So I learned today that no matter what else I move, I should NEVER fold down Shamas' crate. He looked like he was going to cry! I had planned to put his wire crate in the bedroom, and his canvas crate away...but when he saw me fold the wire crate, he laid on the plastic liner, and got REALLY depressed. As soon as I put it back up for him in it's old spot, he crawled inside and went to sleep...and hasn't moved since. I may not have him crate trained ot where I can lock the door, but I've successfully acheived "best place ever" or "safe space" status with his crate. Maybe I'll pick up the crate training again soon, and try closing the door again, now that he's attached to the thing. we had some trouble with the closing door stage of crate training before, so I decided to give him time to get attached, and feel safe in there. I don't need to rush it, as my opinion on crate training is from a just-in-case stand-point. I believe that at some point in a dog's 12 or so years of life the vet may say "take him home, keep him confined, make sure he gets lots of rest" or something along those lines. If the dogs is already crate trained, then confinement is not stressful. for a dog who was not trained to the crate, sedatives could be required to prevent further injury. Teach the to feel secure in the crate, and they can relax when they need to.
Got Shamas a nice leather collar today, and a custom tag. It's just got a cell number, and his liscence # on it. That way if he makes a run, he can be returned, but not too much info is given out. I'll keep his ACTUAL tags on my keychain, for pickup ID. Yesterday we were at my dad's house and he made a run. Not far, he doesn't seem interested in running off- just seems to want to make us chase him. Which is why I refuse to run after him. I call, and walk in his direction, but won't run. Still working on recall. It's fairly good in the yard, and in the house but not reliable yet. And VERY food-relieant. . In the dog park he came back fine. The issue is open spaces...those times when he wasn't supposed to be loose in the first place, and I don't want him getting far. He came charging back when I sent my son intot he house for dog treats, of course...which proves the point
I've FINALLY found the 1 foot lead that I bought the day I got Shamas! Which means that I can start teaching him to walk beside me, instead of ahead. The traffic handle on his lead gives him too much space, and when he gets ahead, he trips me. So the plan is to have his harness on him, but teach him to "heel" on his collar, using the 1 foot. If I've got a coffee, or want to let him wander a little, I'll drop a 4 foot or a 6 foot on his harness. He did really well on the way out, but dragged me home. So I think I'll collar him on our way out, and harness him on the way home. I think it'll be a while yet before he stops dragging me home, but at least hes not doing it out of fear so much now- he just REALLY wants to get back home and starts pulling as soon as he realises that we're turning back. I can tell the difference between an eager drag and a fear drag, because with a fear drag he plants all four paws, and turns his back paws inwards for even more traction. I end up having to stop him often because he'll go lame from walking that way. If he's just dragging in eagerness, the paws stay straight and it's a solid strain, but not so strong that I have to dig my heels in. I could carry a coffee and carry a conversation while he eagerly pulls on his harness to try and get me there faster(but I WOULDN'T want him on a collar at that time) I'm actually eyeing the Kong lead with the bungee, wondering if it would ease some of the pressure on the leash, or not?
Hi @Shamas' mom , have you seen the sticky in the Training section of the forum "walking your dog on a loose lead"-? On page 3 or 4 there are 2 videos which demonstrate a great technique, I have been using them with Cassie with really good effect. I also re read Pippa's articles on the main site about loose lead and heel , she advocates using a the harness when not specifically training good lead walking, i.e going from A to B and using flat collar when working on walking beside us, much like you are saying. So very simple -- now why didn't I think of that myself
I haven't seen this one, but I did use an Ezy-Dog bungee lead when Coco was new. His lunging was excruciating, and it did help a little. He now walks on a Grippy lead - this has loops all the way down - 6 in all (or 5 on OH's lead) - for giving closer control when necessary.
Shamas had "the dream" again last night. He hasn't had it in ages, and we were glad to see it go. When we got him, Shamas had "the dream" every time he went to sleep. The more balanced he became, the less he had it. It's always the same: He shifts in his sleep...then he whimpers....a few half-hearted little barks....low growls....yip, yelps, and running. He wakes up scared. We had trouble with his morning walk, and took him to Petsmart instead, where he feels safe. Then tried Micheal's. He likes the tall shelves when he's feeling anxious.
I love it that you are putting so much thought and care into Shamas' training and new life. He's a lucky boy to have you!
