Thanks Nicole. I'm sorry I butted in like that. I was thinking more in general terms rather than specific.
To answer your question, I think it is probably because this is the way he was trained once before. Before I got him he went through a ton of training by a trainer that was a man. He was also trained in czech. When we got him we had to try and retrain him in english because the trainer never sent us the sheet with all the commands on it. I tried looking them up on the internet but there are so many czech words for just one word that it was nearly impossible. Not only that but we didn't know what the commands were in english to even translate. He will listen a bit more to my husband, but not at all to me. Its my dog and I am the one that is training him for FR, I need him to listen to me.
Basically, it takes aproximately two weeks to modify behavior in most things with dogs. Another point I think I should make is that your cues, whether they're in Czech, English, German or Swahili don't make much difference in whether your dog "listens" to you or not...unless you're only relying on language to communicate with your dog. Cues aren't what drive behavior anyhow. Reinforcment is what really drives behavior. So, if you can elicit a behavior by other means; luring, hand signals or by capturing behavior...whatever.... the cues can be added later. They can be changed too.
Most dogs have learned hands signals or other body language very easily and before any verbal had any meaning to them by luring....body language etc and
sufficient reinforcement for correct responses.
For example, when one teaches down, one normally takes a tasty treat and gets the dog into a sit, which he's already learned and then holds it down in front of the dog and a little out right along the floor. That lowering of the hand is gradually made more subtle as the dog begins to connect the lowering hand with the behavior and lies down more and more easily as time goes by. (I usually throw in a little fun by treating this as a game, complete with my happy voice) So, this body language, this showing the dog generally has more meaning to the dog than the verbal cue, not only because it's the first thing he learns and therefore has had a
longer history of this visual cue being used, but because dogs learn better by visual than by verbal. It's how their brain is wired. They're just very visually oriented.
So, the reason your dog is not "listening" to you is
not in a big part due to the language mix-up IMO. Those behaviors can still be elicted or captured and/or re-taught or refreshed with whatever kind of cue you want to stick in there. The dog wouldn't have to have a verbal cue at all. That's just one extra way to communicate with him, but it's not what makes him do the behavior. Dogs don't understand language the way we do. They make associations with words and behavior when they're reinforced in a timely way for correct responses. But they can just as easily make associations with something else as a cue.
What's going to cause the behavior to happen, for the dog to "listen" to you is by your showing him what you mean, for you to find out what motivates him (something does) and when he gives a correct response, he needs a valueable (to him) reinforcer immediately. He needs a strong history of reinforcement and many repititions to stop him from guessing at what you mean. I recommend clicker training. It helps with your timing which is imperative.
When a dog has been trained with a lot of aversives, he is not as well able to learn
HOW to learn. Aversives make a dog rather dull IMO and detached. They're not "with it." They're a little bit nervous because they're somewhat in that state of readiness, where their brain is on the edge of producing hormones for flight or fight. Even if it's not severe aversives. Pulling on a dog's neck with a prong collar to force him into a down position, I imagine to be somewhat unpleasant...enough so, that the dog learns that training isn't particularly fun. He's trying to figure out how to keep those prongs from poking him instead of trying to throw out the correct behavior. (he's guessing at first what behavior he should try.)
Conversely, when a dog has nothing to worry about, what's going to happen to him, he is more attentive to his owner, he's more curious and curiosity is necessary for learning. When dogs are trained with aversives, they are often afraid to throw new behaviors for fear of punishment and this is not condusive to learning.
I understand that a lot of people figure that if the dog is "trained" and he still doesn't do it right, then he deserves an pain or discomfort, intimidation, whatever...(there are many such ways to punish a dog.) They think he's being stubborn. (a human thing, not a dog thing. Dogs don't know the ins and outs of our value system) Well, if he's trained well, he WILL do it right. So, that doesn't make much sense to me. If he doesn't do it, he needs more practice. If he's thoroughly trained, he'll do it right. When things don't go right with dogs, it is typical to blame the dog. Dogs learn just the way they're suppose to learn. It's all laid out. It is we, who fail to do things just right at times. I catch myself all the time doing things wrong. "woops...no wonder...." LOL. They're on schedule. There's nothing wrong with their brains or morality. They're just dogs.
It's about finding an adequate motivator, reinforcing behavior you want consistantly and showing the dog what you mean, making it worth his while to comply. It's about good timing and delivery of reward. If it's good enough and it works for him, he WILL do it.
I recommend you find some good training books which will help you. My fav is Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. But there are other great ones too.