Walking or not
Well after months of good behaviour he has started being naughty again. We can be out walking and he will be playing chasing, sticks, playing in the river or whatever and he will stop, stand perfectly still and refuse to move until I put his lead back on. Yesterday he was walking along a track, and for no reason, turned on his heels and ran back to the car. I got him, put him on his lead and walked him and he was fine. Luckily on all of his walks it is away from roads or traffic so he is safe, but just incase we have decided to leave him on his lease for a while. We have tried all the tricks, we have hidden from him, taken treats out with us, ignored him, shouted to him everything and NOTHING makes him move. He is really jumpy at the moment and jumps at any noise at all, nothing as far as we know has spooked him. He is walked twice a day once before we go to work for about 30 minutes and once at night for about an hour. he enjoyed his walks and meets up with his doggy friends each day. If anyone has any tips on why he does this or how we can prevent it I would grateful. Taking him out is not a pleasure when he does this, as I am constantly on edge waiting for him to run off or stop dead. Thanks in advance |
|
|
| Just to clarify.. he never stops dead on the leash? He is always off leash when he does this? Also when he runs away, does he try this on leash too?
And when he stops dead he lets you approach to put his leash on or he runs away? Trying to build the picture  |
| No never stops when he is on the leash just when he is off.
When he does stop when he is off the leash he lets you get right up to him and will stand still, occassionally he will turn and walk away but if we say "george come" he will shuffle towards you. Yesterday he did actually turn and run and there was no catching him. I'm not sure if he is just being lazy and he doesn't want to go for a walk, as it is too hot for him at the moment.  |
I wish I could help. The only thing that springs to mind is the 'can't wait to get home' thing someone else posted about a few weeks ago, can't remember the thread title tho. When we start heading back home on our walks (unless we have driven somewhere) Rufus speeds up and pulls like mad to get home, even though we don't feed him or give him treats etc it's like he's dying to get back to watch his favourite TV prog or something... 
But George seems more unpredictable, especially as he runs away, it's like he wants to stay out longer. I can only suggest he is more energetic because of the warmer weather. Feisty might be a better word, he seems to be agitated in some way. Did you change his food? Maybe he's having treats which have colourings or something? Is he doing these things on your long weekend walks too? I'm guessing he's more tired then? |
| It's not our sudden heatwave of an extra 8 degrees celcius having an adverse effect on him possibly?
When Archie doesn't come back it is usually because the other dogs are much more interesting than his slave, sort of selective deafness, even "biscuit" doesn't work (especially when I have run out and he knows it) Maybe just his age - stroppy teen? When you are preparing to go for a walk is he eager to go? |
Archies Slave wrote: When you are preparing to go for a walk is he eager to go?
No - In the mornings we have to almost drag him out of the house! I don't know what it is - Maybe something spooked him last year and this year the smells or something have reminded him. He is on the lead for most of his walks at the moment which is driving me nuts as he is better when he runs around. It was so hot here yesterday he really couldn't be bothered so he was ok about it. I will just have to lead walk him for a while and see if he gets over it. |
| I'm sorry if you've already mentioned this because I believe I missed your first post, but have you mentioned this to George's vet? Every training book I've seen mentions that if a dog won't assume a certain position, they may be experiencing pain or discomfort. It's possible this could be the same issue. If George has sore feet or joints, he may be willing to walk with you on a leash because he has to, but when you say you have to drag him out of the house, it makes me think something else is going on than obstinance.
You said this started up again in the summer, it could even be that his foot pads are really sensitive to the HOT pavement. Do you always stick to paved walkways or do you sometimes walk (or let George walk) in the grass? |
| Thanks for the suggestion but I don't think he is in any discomfort but will mention it to the vet next time we go.
I have been speaking to the lady whos training classes we went to and she was laughing because she remembers how stubborn and lazy George is. When I was teaching him to sit he would flop over to one side and it took ages to make him sit straight (though he always does it when he wants something) When he had enough of training he would just lie flat out and there was no moving him. This is what he does now when he doesn't want to do something. Which is why we have to bribe him with toys and treats to go out of the house in the mornings, he is fine on his evening walk. (Maybe hes not a morning pup  )
He is almost always walked on grass on sand. Last night I kept letting him off his lead but then would put him back on again when he showed signs of stopping. He was happy enough and when we got home he played under the garden sprinkler for a hour or so, and ran and jumped and was full of himself. I think I just have to come to terms with the fact I have a VERY stubborn sheepie. He will hopefully get over it as he did the last time and then we can let him off to play with his friends again. |
| any chance he has a thyroid problem? |
kerry wrote: any chance he has a thyroid problem?
He doesn't have any other symptoms of thyroid problems, but it will be worth a trip to the vets to find out. |
He certainly sounds as if he wants to stay home, you could stick a TV in the garden and let him watch the Simpsons - maybe George should have been called Homer?  |
| Well George had been doing REALLY well, he was behaving on his walks and coming back when we called him.
Then last night some kids were out on quad bikes and it totally freaked him out. Thinking back a couple of weeks ago some kids on quads got between me and him and he went nuts. He is terrified of anything that makes a similar noise, cars, quads, motorbikes whatever. When he gets scared he runs or stops dead, even though where we walk is away from the road he can hear the bikes etc in the distance. Its not something I can easily fix unless I can get Gordon Brown to ban all loud exhausts  |
| Ru is scared of all things that sound like that too. Crikey they got between you? I would slash their damn tyres, they could so easily freak a dog out. I know for a fact Ru would get scared and run in front of one
I wish there was somewhere seperate for these people to go (to hell maybe?) we have kids on dirt bikes here & the noise is terrible, they just ride through the parks like there is nobody else around. Anyway, I don't think it's a thyroid thing. I have underactive thyroid and there aint a hope in hell of catching me under a sprinkler if I'm tired. I think he is just stubborn -but mention it to the vet just in case |
| You could try slowly (and making it clear to him that you are there and he is quite safe) exposing him to those noises more and more regularly, until he ignores them, when we fist had Archie, I deliberately walked him along the main road to introduce him to traffic noise and movement, and have done so everyday, apart from the odd truck airbrakes spooking him, he seems quite at ease with noise, new years fireworks - he just stared up at the pretty lights, and turned his head to where the noises were coming from. |
| Yes this is something which we are trying to do.
When he was a puppy I bought a CD which had loads of noises on, fireworks, traffic etc and I played it to him when he was "housebound" eventually introducing him to some of the same real noises outside. he was great - he would even sit in the back garden watching any fireworks he could see. Then in October last year when we were on the fiels two little boys threw a firework at him and it expolded a few meters away from him with a huge shower of blue flashes. He went nuts and has been scared of fire works and things that flash in the sky ever since. He is even scared of planes when it is dark which is bad especially as we live on the flight path of Newcastle airport! A similar thing happened I suppose with the bikes. So when the quad got between me and him he got scared and it took me a while to catch him Traffic doesn't bother him but motorbikes, quad bikes etc terrify him, he was doing great this week and then at the start of our walk last night a bike with a noisey exhaust passed us and he was nervous for the remainder of his walk. I thought it was best to keep going with him as I thought by taking him home it would just re-enforce his fear. Its going to be a long and slow process but hopefully we can get threw it! |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|