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This has been going on, for quite some time now. My lazy-as-poo poo rottie is basically a goon who just wants to stay inside, all the time. I literally have to drag him outside to get him to go to the bathroom. He'll do his business then start to head back, in the direction we came and there's nothing I can do to get him to keep on walking. He unloads once a day in the form of a 5 pound poo poo and enough piss to flood the street. It's pretty amazing, funny, embarrassing and entertaining, all at once. He's never seemed uncomfortable and is really good about letting me know, when he's gotta go. If I take him somewhere outside the neighborhood, he'll walk for a while and eventually sit down and refuse to go on. Sometimes he'll run back to the truck and wait by the door. The furthest I've gotten him was about half a mile from my apartment. Getting him that far meant him sitting down and me pulling on the leash (with all my might) and basically dragging him, over and over again. Eventually he sat down, I got to pulling, he slipped out of the collar and headed home. Not gonna lie, it was hilarious. He ran back, with me running after him and was smart enough to not cross the street, when there was traffic. When he got back, he sat by the front door and waited for me. The biggest barrier is his intelligence and will power. I swear, he's smarter than I am. He knows how much he weighs and that I'll give up eventually, because I'm afraid of hurting him, by pulling so hard. I know it's drat near impossible or me to hurt him, but I still get nervous. He's a massive dog with a thick neck, fur like leather armor and a helmet for a skull. I'm not sure what the threshold is and I'm reluctant to get a pronged collar because god knows, there's a high possibility he might just be stubborn enough to not budge despite multiple prongs piercing his skin. The vet's words were "you could try a pronged collar, but be very careful, because there's a good chance his will is strong enough to endure the pinching." Personally, I don't think it'll help. Training: I've been able to train him in every other aspect. He's learned every command I've ever taught him in less than 10 minutes. He's never hurt anyone, never growls unless he's playing, never attacks other dogs and only plays rough with other dogs of his size/stature (IE: other rotts, pits, shepherds, etc.) When I try to get him to go for walks, his only form of protest is sitting down. He just goes dead weight and that's it. He knows it's effective. I should also note that this is the one area of his training where food doesn't change his mind, which is very strange, because food is a HUGE motivator for him. When I pull out a piece of bread, he sits, lays down, sits back up, holds his paw out to shake hands and/or rolls over, without any command. He'll follow me all over the house, with great alertness, for hours on end, but once I walk out the front door, he stops and sits right at the door with the "alert look" on his face. The point of this post is that I need ideas and techniques on a god process to coax him outside with or without food. I have no process. I yank, pull, hold out food and there's no real order or any technique. I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm basically just a loser who is fighting, bribing and begging. I'm not sure what the process should be, but I was hoping I could get an idea from you all. Just some things to note... -This has been going on since he was 3 or 4 years old. He's 8 now and I'm fed up. I know, I should have taken care of this sooner, as it might be too late. -I've moved around a lot, with him. He's had a new home every year to three years, so I'm not sure how big of an issue that's been, for him. He could be afraid of moving or that if I take him out of the apartment, we'll wind up in a new one. This concept is a stretch, because he's never seemed unhappy when we move. Every time we've moved, he's trotted around the new place, sniffed around, and found a spot he likes, to settle in. He loves going to stay with friends, when I need to go away, for a few days. I've never noticed any change in his attitude, when we've moved to a new home. -He's perfectly healthy albeit a bit overweight (which is the problem I'm trying to solve) -He has no limps. He doesn't favor any legs in particular or give any indicators of there being any pain or joint damage. He also has a clean bill of health, from the vet. I rough-house with him just fine and he holds his own, when we play tug-of-war. -There's no heavy panting or hyperventilating at any point during the walk process. -There's no "smile" on his face, which he usually has. His attitude seems as if his thoughts are "gently caress you, man! This poo poo ain't cool! Come on, let's go back home!" as opposed to his typically cheerful demeanor. It's always seemed as though when he's really happy he has a light pant with a smile. When I try to walk him, his mouth is closed, his eyebrows are furrowed and his ears are down. -As far as myself and the vet are aware, he has no bladder issues, constipation or problems urinating. The color of his urine is clear to light yellow. Random info about him that probably isn't necessary. Really fantastic dog. Even tempered, docile, and very social. He used to be quite aloof towards people he wasn't very familiar with but now he greets everyone and is very accepting towards people. He acts like a complete dope, when he's hungry, which is pretty much all the time. He's by far the smartest dog I've ever had, which can be very challenging yet also rewarding and interesting to watch. He can sort things and make connections such as "car tire goes with car" or "pillow goes on bed." He's hyper motivated. I've seen him lift a couch with his head to get a ball out, from underneath. He's super gentle, especially with children and has the patience of a professional golfer. You can grab his muzzle, yank his jowels, stick your hands in his mouth, annoy the poo poo out of him and the most he'll do is growl. liquorlanche fucked around with this message at 16:59 on Apr 16, 2015 |
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Apr 16, 2015 16:34
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 22:27 |
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Maybe he just doesn't like walks? You can cure his weight problem by feeding him less. If it's been going on for 4-5 years, that's a long rear end time for a dog. I doubt he's going to want to start walking any time soon. Do you have a large house? Maybe you can play games with him inside to ensure he's not bored but after that much time I'm sure he's used to it.
