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Should be sleeping posted:All I can think to do is tell him NO! and put him in the back yard so he knows it was bad. Stop doing that. You're inadvertently reinforcing the behavior. He's freaked out by you looming over him. If he knows sit (or any other behavior that's less compatible with submissive peeing), try asking him for that when you approach. Approach him from the side, glancing at him rather than head-on. Other than that, focusing heavily on reward-based training will help him build confidence around you - minimizing or eliminating verbal or physical corrections will also help. Should be sleeping posted:I know this is submissive urination, and he's trying to show me that he recognized me as the boss. But I just can't seem to get him over it! All I can think to do is tell him NO! and put him in the back yard so he knows it was bad. But he doesn't get it. He thinks peeing is how to show me that he submits to my authority, but all it does is make me have to wash the couch cushions carpet, and dog bed. It's not really a 'you're the boss' kind of thing, it's more like a flinch or 'please don't hurt me'. Engineer Lenk fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Mar 28, 2012 |
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Mar 28, 2012 06:48
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Should be sleeping posted:It's not when he's scared, he barks at everything and generally doesn't fear much, except the cat. Your dog may be more fearful than you think. A big aggressive barky display can be rooted in fear or anxiety. Chis and doxies are pretty well-known for fear aggression.
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Mar 28, 2012 15:24
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Rixatrix posted:You're probably overwhelming her with running around and trying to get her excited so try to be a bit more low key for now. A dog will only play if she feels safe. I would probably first teach her to enjoy tug and work my way to play fetch from there. First you need to get her to realize it's ok to tug with you and you don't see it as a challenge, but a fun game. You also need to get her used to the feeling of someone pulling on something she's holding. If she's good with her food (i.e. not food aggressive), you can use a pig ear for this, or stuff a stocking with something the dog finds irresistible. A couple of days ago I got someone's dog who "never ever tugs on anything ever" to tug enthusiastically on a fresh rabbit's head in a stocking in less than 10 minutes. Yes it's disgusting, but try to think about what has value to the dog. Down the line you will be able to move to regular toys. The Tug-It is good for this if you don't want to DIY or straight-up tug with food.
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May 21, 2012 06:12
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toplitzin posted:What about two older shelter animals? You'll see bonded pairs every so often, but they're usually two cats or two dogs. If you call around to rescues, you might find a dog + cat that were given up together, or have been fostered together and get along OK. Getting two animals who don't know each other already seems like it'd be way more stress than it's worth. Even staggering by a month or two would help, because you'd have time to bond and establish a routine with the first animal.
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May 23, 2012 05:33
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toplitzin posted:Any rule of thumb, as to order that causes the least stress, dog than cat, or vice versa? I'd do cat then dog, and provide a lot of climbing space for the cat so that it'll be able to escape unwanted attention*. Make sure to get a dog that's cat-tested, but don't let them alone together for the first couple of months regardless. You can probably also see if any cats have happily lived with dogs before. *My situation with this was a little different. My new cat (Tim) outweighed the dog (Stella) by about 6 lbs - he came home about a month before she did. Stella was also very shy. Tim ended up batting Stella on the butt every time she came close enough, and she wouldn't go up or down stairs if he was nearby. They settled into a form of detente eventually, even though she gave him a healthy berth for the rest of his life.
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May 23, 2012 15:28
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Bogwoppit posted:This might sound stupid... But does anyone have any tips to help get my 48 year old boyfriend over a stubborn fear of dogs? He was frightened repeatedly as a kid and now is convinced all dogs are murderous slaughter-beasts who want to eat him. I don't know how much of that is true, he never gives me a straight answer. My partner's strong fear of dogs is pretty much gone now. We have tiny mutts, and our first dog turned out to be a great dog ambassador - our dog-hating friend coos over her. The big difference, according to my partner, was learning dog communication skills. Stuff like knowing that a lot of barking displays are fear or excitement, they can be stopped or minimized by not staring at the dog and by not facing them head-on, and keeping hands at your sides. This seems natural to those of us who grew up with dogs. But it is counter-intuitive to turn away from a perceived threat, and it takes several times of seeing it work before you'll believe it. For us, this experience happened in foundation training classes and was built on with small dog interactions at the dog park. If he's willing to learn some of this stuff, you can use online resources before you ever bring a dog into the picture. Doggone Safe has a lot of body language info: http://www.doggonesafe.com/Speak_Dog http://www.doggonesafe.com/Signs_of_Imminent_Bite
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Jun 25, 2012 18:44
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Bogwoppit posted:That's really useful stuff, thanks! I don't know how much Mike will listen to, but it's worth a try. At the moment he thinks all jumping dogs = bad. I think that's a fair reaction on his part, and that he should never end up in a situation with a dog like that when it's avoidable - ask the owner to put them away, or just socialize in non-dog-friendly venues.
