New dog owner needs help?

well you are a new owner so if the dog isnt listening to you by calling her or his name maybe that not really name so  plus you can change your puppy name be side that maybe some sample name that the dog will like be call. what cute dog you have. plus if you dont know what kind of breed is it. you got there is bernese mountain dog they can grown very big when its come to adult age. and being a first pet owner isnt hard to taking care of new puppy. i had dogs my whole life so i pretty much how does feel to have a puppy at first time. sooner you train the dog then later will listen and following your commands . but first thing you need to go get the puppy all his or her vet check and get all the puppy fleas and heart worm tested shots done first. then if the puppy is not a potty train yet. you can train it first ther are books at the stores that sells training puppy potty train books or vidoes that you can learn and watch on youtube .com has many ideas that you can watch and learn. there also at the costco whole sale store or on amazon com here some books too that you can look and follow the steps. there are also dog should get spayed too later. i just give some ideas what might want to get later . if you go to any pet stores  the employeers that works at the pet stores who knows well what you need when you have a dog . they give some great ideas what kind of puppy foods and toys, name, vet , address tags  and train pottery pads and diapers pants , ect. very simple to ask . .good lucky with your new pet . pets stores and other stores sells puppies safe x mas gifts stockings and ect. 

here is more informations about Bernese mountain dogs. why they called that for. 

also known as the berner Sennenhund ,the bernese mountain dog is one of four swiss mountain dogs all of which share a similar general apprearance.this breed may be distinguished from the others by its longer coat. descended from sheepdog and mastiff stock, the breed was orginally used to herd cattles and other livestock , and as a guard dog, but it is probably best known as ac draft animal, used by weavers and farmers to pull carts of produce. today it is occasionally encountered in a similar role, giving rides to young children. but it continues to be found as herder and guard dog. is employed in search and rescue works  and makes an affrectionate an attentive companion . unfortunately , the bernese i highly susceptible to various forms of cancer, and in recent years .the life expectancy of this breed has decreased dramatically. their height is 23-28 inches and should weight 80-110lbs, life span is 6-9 years. orgin came from Switzerland . . breed is a large, powerful bulit and heavy dog with board head and deep chest. the ears are trangular and pendant. and the tail long and bushy .the coat is silky of medium length ,black in color with a white muzzle, chest feet, and tail tip.with chestnut or tan markings on the face and legs.  

just one comment (or 2)  it would have been better if he could have stayed with his litter for a couple of more weeks.  Also, his previous home may have been all women, so do the best you can to get him around other dogs and men (over 12, when we start to smell like men) so that he won't be scared of dogs or men.  His previous home may have been all women, so

he is very young to be learning such commands. I have had a cattle kelpie dog and they like a lot of exercise as they are working dogs. One way of doing this command is to tie a long rope around the collar and go a distance away, say his name and say COME then pull him towards you with the rope. When he gets to you give him a treat. Just keep repeating this but remember he is a puppy and not to expect too much

[Ron G]: You've had 5 days but have supplied NONE of the information I need.

If your "Also all trainers in my area are booked up for several months." update is true, you live in a weirdly-wrong part of the world! Almost everywhere except YOUR district has training CLUBS where one pays a subscription and for about 2 months are in a class where an instructor OBSERVES you & your dog then COACHES you on whatever skill you seem to be WORST at. You are then expected to practise the skill or skills several times a day at HOME before returning next week for another observation & coaching. At the end of the current period everyone undergoes a test to decide whether they are ready to progress up a level, or need to restart the level they were SUPPOSED to be working on at home. Pull your finger out and start being INFORMATIVE.

• "New dog owner needs help"

Hi, [Ron]. You've been in Y!A for at least 10 years, so should know that that first field is supposed to END with your MAIN QUESTION. But your 5 words don't ASK us anything - they tell us you are new to dogs, and need help - but don't ASK for any particular kind of help.

So, moving on...

• "I recently got a Border Collie/Australian Shepard mix from a local couple."

Except as the surname of people whose ancestor was listed (by a French-speaking Norman aka Viking) in the Domesday Books, that Norman scribe understanding the English person who, when asked for his name, stated: "I am Frank the shepherd" (or some other call-name) because back then few English people bothered to have a surname, so usually answered that question with "Bob the butcher" or "Dan the cobbler" or "Fred the fisher" or some such, there is NO word "shepard".

👨‍🦯A shepherd (all lower-case letters) is a man or boy who looks after sheep.

🐕The dog that does most of his work will be, depending on the nation, a Belgian Shepherd Dog or a Bergamasco Shepherd Dog or a Border Collie or a Croatian Shepherd Dog or a German Shepherd Dog or a Polish Lowland Sheepdog or a Portuguese Sheepdog or a Tatra Shepherd Dog (EVERY word starting with a capital letter). The only one I can think of that DOESN'T have the word DOG as part of its name is the misnamed Australian Shepherd - I say misnamed because, as far as I can make out, the breed was originally a Spanish Collie-type dog, of which several (and their trainers) were employed to accompany the Merino sheep that were sent in sailing ships to Australia - and after the dogs had done the work of keeping the sheep together as they were walked to farms inland from Sydney, the sheep dogs and the human shepherds would sail on to the USA.

💥Q1: Why aren't you asking the people who BRED him?

💥Q2: Were you supplied with a feeding sheet suggesting foods & amounts and how often at each age? And a list of vet-checks & ages at which to give various vaccines? If not,study the FEEDING and the VACCINATIONS part of: https://lesp90.wixsite.com/lorelei-gsd-kennels/adv... No, until CoViD-19 is all sorted out you CAN'T migrate to here!

