When a Poodle Won’t Listen 

This section will cover everything you need to know regarding why a Poodle may ignore their owner, only listen some of the time, or act completely independent, and, importantly, effective steps you can take so that your Poodle will listen to you.   

One of the top-ranking factors in regard to intelligence is how quickly a dog learns new commands. In this aspect, Poodles, as a breed in general, are exceptional, ranked at #2 in obedience intelligence by Dr. Stanley Coren, author of The Intelligence of Dogs. 

However, there is a much larger picture to this when a Poodle is not listening to his owners. Intelligence does not automatically mean that a dog will obey, it just means that they are capable of it. 

When a Poodle is trying to lead the way and gives little regard to his owners, the manner in which commands are given, frequency of learning opportunities, motivation to listen, and perceived hierarchy in the house all play a role and are some of the determining factors of obedience. 

So, while a Poodle may very well be a smart and clever dog, this does not mean that they will automatically fall right in line or have been taught the benefits of doing so. 

Adults: Ideally, you will want to train your Poodle to listen better before they reach adulthood. By the 1 to 2-year mark, habits are well-formed. This said, adult Poodles can be taught to obey, it will just take a bit longer than with pups. Rescues that come into new homes as adults with a history of neglect or abuse may also need more time. 

Seniors: Older Poodles may have partial hearing or vision loss that affects their ability to hear or see their humans which can be incorrectly interpreted as decreased listening skills. 

In order for a Poodle to consistently listen to you, you must be seen as an authority figure. In other words, a leader. Dogs usually ignore those that they see under or at the same rank as themselves. You may assume that simply being a human would make your dog seen you as being in charge, but that is not the case with all dogs and especially with Poodles that have an independent streak. 

If a Poodle has no idea what ‘sit’, ‘come’, or ‘heel’ means, they cannot obey. Depending on the tone of voice that an owner uses, some dogs are not even sure what ‘no’ means. And, without strict housebreaking guidelines and implementation, Poodles will not instinctively know the house training rules. 

Some Poodles do understand what their human expects them to do, but do not see any valid reason (from their canine perspective) why they should listen.

Ideally, the answer to ‘why’ would be because it was asked of them; however, some dogs, particularly when there is a lack of authority (see next point), see no advantage to listening. These are the dogs that may appear to pay attention now and then. This sort of random obeying is usually just a Poodle doing as they wish which sometimes matches up to what their human wants as well. 

If a Poodle is feeling strong emotions, this may overpower any instinct or ability to listen. For example, during a thunderstorm, a Poodle may be so frightened and panicked that they are not able to follow commands. Or, a Poodle that feels their territory is being encroached upon by another dog may be so wound up in protection mode that they tune their owner out. 

Having a well-trained dog takes time and effort. The amount of energy that you devote to this will directly affect how well your Poodle responds. While every puppy and dog are unique individuals, and depending on how well you implement all training steps, it can take several weeks for a Poodle to learn a command and months to gain a good understanding of house-training rules or break a behavior like barking.  

#5 Set your Poodle up for success. 

If your Poodle stares out of the window in the morning, barking like crazy at the birds, close the blinds. If they shred their pee pads into pieces, use a pee pad tray. If they zoom across the street when you let them outside, do not let them out without being on a leash.  

Take the time to address issues like these to limit the number of things you’ll need to work on and it’ll be less overwhelming, not to mention more realistic, to work on the remaining problems. 

It’s very difficult for a dog to listen to their owner if they are not able to focus or their attention is divided. 

So, when you are first working on teaching your Poodle a skill, command, or behavior, do so in a place with no distractions. Once there has been some headway, you can gradually increase the level of distractions. 

For example, if you’re working on getting your Poodle to heel, do so where there is no traffic. As you progress, move to roads with a few cars, and then finally roads with a good amount of traffic flow. 

You’ll find that once you take charge in a loving yet firm way and as your pet parenting runs more harmoniously, your Poodle will be a more content canine family member that’s happy to listen to you.