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Jun 25, 2012 19:25
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Bogwoppit posted:When I say puppies, I mean the smaller, under 3 month size of puppies. Would it still be a bit I think you may get better results with exposure to a well-mannered or indifferent (read: cat-like) small dog than to puppies. One that's not known for jumping on people or barking at them. Not everyone thinks puppies are cute, and seeing them when they have comparatively few social skills is not terribly likely to increase his fondness or allay his fears.
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Jun 29, 2012 06:14
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Bogwoppit posted:My idea was puppies or puppy so he has more control of the situation (he could pick up an over friendly puppy and remove it from him). A small dog like a terrier already has an idea of who's boss, if that makes sense. Terriers are dog people dogs - by and large they wouldn't come under the umbrella of well-behaved and people-neutral, though there are outliers. I was thinking of the softer-temperament toy breeds, something like a Maltese, Havanese, Papillon, or Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I still don't think puppies are a magic bullet. The people I know who are afraid of or hate dogs and have gotten over it started by having single dog exceptions. All of the model dogs have rock solid temperaments and are not very people-centered.
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Jun 30, 2012 02:54
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Veskit posted:What are the best ways to keep a dog mentally distracted when alone at home for a few hours? I've seen those kong wobblers, but have no idea how much dogs really dig those. Frozen stuffed kong (not wobbler). You want your dog to chill and nap when you're gone. The wobbler gets them moving about, while a stuffed kong they can just sit and lick/chew until they fall asleep.
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Aug 22, 2012 23:18
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Veskit posted:Tried it. She'll use it for 30 minutes and give up on all the goodies on the inside regardless of what it is (cheese turkey hotdog peanut butter). It buys me about 30 minutes. What does she do after 30 minutes?
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Aug 23, 2012 02:11
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Veskit posted:Whines barks and scratches constantly until she gets tired and gives up. Giving up can take up to an hour though and it'll repeat later. I'm sure the problems will go away more when I can let her roam around the house, but I can't trust her yet to do that. Could be separation anxiety, then - which wouldn't really get fixed by more freedom, just open up a wider swath of destruction. Check out I'll be home soon for some training options.
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Aug 23, 2012 06:34
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Orange_Lazarus posted:A couple of months ago my wife and I baby-sat a poodle. My wife and I both liked the puppy so much that we started looking for a poodle. I contacted someone from our local toy poodle club and was told most of the toy poodle breeders have either died off or have retired and I haven't been able to find anyone in SC either. Needless to say I can't seem to find any responsible breeders in my area. It looks like everyone just sells their puppies to stores or lists them on the web instead of participating in clubs. I suppose there isn't much regulation. Are you sure you want a puppy? If you're flexible then you can find all sorts of toy or miniature poodles (and designer poodle mixes) in shelters or breed rescue.
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Sep 30, 2012 22:25
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Orange_Lazarus posted:The woman at the shelter actually was the one who gave me her business card. I don't think this setup is quite as cartoonishly evil as it might seem. There are some rescues that operate on the model of selectively pulling animals from a big shelter, getting them vetted and adopting them out (most often breed-specific, though I've seen a few that specialize in small dogs of all flavors). They don't necessarily have the donation funds or volume to offer them at the same cost as a high-throughput shelter, and they may get more thorough medical care than at a municipal shelter. There's a chance that the cost markup isn't actually all going into this lady's pocket. It gets specific dogs out of the system, freeing up shelter resources and reducing the kill rate of those specific breeds. I can see how the shelter might be OK with it. It's not all that different from the transport specialty adoption setups, that selectively pull high-demand breeds from rural shelters and ship them to urban areas.
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Nov 11, 2012 21:38
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BusinessWallet posted:I mean he's housebroken, I'm more just asking questions about his anxiety and stuff like that, what I can do to help him feel more comfortable and stuff. If he's peeing in the house, even if it's marking, that means he's not yet completely housebroken.