• "He was 9 weeks old when I got him 3 weeks ago."

So - depending on how you are raising him - he should be house-clean and should like you VERY much.

Sadly, you've told us nothing about where he "lives", where he "sleeps", what & where he eats, what kind of collar & leash you use. In a training club you are likely to be allowed ONLY a lightweight slip-chain and a flat (leather or woven nylon) leash about 2m/6ft long

• "I am trying to get him to come when I call him, he recognizes his name but does not respond to "come here" or "stay".

Forget "Stay" and "Heel" until YOU have been COACHED in a weekly training class. He should already have had the CORE vaccines (distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus), at 8 & 12 weeks old, with another due within a day of when he is 16 weeks old. Unless you are in a rabies district (that's almost everywhere near or north of the equator) you should have already reserved a spot in a training club or group, so that you get COACHED for about a year, starting when Pup is 18 to 22 weeks old.

For "Come" and "Sit" you either (1) use pea-sized treats to lure him then reward him when he does what the treat tempts him to do, or (2) have him on-leash so you can calmly-but-firmly haul him into the right position then PRAISE and REWARD him.

You might find that patting your knees or thighs while crouching forward helps your Pup decide to come in. Remember that there are LOTS of ways to REWARD your pet, once you know the things it actually likes.

Training requires YOU to do LOTS of observing & analysing! And to find a reward when the response is "almost right" - but include enthusiasm when the response is spot on.

When I became a class instructor in 1968 or '69, the ONLY rewards we were allowed to use were our praise plus pats or rubs where the dog LIKES those. My Jena liked them so much that her race back with HER dumbbell (she objected VERY strongly when her younger maternal half-sister DARED to try to pick it up first!) that she had to sit several feet away and skid-sit until the nobby ends bashed my shins every time - and in a competition I was NOT allowed to move my shins out of the way!

ALWAYS start every future command with his name. E.g.: "Benson - COME" or "Benson - SIT!"

And ALWAYS use exactly the same command phrase for JUST THAT ACTION - never just a command-word to mean slightly different things. Well, not until you are a rather advanced trainer and choose to start a command as meaning something like "Lie down", then - a day or 4 later - extend it to mean "Lie down then roll over", then later add something else to that sequence. Watching "Dancing with Dogs" videos you will detect LOTS of commands (using hand-signals & body-language as the commands) that have been extended.

• "I am 69 years old and never had a dog before so no idea what I am doing. Benson seems very friendly to other people, especially ladies. Also neighbors kids love to come play with him. How can I get him to respond to commands?"

By not giving him any choice. THAT'S why leashes and light-weight slip-chains were invented!

Until you have successfully trained him to CONSISTENTLY perform, any attempt to give commands is a waste of breath. You area LONG WAY AWAY from being able to reward him every 3rd or 4th time. At his age it must be EVERY time. You must also develop a GROWL-&-walk-away for when he - weeks after being consistently obedient, suddenly disobeys but is off-lead. (I think someone earlier mentioned how effective running away from your dog is at getting the dog to chase you. But I'm too tired to check on who it was.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intelligence_of_... will point out that although the Australian Shepherd is only 42nd on that list, the Border Collie is ranked #1 - which means that it, like German Shepherd Dogs,if easily able to outwit mentally lazy humans, and can end up training the human instead of the other way around! The cleverer the actual dog, the more ESSENTIAL for the human to get COACHED!

King Les The Lofty - first pup in 1950, GSD trainer & breeder as of Easter 1968

for starters hes to young , still in the puppy stage , and have yo u any sheep , he needs a big back yard and lots of excercise , even a jak russel needs lots of excercise , you should have got a pomeranian , or chuhaha .

take him to a training center like petco they can train your dog easily so he will listen most dogs don't listen until they are taught to by a trainer

You are expecting too much from such a young pup.  What you are trying to do, too early, is Basic Obedience.  You can google that & learn how to do it.  Training is nothing but repetition.  Practicing & practicing, over & over again & again until the dog had it down pact.  This is the same way children learn in  school.  How many times did you have to spell 'cat' in school.  I know that was a long time ago but that is training, teaching.  The recall/come is learned later on in training.  Puppies have a very short attention span so training sessions need to be short & always end on a happy note.  The things he should be learning now is not to bite & potty training.  You are jumping the gun just a little.

Set him up to succeed...... on a lead or line, call his name and encourage him using the lead/line to come......... praise and as you are feeding him 2-3 times a day that is the perfect time to practice 'come' you call his name each time and if he comes ( and he will) he gets his meal, if he doesn't come on first call he doesn't get his meal, wait 5 mins and try again

Same with stay, on a lead so he can't fail to do what he is told........ and know the difference between 'stay' and 'wait' Stay means stay until I return, wait means wait until my next command

So examples stay when you are leaving him in the house/car, wait when you want him to wait at a road before crossing

......and if he is walking nicely on a lead then get the harness off him, get him a soft collar and lead otherwise you are teaching pulling when walking as that is what harnesses were ivented for so it is easy and encourages dogs to pull........ and book some dog training classes NOW so you learn some basics otherwise in another few weeks you will have lots of issues and a much larger dog to manage

Keep a supply of little treats in your pocket & call him at random times.  Make sure your voice doesn't have a harsh tone and praise him/scratch him when he comes.  Eventually you won't have to use the treats at all.

They have to be trained to respond to commands, they don't come having any idea what you want of them or understanding English. As this is your first dog, I strongly recommend signing up for some obedience classes with your dog. I also hope you're prepared to give this dog an ENORMOUS amount of exercise as it gets older, and invest a lot of time in training. It's going to need it.