Help For a Stubborn Dog!

Tug my two year old OES has a stubborn streak. He is very trainable and easy going until, he decides he does not want to come inside. Then he ignores me! He would wait until we had been inside for about 5 minutes and then he would decide that he wanted to come in.

I tried everything! Calling him, Favorite treats, Waiting patiently, Getting a hold of his collar as we approached the house...(we walk on our property so he is off leash) Nothing was working!

He ignored my voice, Ignored the treats, waited just a patiently as me, and learned to anticipate me grabbing his collar so he would keep his distance as we approached the house.

My patience was running out.

So what finally worked. I decided to ignore him back. I found out quickly that Tug doesn't like to be ignored either! Ha!

I pay no attention to him at all as we are in the last phase of our walk. As we approach the house I talk to Nova, our border collie. I let her know she will be getting a treat, I tell her to go to the porch, and I give her permission to enter the house. Guess who is right behind her?!

In this situation Tug's behavior isn't really bad, but it is disrespectful. He should do what he is told, when he is told. Not at his leisure. So is Tug listening to what I tell him? Not in a word or command sense, but he following by example and doing the right thing! Good enough for me!