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Nov 18, 2012 01:22
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Three Olives posted:I called before I picked up Cooper and they were super friendly and helpful, also super expensive but according to my neighbor absolutely worth the money. I decided to hold off a little bit to see what if any behavior/training issues Cooper might have before dropping that much money and knock on wood everything is going great so far but I will call them if he starts to have issues. IIRC, Cooper is still a puppy? If so, group classes with an emphasis on socialization will be worth more than private training at this point. Doxies have a reputation for being reactive, so the more thoroughly and controlled you can get his socialization the better.
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Nov 20, 2012 07:15
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WASDF posted:I have 12 week old boston terrier puppy. We live in an apartment in Seattle and I'm trying to figure out the best way to potty train her. For the past week since I've had her, I've taken her outside to this corner place where we have some nature for her to do her business but there's a few problems that I've ran into with it. Given that you're in Seattle, I might go with paper training or pee pads until she's old enough for full parvo vax. There's been a noticable enough spike in reported cases that it's made the news a few times and closed a couple of dog parks.
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Dec 9, 2012 04:32
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Splat posted:Alright so we've had Penelope for a couple weeks now, and Amelia is still harassing the crap out of her daily. I think their fighting is normal, but figured I'd post just to make sure. They adorably stop fighting for a second when they realize they're on camera. That just looks like play-fighting. Penelope goes into a play-bow at 0:13, and she uses the 'swing your butt at the other dog' move a couple of times, which doesn't seem like she's that annoyed with it. If her tail goes down or you see a lot of gum with a sudden sharp increase in volume, that's when it's time to separate them. I wouldn't leave them alone together, and I'd make sure there's some mandatory quiet time, but I wouldn't worry about the fighting otherwise. Engineer Lenk fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jan 26, 2013 |
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Jan 26, 2013 19:24
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windex posted:
*Does not apply to working terriers.
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Jan 29, 2013 07:54
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Get two small dogs and they'll spend another hour or two a day playing and you don't even have to be there.
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Dogdoo 8 posted:This is more of a "My yard isn't fenced and even if it was he could climb it as soon as he felt like leaving" situation. I want control on walks, but I don't mind him moving further away from me when he's sniffing around in the yard or when he wants to run back towards the door. He's on a 4 foot leash the rest of the time and I still worry about him getting into trouble. If it's just in the yard, a tie-out (or tie-out on a trolley) would work without the pulling aspect or typically the tangling potential of the nylon long lines. Then there's a clear visual cue: you aren't holding the leash so y'all aren't going for a walk.
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Apr 10, 2013 00:31
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Captain Diarrhoea posted:Is getting a terrier in a house with a cat a really terrible idea, or would their prey drive be manageable for first time owners with proper training? What kind of terrier? Breed-wise there's a lot of variation between working terriers like Patterdales or JRTs and companion/toy terriers like Yorkies, Bostons or Rat terriers, with other breeds in between. If you just like a scruffy terrier mix look, go to a rescue and get a young adult who's cat-tested. E: Just saw your response. I have a (likely) Westie x Maltese shelter mutt who adores my cat.
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May 3, 2013 19:43
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Trauma Tank posted:I'm very intested in dog training and would love to spend time teaching the new dog all sorts of tricks. Previously I have lived with a spaniel mix, pomeranian, generic terrier mix, and a westie terrier. I've also had a lot of interaction with larger dogs, as I have spent a lot of time with a German Shepherd owned by my grandparents. I especially loved the pomeranian when we had her, as she was the sweetest little thing. Overall I'd prefer a smaller size of dog just for ease of handling and concerns about the space available inside the house; the garden is big enough for all but the largest of dogs to have a bit of a romp in. If you go with a greyhound, ask a lot of questions about prey drive. Otherwise, I think an older (3+) small poodle mutt could work out, if you find one with lower energy. The designer breed fad means they show up in shelters reasonably often, and they tend to be smarter and more biddable than a lot of other small dogs. You may have to decide between trainability, activity level and age - many dogs who are low-energy from a young age are harder to train.
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May 8, 2013 17:22
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Dogdoo 8 posted:My brother and his wife got a private lesson with a dog trainer and said it really helped them and encouraged me to do the same. Beartato's a lot better with fear reactivity than when I got him, but I really could use some extra help to figure out what I'm doing incorrectly/could improve upon. I found two places that look good from their websites, but I don't know which one I should go with. One of them is a couple of trainers that work together in a facility that does classes but they also do private lessons. These trainers have way better credentials than the other one, but going off my gut I like the other trainer for some reason. The first group has a M.P.A. CPDT-KSA CBCC-KSA, two people with CPDT-KA and a former vet tech. The second place isn't nearly as qualified but they state on their website that they use positive reinforcement and redirect and use slight corrections. AThe first place is almost certainly my best bet but I'd like to contact both places and ask a few questions. What should I ask specifically aside from the basic issues in the OP? I would not do anything with a trainer that will up-front mention corrections with a fear reactive dog. You can very quickly lose important signals that a dog is uncomfortable and get 'attacks out of nowhere' if you shut them down with positive punishment. A +R/-P approach (positive reinforcement and negative punishment, aka taking away things rather than correcting), though it seemingly takes forever, will do you much better in the long run. Are you taking group classes right now?
