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Recognising their name.

Anndav

Anndav

Well-known member
Hi! We have our pups almost 4 weeks now and we kept the names the breeder was calling them. However, despite using the names a lot, they don't seem to recognise the names at all. They don't show any signs of recognition at all. Are there any tricks to teaching them their names? Will it take longer when you have 2 pups the same age? How long does it usually take?

Anndav
Cosmo :paw: and Tarik:paw:
 
Have you been spending lots and LOTS of time with each pup individually? Two pups of the same age can bond closer to each other than they will to their humans, and that's even likelier if they're litter mates, since they'll already be bonded. It doesn't usually take long for a pup to learn it's name at all - Holly knew hers within three days. Amber took a bit longer because we started off with 'Chloe' which sounded too similar to 'Holly'. Once the name was changed to 'Amber' when she was 12-13 weeks or so, she picked it up immediately.
 
At one stage we had 8 dogs and they all knew their names, plus each of their many nicknames.

Here is one little thing that I think will help. Sit both puppies in front of you after you have armed yourself with some tiny but very tasty treats.

Say the name of one puppy and pop the treat in his mouth. Then say the name of the other puppy & pop the treat in his mouth. Be reasonably slow at this so the dogs have time to assimilate what is going on.

Whenever you give one dog something, say his name first. When issueing a command, say the name first & maybe with a gentle touch to indicate you are speaking to him. For example if you want one to sit you would say the puppy's name followed by "sit" and a gentle touch on the rump.

What are their names by the way? Hopefully they are not too similar in sound. Also, just as a matter of interest, you do not need to keep the names the breeder gave if you don't want to. Dogs will learn a new name quite easily, along with any other endearments you wish to call them.

It also is helpful to have a group name for them for when you want them both. I have always used "puppies" as the group name, even for my grandmas & grandpas. So it would be "come puppies".

Hope this helps a little. :)
 
That's great advice! When I'm working on training I address each dog my his/her name with the specific command. When addressing them as a "group" I say "puppies".
 
Sound advice from Caraline there! I have over 10 Cavaliers here :eek: and they all know their own names (plus nicknames including OY! You! :lol:)

I find that when I have litter mates the best thing to do is to make VERY DIRECT eye contact with the puppy you are talking to/calling, if the other pup comes forwards instead then ignore it totally until you use that pups name then reward appropiately. Another thing to remember is that most breeders initially will call a llitter forwards at feed time etc like this, "Pup, pup, pup, pup, puppies!!" you might try "pup, pup, pup, pup, "name of your puppy"!!

This is how I teach my pups to differentiate between their names when tiny, hope it helps you??
 
Mine now respond to "puppies!" even though it wasn't directly trained for or intended. It just happened that I got into the habit of calling "puppies" when I had treats, and they made the association. Although the will often come when I call one or the other, just in case they're missing out.
 
Dogs will generally respond to a number of words that mean 'them'. I rehome rescues all the times which respond to new names within days, so feel free to change the names if you wish. :)

However having two together is more of a challenge and is probably why they aren't responding to individual names at all -- hearing both on and off is confusing (how do they know which one of those two means them?) and also they will be likely more focused on each other as pups than you if they are together in the room. As noted already, two are twice the work -- as you need to give each separate and equal time daily. If you start keeping them separately and doing things separately with them daily for regularly periods they will quickly learn their names. They will as Lisa says, need this separate time or risk being more interested in each other and also having difficulty ever being apart -- and they will need to be apart if one needs to be at the vets etc.

I have a lot of links here on managing two puppies of the same age at the same time:

http://board.cavaliertalk.com/showthread.php?t=10549

I wish all breeders would discuss this very carefully with puppy buyers, as it does entail an awful lot of work for the people who take two on at once who might be thinking two are easier than one. :eek:
 
Here's what we do. We take the dog into our lap and get right into their face, talking softly and using their name over and over. Usually doesn't take long. Like others, we have a lot of dogs and they all know their name. Like kids, though, they do occaisionally get selective hearing when they are doing something they like and will totally ignore us.
 
Like kids, though, they do occaisionally get selective hearing when they are doing something they like and will totally ignore us.
Click to expand...

Like adults, too; especially workmates... :lol:
 
Thanks for all the advice. I tried using saying their name, tipping them, then popping the treats into their mouths. They liked that! Tarik (b/t) is showing more signs of recognition than before.

We've been taking one pup each and playing with them separately. Tarik is making progress with the sit game I play. Cosmo is just taking his time. However Cosmo is able to beg..something he just discovered himself!

We'll keep at it!

Anndav
Cosmo:paw: and Tarik:paw:
 
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