Thanks I have wanted a dog for years, and kept putting it off...always afraid that I wasn't ready, that I wouldn't have time to invest in training, etc. I'm doing my very best with him. I LOVE the latest harness we got him. It's a seatbelt-harness, and has a handle on the back, where you strap him in. This came in handy tonight, as he decided to be a (pick your four letter word) to a random lab walking on the other side of the street. I knew he was going to react somehow, but as it was our way home, and the other option was to walk him straight down the main road...we decidded to keep a close eye on him. He's been great at Petsmart with the dogs, but that's known neutral ground. So anyway, we got almost across the street, and he growled. I told him "walk on, and moved his lead closer to his body, so that as he bunched his legs for a lunge, I grabbed his handle and kept walking. He was walking on his back legs for a few steps, completely impotent, as I said again "walk on" and did exactly that. He had the choice to drop to all fours, or continue to move akwardly, attempting to lunge and making no gain. He walked on. As I was doing this, I looked over at the owner of the other dog, and said "I have him by the handle on his harness, he can't do anything more than walk on his back legs" He kind of smirked, and waited with his (calm) dog while we moved by and Shamas was let back onto his lead about 30 feet past them-again with the command "walk on", which he did. When he saw a small dog come out of it's house a little further down the road, and across the street, he remembered what just happened, and quickly corrected himself at the first "walk on" I MUCH prefer this option to taking hold of his neck collar when he acts out LOL
Er....if your dog is showing reactivity to any dogs - out of fear or over excitement - then picking him up by a harness so he is only able to walk on his back legs, and thinking he is intimidated by that when he sees the next dog....might not be the best strategy, to be honest. If he is fearful, it will make it worse. If he is a 'frustrated greeter' it will also make it worse. In that you are not addressing the cause of the problem, you are dealing (rather inappropriately) with the symptoms.
I didn't " pick him up" by the handle-I merely took hold of it and kept walking. He was on his back legs because he was trying to lunge at the dog across the street. Because I was not in a position to u-turn him(fear of traffic would have put him into a full panic. We can cross at the crosswalk, but not walk down the road that it crosses) the only available choice was to get past. The dog was on the opposite side of the street and calm. I was between the two of them. So was my husband... so I secured him close to my side, on the inside of the sidewalk and moved him past as quickly as possible. Better to hold him close by his harness than his collar, and have him strangle himself trying to get at the other dog. When I first got Shamas, he was dog-aggressive to every dog he saw, up to a full block away. He's now eager to meet at Petsmart, and has met a few in the neighbourhood and been to the dog park twice with my dad's pack, and once alone, when the dogs there were older(we won't go with younger dogs in the park because we know he won't tolerate jumping greeters). We work on a dog-by-dog basis, and usually U-turn if he's starting to breathe faster, or pull harder. He's doing quite well considering the short time that we've had him, and the occasions where he's been attacked in our area by dogs whose owners did not control them. I don't use a Prong, Gentle Leader, nose-piece or choker..only a simple leather collar and harness. So if he's in need of control, it's with minimal force applied, with positive reinforcement, clicks and treats to back it up.
You are doing really well @Shamas' mom in difficult and challenging circumstances . Maybe hold a frankfurter on his nose, and lure him past in a more comfortable fashion for both of you I too have a very reactive boy and keep an emergency whole sausage or a tasty piece of chicken in the side of my treat bag for exactly those situations where for whatever reason I am out of options! I do understand how you feel, I used to feel very self-conscious in the early days with my reactive black labrador leaping and lunging on the end of his lead. We come a long way since those days, and can walk comfortably most places. Now I just think, he is getting on a bit now...and really don't care what anyone else thinks..
