Hazel's training (Need a bit of help)

[KikiDeAnime]

I've been working on Hazel's training ever since her siblings went to their forever homes. So ever since August, I've been working on getting her to understand that the chickens & ducks aren't something to pounce on and the training was working.. until last week. I kept up on it every day but now she won't listen to anything I say. She was doing so great with listening, sitting and watching, and paying attention to only me. I was doing her training while the birds were out free ranging to make it easier to train her.

When she was listening to me, she was acting like her father Mooshu but now she's acting more like her mother Mika. The only difference between her and her mother, is her mother actually understands "Leave it" & "No" when she chases the chickens. Hazel keeps chasing them and won't stop no matter how many times I scream "Leave it"

Her training is done when her parents aren't around as I don't want her getting distracted.

What could have caused her to stop listening to my commands?

 

[KikiDeAnime]

Even though she's 20 weeks old, she's still so small!

 

[AsaDotJava]

German Shepherds are a herding breed. Chasing things is what they do. Herding is just modified prey drive - chase, but don't kill. Not every dog has the perfect genetic balance... some dogs just want to kill the prey, while on the other end of the spectrum you have dogs that entirely ignore the prey. You cannot change genetics. You can put all the training you want into her, but if her instincts are telling her to chase the chickens then you are fighting an uphill battle. So, it depends on how much management you can and want to deal with.

If you are having trouble with her listening to you right now, put her on a long line so you have physical control of her even at a distance. Young dogs have short attention spans and need constant reminders to stay on task... but repeatedly yelling "Leave it" while she chases the chickens just drains the phrase of any meaning.

Don't give her the opportunity to chase the chickens, because every time she does is rewarding for her and sets your training back several steps.