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May 14, 2013 18:51
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Dogdoo 8 posted:How on earth did I not connect that the corrections thing. That's why I asked I guess. He's not in any group classes at the moment, he did really well in the recent adopters class I took at first but I haven't done much since. I did take him down to the shelter for a 1/2 hour private lesson, they were awesome but I want a private in home lesson (which they also offer but I wanted to go through someone separate this time, preferably with credentials closer to the list that first place provides). Yeah, I think the credentials on the first place are the ones to look for. If you have the time/money resources, keeping him in group classes as well as doing a few private sessions will hit a couple of different needs. Group classes are often harder for information tailored specifically to your dog's issues, but on the other hand it's very useful for fearful or nervous dogs to learn to work in a variety of situations around new dogs and new people. On the handler side I like the structure of a curriculum and there's a bit more accountability for me to get my act together rather than when I'm training alone.
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May 14, 2013 19:55
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Dogdoo 8 posted:Also it will help my ego if my dog is better than his dog. Your dog is a poodle. The sky's the limit as far as training is concerned.
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May 14, 2013 22:37
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Huskies are pretty high-energy and independent. You should expect a couple of hours of exercise per day, and high fences (6+ feet) are generally recommended, with some dig-proofing. They're not an easy breed for a first-time owner, but they can be great dogs. The primitive breed here has some husky owners who might be able to answer your question more thoroughly.
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May 20, 2013 03:21
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Eau de MacGowan posted:If she makes a mess inside, how do I reinforce this to her without being confrontational? Walking away as the OP suggests for mouthing seems like it might not work in this context. Ideally you set it up to minimize the chances of her eliminating inside for the first little bit: keep a schedule of outdoor breaks, keep an eye on her and take her outside if she's showing signs like sniffing the floor or circling, and put her away in a crate when you can't supervise. Praise and treat for going outside - often at first, fading to a random schedule as she seems to get it. If you catch her in the act inside, try to call her to you and take her outside immediately. If you're too late, clean it up and increase your dog management strategy. If you get angry about it, the lesson dogs tend to learn is to hide from you and then you have to clean out more inconvenient places.
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May 22, 2013 19:45
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Bob Morales posted:What's the acceptable way of dealing with another dog coming up and loving with you and your dog? There are a few dogs like that in my neighborhood, and my dog is reactive. I usually shout at them if they're approaching - they typically will stop or slow down, put myself between them and my dog, then tell them in a loud voice either 'leave it' or 'go home'. Carrying a walking stick can help if you need to fend a dog off, or spray shield/direct stop (citronella spray animal deterrent).
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Jun 11, 2013 20:49
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ButWhatIf posted:Hey, quit dogpiling. It's 2013, the economy is poo poo, people have to work. I've housetrained clients' dogs who were far less invested and they turned out fine, even if it was less than ideal at the time. I definitely think an indoor long-term confinement place is the best option here, with a doggy litterbox type scenario. I agree with the sentiment, but looking at post history he's already cycled through one dog with pee issues since December (who presumably has been rehomed now) and doesn't seem particularly receptive to walking outside with the puppy on a leash to make sure he's done before letting him back in. A better-designed stopgap solution for when they're out is likely going to turn into a semi-permanent fixture.
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Jul 16, 2013 21:46
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lazerwolf posted:I'm looking for some advice. I think letting the older dog give corrections is a better strategy than the girlfriend giving corrections - though if the older dog has a bad history with other dogs neither is good. Have the puppy drag a leash and remove her from the excitement to a boring room without manhandling. If you can distract her onto toys, food, or something other than the older dog before she works herself up, all the better. Puppy class will help you out here, maybe in conjunction with finding a well-socialized older dog that can be trusted to respond proportionally and teach your dog how to get along with other dogs.
