Dogue Arrogance

[Dogue]

Hey my fellow DDB owners/keepers! I have a question for you guys. Do you guys have difficulty getting your dogue to come when she/he is focused on something? Or, when they're just being arrogant and they don't want to come? I experience this from time to time and it's very frustrating. I know this is a salient feature of the breed. Raymond Triquet even wrote it in the standard. Just curious? Miel has gone through obedience school, she sits on command, I can walk her on the leash, but getting her to come on command is still a problem. I have done the "room thing" where family members call her name and reward her with a treat (which she spits out if it's not to her liking; she's so French, lol!), I feel like I've done it all. What am I missing? I'm starting to wonder if it's just the breed and I need to accept it. Oh, when she doesn't come to me I turn my back on her and walk away which actually gets her to come but it's awkward doing that. Thanks guys!

 

[moose]

yeah dogue's can be very stubborn sometimes, moose and crete do the same thing with there treats, always spitting them out, drives me nuts

 

[Hmacalle]

Ha! Welcome to the DDB's "French" attitude. We laugh all the time about this although it's not funny when it happens. Yes, they are stubborn and often act as if they're deaf when they're focused on something else. Usually, we give a command, then wait a bit for them to decide if they're going to obey. DDB's are notorious for taking their time to decide if they're going to listen to you. Then we make a gesture (hand signal) or noise (I often snap my fingers and point down in front of me to get them to come) to get their attention and wait for them to obey. When that doesn't work, we give a stern command and gesture and usually that gets them moving. A big factor in this is getting your dogue to look at you before you give them the command. Food is helpful, too but after puppyhood, it's a special reward or used during practice sessions, not a lure.

P.S. My male DDB will push at treats with his mouth if he doesn't like them. It's hard not to laugh. I haven't seen either one of them spit them out, though. Both of them LOVE hot dogs. Go figure, I'm buying $23 buckets of dehydrated liver and they like hot dogs.

 

[Dogue]

DDB's are hilarious. I don't know of any other breed that spits out treats they don't like. Miel was on antibiotics and it was hell getting her to take her meds. I tried 100% butter and it worked. I then tried "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" and she spit it out, lol. She knows the difference!