Please could anyone give me advice on how to reduce or even stop nearly 6month running off when he sees another dog? Mason walks nicely with me off lead and listens mostly, but when he sees another dog he has gone. He is very friendly, but I appreciate not everyone wants this. Then he is very difficult to catch takes about 8-10 goes then lead on more apologies and he sits down nicely ☹️ What should I be doing? On lead the whole time? Doesn't seem very enjoyable as he pulls a bit
Oh no , putting him back on lead would be taking a step back , where what you need to do is to proof his recall . I used to have this problem with Sam when he was a puppy , and realised that the trick is to make yourself the most interesting thing in his life , far more interesting than other dogs ! Can I suggest you buy The Happy Puppy handbook , by Pippa Mattinson ( owner and editor of this site ) , lots of useful information , help and support for you . I discovered that small pieces of cooked sausage did the trick for my boy , let him know that you have them in your pocket !
I'm going to disagree slightly with Kate above. Firstly, you really don't want your dog to practice running over to other dogs, as what they do becomes habit. However, this doesn't mean he has to be on lead all the time, but it does mean you should put him on lead when you see another dog to prevent him running over and rehearsing the bad behaviour. I don't like to use recall in these situations because the easiest way to poison your recall is to repeatedly call them away from something they enjoy. Very quickly, the recall becomes punishing and so he won't respond to it. For me, the best method is to use the "Look At That" technique. This comes up so frequently and is hard to search for on the forum, so this has at last prompted me to write a thread all about it and make it into a sticky. I'll come back and post the link here once I've done.
I know that's what I thought but it's very embarrassing and it seems to have become a habit and i don't enjoy the walks which is a huge shame. I will get the book as your are the second person who has suggested it. Thank you it's reassuring to know it's not just my puppy who does this. Round where I live and I go on 4-5 different walks the other dogs are so well behaved not hyper just good dogs.
Thank you I'm taking on board what you both say. It has become habit and I never know when another dog is going to come along. I scan the field and out of no where there is a dog or one lady has 3 which she finds difficult to control comes along. I always put him on lead when I see another dog but sometimes I get caught out. Then he won't budge till that other dog is out of sight. I did find the link and have found it useful can't wait to try later so thank you
Here is the link to the sticky I just created (you definitely haven't read this because I've only just hit the "post" button ) https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/look-at-that.22184/
I had the same problem when Molly was around 9 months - a year old. The answer for us was play. At first I tried just carrying a squeaky toy and producing it when the distractions appeared but that didn’t work, so then I took Molly to off lead places where we weren’t likely to meet people and instigated play with her. ( I know I’m lucky in that it’s easy to find places like that where I live.) I also continued, every few days, to take her to a place where people deliberately go so that their dogs can play and then just let her play with them for 10 minutes. But gradually Molly just became more interested in me ( I carried a bag of toys and played lots of different games). At some point she just stopped being interested in anyone else. I also followed the Total Recall programme (as in the book) which was very effective.
Reassuring to know you had similar problem. Lovely name, Molly. I will try the squeaky toy trick. I am lucky where we are aswell but I will just have to make sure no dogs are around and concentrate on relaxing and enjoying the walk. Only 1 person likes their dog to play with Mason bit sad isn't it! Thank you
The thing is producing the squeaky toy when there was a distraction didn’t work until after I’d put in time training playing with me away from distractions. She had to learn first that I was more fun than other dogs and people. I think most pups go through this stage -feeling confident enough to run off -and most come through it with a bit of effort, so I’m sure yours will.