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Jul 23, 2013 22:35
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Zandorv posted:Hello, all. I'm looking for some advice on the idea of starting a multi-dog home. I've read the OP but the section on multi-dog homes was a bit short and didn't have what I was looking for. If I were you, I'd probably go this route: Year 1: middle-aged (4-7 year old) high-energy dog from the shelter. Take your time to find a good match in terms of being good with cats, good with kids, structurally OK to run. Year 2: puppy of your preferred breed. Year ~7: new puppy This way you never end up with three geriatric dogs at the same time, everyone has some time to settle into the household, and you won't end up with littermate syndrome. You do end up with a two-dog household for an extended period of time, but I've been told the jump from 2 to 3 isn't very large (I have two + occasional foster). If you prefer adopting adult dogs over dealing with puppies, you can get a range of ages in shorter order, but I'd still probably only go with one new animal per year, so that you can get your training up to speed. Out of all the breeds you mentioned, I think the Lab really stands out as a great option - the others may be a little hotter and aren't usually as bombproof around kids (and tolerant of cats). The non-retrievers will all have harder mouths (Aussies in particular, though they're not as bad as cattledogs), and most of the GSPs I've met are spazzy like Weimaraners. Since you aren't afraid of the Aussie coat, a Golden Retriever would be the other common energetic family dog recommendation. Engineer Lenk fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jul 27, 2013 |
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Jul 27, 2013 23:29
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MuffinShark posted:I recently picked up a 2 year old Chihuahua mix at the local shelter. The dog has become very attached to me over the last couple of months and we have become good buddies. However, he constantly snaps at my roommate randomly when he goes to pet him and it didn't start until recently (around the time he started to get really attached to me). It's probably a mix of anxiety, underconfidence and resource guarding. Tell your roommate not to pet him, and not to pick him up. Chin scratches only, and only when the dog is soliciting him for them. A hand over the head can be scary for little guys in particular. For the lap and couch stuff, I'd get in the habit of feeding him less for meals and carrying treats. Teach an 'off' command by tossing a treat on the ground. For the lap you can also just stand up and let him take care of his own path to the ground - that may incline him to think twice before jumping up. Your roommate can endear himself to the dog by randomly giving him treats, even doing some small training sessions if he's up for it. If the dog is posturing at your roommate from a distance when he's chilling with you, stand up and walk away from him. That makes it abundantly clear that you don't want him doing that.
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Aug 12, 2013 03:51
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Away all Goats posted:Recently my 6mo old Lab/Shepherd mix has started showing possessiveness over toys/balls when we're at the dog park. At home he's fine with me taking toys right out of his mouth (not that I do it often). But at the park, he'll be happily playing with a toy one moment, but if a dog approaches him he either snarls, barks or nips at them. They are almost never his toys either, lots of people bring in balls and ropes and just leave them for other dogs to play with. When he does act possessive I usually step in, take the toy away from him and give it to the other dog. Teach a solid 'drop it' and keep rewards on your body (probably treats) at the park. If you're just taking it away each time he may figure out that running away from you with it is a more fun game. I wouldn't let him play with the toys he scavenges at the park, since you know he's going to get obnoxious. If he grabs something just cue drop it and reward the crap out of leaving it alone. You could also have him automatically retrieve to hand, but that's a bit riskier because he has the toy for longer.
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Aug 12, 2013 03:59
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New Leaf posted:This isn't really a "new dog" question, but we recently moved to a new house and my older dog has stopped responding to calls to come back inside. She's used to the new yard now (been here about 4-5 months), and it's fenced in, so I let her roam if she wants to. But for the past week or so, she won't always come when I call her and I have to leash her and lead her back in. This has never been a problem in the past. I don't know what could have changed. Any tips? She's an absolute angel otherwise, but she's fairly headstrong. Like, when we tell her to get in her kennel when we're leaving the house, she always does it, but it's usually a bit reluctantly. Is coming in usually a precursor to being kenneled? If running around is almost always more fun than coming to you, there's not a very compelling reason for her to recall. I'd up the positive reinforcement when she comes back to you, either via treats or toy play, and make the first few minutes back in the house happy. You can scale back once her recall has been regained, but taper to a random reinforcement schedule that never drops under 10% or so.
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Aug 12, 2013 17:42
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Away all Goats posted:I don't always take the toy away from him, only when he snaps at another dog for daring to approach him while he's playing/chewing on it. I will keep him away from toys at the park from now on though. I just wish there was a way to teach him it's okay for him to share. Sharing is overrated, and it's hard to work dog-dog interactions in an unstructured environment like a park. Even though you want him to make the connection 'snap at dog'='toy goes away', it's hard to get the timing for that just right, and there's always the chance he generalizes to 'another dog approaches'='toy goes away' making him more likely to snap at the other dog. It's a lot easier to work on resource guarding against people, and even that's a long uphill battle.