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Apr 16, 2015 17:25
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Perhaps he's agoraphobic! Do you try to do any other activities with him outdoors, such as fetch? Maybe walking is boring. Chicken Doodle fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Apr 16, 2015 |
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Apr 16, 2015 20:12
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when you say he has a clean bill of health, what does that mean? has he had x-rays done? where you're trying to walk him might make a difference, too. my dog is bored and lags when we walk in town, but she'll go forever if i drive her to some trails.
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Apr 16, 2015 23:19
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He had x-rays done 2 years ago, when he hurt his paw, getting out of the car both before and after treatment. "Clean bill of health" as in no parasites, perfect teeth, heart beat, weight, glands checked, temperature, etc. He doesn't fetch but he loves pulling rope, shredding towels/rags and moving things like firewood, car tires, scraped lumber/vinyl, etc. Come to think of it, car tires are the one thing that'll get him outside. He could spend an entire afternoon thrashing a car tire around the yard.
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Apr 17, 2015 14:22
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If it's not a physical issue, it sounds like he's just kind of fat and lazy. The first step would be to reduce food to get his extra weight off him. Even a few pounds can drastically impact a dog's desire to do something. My guess he's carrying more than just a few extra pounds (most people think overweight dogs are normal). The second is to be more interesting, I guess. I'd probably just start playing more training games with him, and leave him wanting more each time so he's actually looking forward to engaging with you. Him tossing out every trick he knows at you when you have food isn't necessarily indicative of his intelligence (I mean, I'm sure he's very smart) but to me it's more indicative that he's very used to insisting on things his way without much thought of you. I'd work a bit more on his self control, and rewarding hugely for him actually checking in with you to see what you want. Lastly, walks aren't a 100% necessary part of dog ownership. They're great, and highly recommended, but you can do things like training games, trick training, nosework, etc inside to burn energy. I'd probably start using every piece of his kibble as part of a game or exercise to start slimming him down and building a working relationship between the two of you. a life less fucked around with this message at 15:46 on Apr 17, 2015 |
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Apr 17, 2015 15:42
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What are the typical training games and blanket resources you all probably give to everyone? I've never really lurked PI.
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Apr 19, 2015 14:46
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Have you tried better, more valuable treats than "bread"? Try (small) bits of cheese, hot dogs, or buy some stinky liver training treats. You could stop giving him his meals as a bowl o' food, and make him do tricks to get the kibble as if it was a treat. Make him work for it, and do energetic tricks (will he fetch? My dog isn't a retriever, but he'll go get a thrown toy and bring it back if he gets a kibble when he returns). What food is he on?
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Apr 19, 2015 20:47
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I'm now feeding him smaller/more frequent meals throughout the day. I think he's starting to associate meals with walks, which gets him out the door a lot more easily. Now the issue is distance. What are the typical training games/practices you guys are talking about? I'd assume there are a few links/articles that are sorta PI's go-to posts the way "get therapy" is to E/N. Never really lurked or posted here, so I'm oblivious to the obvious.