Thank you for the support, it means a lot, and I felt like that comment was suggesting that I was harming Shamas. He wrenched my shoulder last night. I had him on the harness because he pulls a lot on the way home, and didn't see the black cat in the dark. It's bad enough that I started reseaching the Halti optifit for neighbourhood walks. It's the only time that I don't have good control over him- he's generally good outside of our area, but in the neighbourhood theres too much stimuli. And he scared one of our neighbours with his barking at an unseen thing. We were standing calmly on her porch,and he starting up. My guess is skunk, because we never saw it....but she stepped into her house and closed her screen door...made me sad to see such a friendly aquaintance shrink back like that. I sat up til after Midnight trying to decide if Shamas is ready to try a head halter again. He got more reactive on the Gentle Leader...but I tried it early on, not long after I got him, and I didn't know how to use it. Plus it was tight on his face and rode up into his eyes, and caused sores on his nose. The optifit seems to fit more like a halter would on a horse, and claims not to ride up. It LOOKS more humane. I really can't afford an injury to my stong arm, given the weakness of my left side from breaking that arm,and the strength of my dog. I'm working to get him trained not to pull, and it's going well outside of stimilating spaces...but he WON'T stop in our area....and stopping every three steps makes no difference-he just grins and waits me out because he gets plenty of excercise at home, so doesn't really need the walks-those are for my benefit, not his. And he's starting to put on a bit more weight than needed, so I'll need to scale back treats in training. we've had him almost 5 months now, and trained with treats the whole time. Progress has been great, but so has weight gain. Up until recently it was all muscle because of how underweight he was when we got him. Now I can see tummy chub showing
You are doing great Try carrot and apple pieces as training treats. We were taught this method for dealing with reactivity at puppy class (to be started in very easy environments at home and slowly upping the difficulty) 1. Have the dog on lead, on an ordinary collar. 2. Hold the end of the lead and tuck your hand into your pocket so that you are not doing anything with the lead. The dog is, in effect, tethered to you. 3. Let the dog do whatever he wants, totally ignore him. No eye contact, no verbal or body-language hints as to what you want him to do. 4. As soon as he loosens the lead and looks at you mark and treat. Do this lots of times, then when he’s ‘got it’ mark and treat him sitting by you. Treat a lot. 5. Walk a very few paces, lead still tucked into your pocket, mark and treat a loose lead. When he’s good at this only treat when the dog is in the right position. 6. Up the difficulty really slowly. This works for greeting visitors too - starting in set-up situations. .
That's awesome! I'll dig up my umbillical belt, and start that today in the house, then move outside into the yard once he's figured it out. I need to set myself up a treat pouch, for warmer weather too(right now I keep them in my coat pocket), and plan to sew one onto the belt that I used over the winter to umbillical tether him. It's a simple braided belt, that I can wear under or over my coat.
Hang on.... What you said was - setting the scene... Then you said: So, if the original man handling wasn't unpleasant or punishing, why did he 'remember what just happened' exactly? Your original post made it sound like you thought your dog was a "pick your four letter word" and you manhandled him passed other dogs in such a way as he certainly remembered that for the next dog he saw - of course, this is just going to think he can expect something unpleasant to happen when he sees other dogs. After being challenged on that, you clarified the position - and of course it's good to hear that's not actually the case.
Having re-read my own wording, I now understand how it could have looked that way. The interesting thing about text is that our experiences dont always come crross clearly. The two dogs for example--about 45 seconds apart. You say "Manhandled", I say "Prevented a dog hurting himself or others." Language really makes a difference in the tone that's set, and we both seem to be at odds in the tone being set. I believe perhaps it's time to call truce. your intention was noble, and I thank you for your care
Shamas was Amazing tonight! I'm so happy with him! I didn't have to move him from collar to harness once, his pulling was negligable on the way out, and managable on the way home. It seems he's happiest in windy weather. We walked about an hour and a half, and past calmly by upwards of 8 dogs without incident. Two were off-leash in the park, and he ignored them, continuing by with his relaxed grin. One was on our side of the streeet, a young boxer on-leash on his front yard, who would have liked to have played but his owner kept him well away because it was clear from my constant praise that I was training. There were a couple of labs at varying distances, a shephard a ways away, a barking rotty mix guarding it's yard, Tiko the hated chihuaha as we left the house(a little excitement there but he gladly left the scene and follwed me in the opposite direction to start his walk). He even met a dog, owned by a neighbour who has watched his progress, and was impressed by his ability to ignore him as we walked by earlier in the walk. He asked first, and approached slowly, to give time for Shamas to decide if he was ready, and he was a little tense, but good, approaching the dog himself and giving a sniff and hello. We then came home by van, and Shamas pulled me out of the van trying to lunge to protect his yard...and checked himself, realising that this was the same dog he'd just befriended. It could have been bad, but was very funny instead. I got coffee all over my glasses, and we all had a laugh. The owner just laughed at Shamas ans said "realy? You to Just met 5 minutes ago! " I'd not have opened the door if it had been a strange dog- he usually warns me if hes going to cause trouble. The crowning acheivement of the night..and the one that earned him a chunk of Turkey meat upon return home though: passing a strange dog on a crosswalk and ignoring it. I don't honestly know if he acknowledged it's existence, intent as he was in getting across the road and home, but it was a huge acheivement for him regardless. I very nearly turned him around and walked away, looking for an alternative route home...but he was having none of it, having walked 45 minutes already, and knowing that this crosswalk leads to home. As soon as the light turned, he was off, and he nearly pulled me over. I honestly could cheer his behavior today....it's been a pleasure to walk, and I don't kno when I'll get another so fun! I felt like I was praising him all the way down the street
