Dogs don’t know what we want them TO DO unless we teach them. Now in my third decade deriving all of my income from my work of training dogs, I might have a small fortune accumulated if … every time I’ve heard, “S/he knows what to do (inserted assumption: but chooses not to)”. My response is always to ‘test it’ and at least 90% of the time, I’ve demonstrated that the dog does NOT know what specifically is being asked. Further proof of this, of course, is that the person I’m speaking with has sought my help to teach their dog to do whatever that ‘it’ is.
Very few dogs are capable of ‘getting one over’ on their humans. This is not to say that dogs do not have a sense of humor however! What I am saying is if your dog does not do what you ask, assume that s/he simply does not know what you want.
The reality is that dogs are amazing learners — when we teach them in the way they learn best. What is that way? It’s really the same way in which we teach children and, if we’re honest, it’s how adults learn new things too. Modern dog trainers start from the beginning and teach in a step-by-step, no steps skipped manner. We do lots of repetitions, aka, practice. And always always always, when it becomes obvious that dogs don’t understand what we want from them, we go back to the drawing board and break it down into simpler, smaller steps.
In closing, I encourage you to NOT assume your dog is ‘blowing you off’. Go back and examine your efforts in training your dog. Did you do the work? How many repetitions? How often? In how many different environments? And more. Did I ask you how many repetitions you’ve done?