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Apr 22, 2015 21:32
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Sometimes you just have to out-stubborn. He's learned by now that sitting and waiting will lead to him being able to go home. He's trained that into you pretty well also. Get him a collar that he can't slip out of (martingale collar, not a prong/choke chain, no need for those here), or a harness if need be. If he sits down, wait for him to get up. Don't fuss over him or bribe him, just wait. When he gets up, make a big deal out of it, walk a little further, then head home. Vary the pace of your walks. They can get boring if it's all the same speed. Walk fast for a block, then slow it down and sniff every tree. Praise him a lot for sniffing stuff, because sniffing should be fun and it's good for dog brains. If it seems like he's anxious or uncertain about going on walks (which is possible from what you described about the change in his body language), then start off with short walks with lots of positive stuff (treats, praise, toys, whatever he finds rewarding and will accept). Once you get into a routine it will help too, even if it's a walk around the block every day, he will start to expect it and hopefully look forward to it.
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Apr 23, 2015 11:33
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liquorlanche posted:I'm now feeding him smaller/more frequent meals throughout the day. I think he's starting to associate meals with walks, which gets him out the door a lot more easily. Now the issue is distance. I don't have somewhere in particular to point you to. But basically you can make anything into a game for your dog. It's just about your attitude, your dog's attitude, and lots of reinforcement. I like teaching a dog to touch my hand with his nose -- it's super easy to teach, low effort on the dog's part, but clear, concise and easily rewarded. You can then use it as a replacement for your recall cue, or a way to shift your dog from one place to another without manhandling him. And, because it's normally heavily rewarded and easy for the dog, it's fun! You could wait for eye contact then toss a piece of kibble down the hallway. When your dog finishes that, call his name and run in the opposite direction. When he catches up, reward with something even better like hotdogs or cheese or something. He'll learn that eye contact makes you toss the kibble, recalling means even better things are coming his way, and the chase itself is fun. Do more trick training. Work on a new trick together, maybe. Something fun and something that might come fairly naturally to him to start. Here's a link on some nosework stuff for your pup too: http://suzanneclothier.com/the-articles/scent-games-educating-your-dogs-nose
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Apr 23, 2015 12:29
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liquorlanche posted:I'm now feeding him smaller/more frequent meals throughout the day. I think he's starting to associate meals with walks, which gets him out the door a lot more easily. Now the issue is distance. Good luck! We adopted a 4 year old rottie from a shelter last October. She was brought in at 135lbs, they got her down to 125. We now have her at 110 which is her ideal weight just by portioning out her food. It has done wonders for her. She is much more spry and agile. She used to not be able to jump up and her wrists/legs would shake from the weight she put on them. But now she is doing wonderfully and likes to play and pounce and very much likes to jump on our bed (with or without permission). Keep us updated 
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May 2, 2015 20:02
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I'd definitely second the idea of driving somewhere new to walk. Will he get easily into your car? Are there any local trails nearby? If slipping from his collar is something you are worried about definitely get him a harness. They are much more secure and you can feel more confident because you are wrapped around his chest instead of his neck. It can give you more control over him. Work on making sure he does the trick you want, and not just throwing out every one he knows until you treat him. Mentally engage him and make him stop to think hard. Dogs enjoy figuring out puzzles. I'm not sure a good way to start on that but I'm sure you can find some tips online! Maybe even look into consulting a Dog Trainer if you can find one near that you like. But I think this is probably a problem you can solve on your own with the right work put in. Do you have a decent sized fenced yard he can galavant in to relieve energy and get some exercise?
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May 3, 2015 14:45
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Bring one of his favorite toys on your walk and if you notice him starting to go "gently caress this I'm gonna sit" get out the toy and have a little tug session and tug him a little farther down the street. Repeat as needed. I bring a squeaky toy to get my dog's attention when he starts going ADD on me.
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May 4, 2015 00:45
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| # ? Apr 16, 2024 22:27 |
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As far as harnesses go, the Easy Walk Harness has been really good for my rottie. It gives me more control over her.
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May 8, 2015 00:59
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