So Disappointed
I've been walking them individually, for a couple of reasons. First. Tonks is more reactive than Luna, and Luna will go along with Tonks. So rather than teach Luna her sister's bad habits, I want to walk her on her own. Also, should they mis-behave, I don't think I have the strength to reel them both in. I could have done it once upon a time, but I've just been too sick for too long. Also, Tonks gets a shorter walk than Luna. I feel like if I just take Tonks around the block, there are less chances for her to misbehave. And I feel that the more positive walks we take, the more the good behavior sticks. Well everything was going great until today. I even had Tonks on a longer walk yesterday in which she encountered other dogs and didn't react! She's met people and been great. Luna's always good; she and I do a 30 minute walk, and today we encountered a street full of screaming middle school kids playing, a mom with her small son going for a walk (they wanted to say Hi and Luna was wonderful) some joggers as well as a man with 2 other dogs that she did really well walking by without reacting. I've just been so proud of their progress, and today that went right in the toilet. Or rather in the dirt. Face down. And dragged about 6 feet. Yup; me on the end of Luna's leash. Not Tonks, who I expect to misbehave. LUNA.  After encountering and doing so well with all those other obstacles, about 2 blocks from the house we see a guy with 2 dogs coming. One of the dogs is bouncing and pulling on its leash, and I see the possible problem right away. So I cross to the other side of the street, and even walk way up onto the lawn to give us plenty of clearance (thank goodness, or I'd have eaten a face full of street). I was giving Luna Heel and Leave It commands and she still lost her mind and lunged with all her might. I hit the ground, still hauling on her leash, got dragged about 2 yards face down, and finally tackled her. She didn't listen to sit, down, stay, heel, leave it.... What else could I have done? I feel like we both really failed here. I want to blame the guy with the dog who didn't know how to walk on a leash, but I know we'll encounter stuff like that no matter where or when we walk, so we have to be able to deal with it. So what can I do to overcome this?????  |
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Put on 100lbs and a pair of grippy boots.................  |
| I'm trying to LOSE weight, not put it on! |
| Turn around and walk the other way. I have done that before if I see that someone is walking with out of control dogs, especially more than one. Don't let this get you down too much. We all have bad days but you have so many more good ones than bad ones-focus on those. Did the guy at least help you up? |
| The guy was weird; I expected him to not be able to help; after all he had his dogs and I had Luna going nuts. But he hardly said a word to me, even though I was busy apologizing for Luna's behavior. He didn't seem mad or scared or judgemental; any of which I would have expected. He just sort of stood there looking kind of dazed. He was just sort of not home in his own head. Weird. |
| I've had this happen to me and sw it coming also and had to walk way up some strange neighbor's driveway to avoid a proble. The neighbor, who I didn't even know, came out of her house and asked me what I was doing that and at that moment, the two out of compl;ete control dogs and their owner came walking by...She saw them and said, oh, I understand! Don't beat youreslf up. You did good. Sorry about the dirt face  But I agree...I think next time I would walk the other way and not attempt to pass....I think when dogs see other out of control dogs, it makes them worse. I also don't give too much lead so the dogs don't have a running start. I am much smaller than my dogs and if I give them alot of lee way with the leash and another dog is coming, they sort of get a jump on me and I can't hold them back. However, too tight a leash makes them even more tense. Its a tough call to get it just right - enough leash not to tense them but not too much to give them that slack jump start. |
we always walk short leash; I insist on a perfect heel, and get it by having no slack in the leash. Luna I'll often give extra leash, because she naturally walks right at my side. But seeing oncoming ANYTHING: dogs, people, cars or bicycles, I always shorten my leash so there's no way they can get any funny ideas. At least, that's the plan....  I see now I should have turned around. I think I was 5 minutes from being done with our walk, knew home was just around the corner, and wanted to get Luna out of what I saw to be a situation. If I'd turned around, they would have been behind us; Luna could hear them but would have had to maintain her Heel. I missed a training opportunity, and instead ate dirt and embarrassed myself and my dog. I just didn't think it through properly. |
| Sorry about the digger Maybe if you try the same walk today, the guy and dogs will be there, and you can try a do-over...  OK, just had to throw that out there.   |
Sorry about the dirt! I sympathize and know your pain as I've experienced a couple of times with Nola! Who knew such a sweet and wonderful creature could turn into Cujo in a moments notice! I'm glad no one was hurt!!!  |
| Allison, are you ok? Did you get hurt? I hope all is well with you. |