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Aug 12, 2013 21:40
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LeftistMuslimObama posted:We thought about putting him in the crate while we were home one weekend and just watching for him to start pooping so we can correct him, but we weren't sure if this is mean. What should we do to correct this behavior? We live in a condo, so putting him outside during the day isn't an option. Don't do this. How long are you leaving him in his crate? Small dogs are often harder than large dogs to housebreak. They physically can't hold it as well as big dogs, so you have to be pretty proactive about getting them on a schedule and taking them out regularly. Feed early enough in the morning so you can take him out 30 minutes later and walk until he poops. If you can get someone to walk him at lunch all the better. Dogs have a denning instinct, so they won't usually choose to poop if they're confined if they can hold it. This can be overwritten if they're stuck in their own crap for a long time, so avoiding repeating the mistake is pretty important.
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Oct 1, 2013 05:03
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LeftistMuslimObama posted:He's crated for about 8 hours while I'm at work. He doesn't usually poop in the morning when we take him out, but this morning I got up early and walked around with him for 20 minutes until he did. Something threw him off his rhythm - it might have been medical, a change in activity level, a change in the amount or type of food he's eating, or something he got into. Whatever it was was acute enough to overcome his previous inhibitions, and may have put him on a different schedule. If you don't address it quickly it can become behavioral. My dogs get into something that gives them soft stool and throws them out of whack a couple of times a year or so. I deal with it by upping active management, offering them more chances to go out and leaving them for shorter periods of time until they're back to normal. If that doesn't work, and it doesn't even out in a couple of days, then it's vet time. Engineer Lenk fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Oct 1, 2013 |
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Oct 1, 2013 18:14
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SuzieMcAwesome posted:I will make an appointment with the vet but I'm not crazy about the idea of crate training. Its not just a problem when we are not home, she does it when we are home as well. The housebreaking protocol is basically to make sure the dog is either contained or actively supervised at all times. If she's supervised you can get her out when she starts sniffing around or starts to squat. If she's contained it needs to be in a footprint small enough that the denning instinct kicks in and she'll try to hold it. Crate and tether is the easiest way to make this happen, but a small ex-pen might work in a pinch.
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Oct 6, 2013 05:30
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MrFurious posted:No it doesn't, it says puppies may not be for you. I agree that some of the wording could perhaps be changed, the OP is far from perfect, but it is pretty comprehensive. I stand by the statement that you shouldn't be considering a puppy if the best you can do in the first few weeks is coming home at lunch breaks. This is going to make housetraining extremely difficult for you. Lots of goon posters are young, working fresh jobs and they still want to have a night life. None of those things are bad, but they make caring for a young puppy much, much harder. The OP is intended to suggest that if you don't have that kind of time, you may want to consider looking at an adult dog instead of a puppy. I have a number of coworkers who've crated out of the car for the first few months of puppydom. It's obviously climate-sensitive and highly dependent on your parking situation, but it's worked out reasonably well for a number of people.
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Oct 18, 2013 23:07
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 13:27 |
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lazerwolf posted:Recently our 5 month old Australian Shepherd/German Shepherd mix has been an absolute terror to try to walk. We've had her since 6 weeks old and started taking her on short walks around 8 or 9 weeks. She was tolerable on those early walks but we could tell she wanted to be the leader and when she grew bigger she tended to pull on the walks almost 100% of the time. She has two speeds, stop and sniff and run, there is no comfortable walking speed with her it seems. We've tried to treat her at heel position periodically during a slow walk but this ends up with her disinterested in actually walking and more interested in trying to get into our pocket where the kibble is. Within the last two weeks she's gotten noticeably worse. Her favorite thing now is to play tug with the leash. I've included two short videos taken today while trying to take her out to pee. Help we have no idea how to correct her behavior. Have you tried a front-clip harness? EasyWalk, WonderWalker, or the like. They don't let the dog get leverage to pull - their own momentum turns them back towards you. They won't teach loose leash walking, but they'll keep them from practicing bad behavior when you actually have to go somewhere. I'd keep up the kibble practice - start by practicing leash walking with food in the house where she might be less likely to mug you. As for the leash, take a tug toy with you when you go for a walk and try to get her on that rather than on her leash. You can also switch to a chain leash or something that's not as tug-friendly.
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Oct 28, 2013 02:46
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