks at me, looks at the ball, looks at me, looks at the ball, (so on and so forth until a squirrel runs by). Sometimes she looks away, up, down, anything to avoid eye contact, like "PFFFT yea right, you threw it, why don't you go get it."
SHE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ASKING AND IS FRUSTRATED
What do I do?
When I encourage her to "go get it" in a chipper voice, she looks away from me, from side to side. SOMETIMES she will decide to get it and bring it over. If she doesn't, I clap my hands and squeal and slap my legs like a special kind of lunatic. I have tried treats, but all she wants to do is eat the treat- she doesn't seem to make a connection between a ball in my hands (her toy, mind you), and a treat in her mouth (gosh that sounds bad). I have tried being firm, and trying to put the ball in her mouth (because you're not supposed to repeat your commands), but she clamps those furry little jaws shut.
STUFFING BALL INTO DOG MOUTH DOES NOT TEACH THEM ANYTHING
Problem 2:
Doing tricks without a treat.
It ain't Halloween every day, and Nova won't be getting treats every time she does a trick. However, without a treat, she does no tricks. EXACTLY VENDING MACHINE. And trust me, she does know them. Some of the tricks that involve strenuous effort like laying down on her side to play dead (life is so hard) she absolutely refuses to do unless she is guaranteed a treat. I heard that is not a good thing, because your dog should listen to you because you're the boss, not because you bribe them.
BRIBING IS LURING
What does she do?
She looks away, up, down, etc, and won't do the trick when I tell her to.
She also thinks that the trick business is like a transaction- she buys a treat with a trick, whenever she wants to. SHE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND YOU
What do I do?
I don't treat her for doing random tricks because I want her to understand she only gets a treat when I tell her to do a trick, and even then, she may not. But she's too darn smart, and has caught on, and knows now that sometimes she won't get a treat, so most of the time she blows me off. If I do happen to have a treat and she still decides it's not worth it, I usually just walk away (I know this is wrong, so that's why I'm here, to learn to do it right).
Problem 3:
Won't eat the healthy/so-expensive-you'd-think-it-was-made-of-gold dog food.
WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING HER?
What she does:
Looks at me like I'm trying to poison/play a joke on her.
What I do:
Pretend like I don't notice her hopeful stares for tastier food/disgruntled glare. Sometimes I encourage her to eat it, and then she smells it again, as if to say, "yep, it still sucks."
What I'm trying:
*Right now, I've got her enrolled in a "basic manners" doggie course, and I'm hoping that will give her some practice not in being polite, but in learning to obey my commands and respect mah authoritah. We begin on October 18th.
*I exercise her rigorously for at least an hour every day when I come home from work, and sometimes more. I don't think she's hurting for attention either, cos there are four people (my family) in the home at various times, so she's only by herself for about 6 hours at a time (can't be helped- we all work different hours).
*I mix the should-be-made-of-gold-for-that-price dog food in with the canned wet dog food- just enough to taste. This gets her to choke more of it down, but not by much. When she was a pup (<8 weeks old), the person taking care of her had her eating Kibbles & Bits.
I mean, I know it could be worse and all- with her running away from me and generally wreaking havoc, and I'm very thankful that she follows rules- but all those extra fun things Shelties rock at she refuses to do unless she feels like it. She also used to be really stubborn with things like going to the bathroom outside without me right next to her, but she's gotten over that so I'm hoping these hurdles are easy to jump, too.
I really would like to hear from people who have had stubborn dogs like this and know how to fix it.
SHE IS NOT STUBBORN, SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT BECAUSE YOU DON'T MAKE YOUR CRITERIA CLEAR
Although, I'm sure the neighbors get a kick out of watching me make a fool of myself in the backyard.
i will tell him to come, or sit, and he will just look at me like "yeah, i hear ya, doesnt mean im gunna do it!" and walks away!