got sheep wrote: Sorry about the digger Maybe if you try the same walk today, the guy and dogs will be there, and you can try a do-over... OK, just had to throw that out there. You joke, but that's exactly what I'm thinking. I don't know how to correct the behavior unless we find ourselves in the position to respond appropriately to it.  |
Darth Snuggle wrote: got sheep wrote: Sorry about the digger Maybe if you try the same walk today, the guy and dogs will be there, and you can try a do-over... OK, just had to throw that out there. You joke, but that's exactly what I'm thinking. I don't know how to correct the behavior unless we find ourselves in the position to respond appropriately to it. I knew you would get it  Yep, there is merit to getting right back in the saddle again. Especially now, with a plan and resolve to see it through to a better conclusion. |
dogmom wrote: Allison, are you ok? Did you get hurt? I hope all is well with you. My pride was REALLY hurt. I have a burn on my arm where my coat and shirt sleeve were yanked along the ground- I thought it was leash burn but I can't think how the leash would have gotten up there. and my shoulder is a bit achey. But I think all in all I was pretty lucky I was bundled up for cold weather; it seems to have acted as padding and kept me from getting more hurt than I could have. |
got sheep wrote: I knew you would get it Yep, there is merit to getting right back in the saddle again. Especially now, with a plan and resolve to see it through to a better conclusion. My biggest concern now of course is that the guy will see us coming and HE will head the other way! |
Darth Snuggle wrote: got sheep wrote: I knew you would get it Yep, there is merit to getting right back in the saddle again. Especially now, with a plan and resolve to see it through to a better conclusion. My biggest concern now of course is that the guy will see us coming and HE will head the other way!  there is that possibility  |
| I think that Luna starting to act up must come as a response to Tonks' change in behaviour. The "rules" Luna lived with all this time are changing, so she's acting up to test what today's newfangled "rules" are. Don't beat yourself up too much, you've taken these dogs so far, and I'm sure they'll continue to improve under your direction. A step back here and there has to be expected. |
| So sorry you had to eat dirt. I've not hit the dirt but have had that situation x2dogs. I've walked into strange yards, but the most effective is a sit, stay, leave it, tight leash, and body block till the threat moves off. I think the body block is what does it. |
| oh so sorry!!! how old are your girls again? I can't remember the mastiff we had- would lunge and bark and people started avoiding our house. she felt she had to guard us, and with all my might I held her back. I just knew that one day, she'd get away, and something bad would happen. anyway- of course your babies aren't aggressive and wouldn't hurt anyone, it was just the perfect storm coming together. brush off, stand straight and have a plan for the next time, to do it right I had to laugh- I went to the grand opening of the do store the other day. Do you know how horrid it is to stand with the general public and all their crazy dogs?! No one could believe C was only a few months old and being so good. While some people brought crazy dogs, that snapped and snarled and barked and drove everyone else crazy. oy vey hang in there Sheepie Momma- you know what you are doing |
| i fell your pain.. duffy loves all and is a layed back old man.. every morning i walk dream and duff there is this one dog a pointer if duff smells it coming down the road he goes crazy then when he see;s the dog well if i did not have on the gentle leader i would be eating dirt .. one time dream pulled and got crazy with duff over this one dog i had to sit on the ground and dig in to hold on to both of them .. boy was i embarrist.. to this day i still do not get it why only this one dog .. do you use a gentle leader? |
| Just a thought I'll throw out there. You said that you shortened the leash before this incident. Do you think your response to seeing the out-of-control dogs was a clue to Luna that you were concerned, and so she reacted to your vibes? I do feel that our human tension "travels down the leash" and sometimes our anticipation is subtly or subconsciously signalled through our behavior, and a tuned-in dog will pick up on that. That or, what everybody else said! Laurie and Oscar |
What even the big grippy boots  |
Oscar's Mom wrote: Just a thought I'll throw out there. You said that you shortened the leash before this incident. Do you think your response to seeing the out-of-control dogs was a clue to Luna that you were concerned, and so she reacted to your vibes? I do feel that our human tension "travels down the leash" and sometimes our anticipation is subtly or subconsciously signalled through our behavior, and a tuned-in dog will pick up on that. That or, what everybody else said! Laurie and Oscar Bingo, Laurie. Mind you, it's human nature to do this, and if she hadn't Luna still might have reacted and she still could have eaten dirt. It's a tough one. Allison, try to put it behind you and move on. They're dogs, they make mistakes. We're human, we make even more Some days I think it's a miracle that most dogs most of the time actually lead pretty uneventful lives despite our constant "misunderstandings". But if you get it in your mind that she could blow up at another dog, she will, I guarantee you, for just the reasons Laurie described. Kristine |
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