I have always had this problem with Maisy, she will lay down when she sees another dog (or sometimes person). As a younger pup it was easy to move her or tempt her away with a treat but now she is still doing it at 7 months (not so much as before - some dogs she will sniff, say hello, and walk away). If she sees someone in the distance with a dog, she will lay down and watch until they pass, which can be a long time if they are a field length away. She cannot be tempted away anymore with treats or promises and just ignores me and she is too big to pick up obviously. I have only ever found advice for people with dogs who are tired and want to rest, this is not the case here. Any tips on how to budge her and stop looking like an idiot to everyone with normal dogs (ie not labradors)??
Just wait, no comment, look away and make yourself boring and give high value treats the moment she gets moving. Looking at your phone is a good idea so people think you asked her to wait - no embarrassment. She’ll soon get the message
My puppy did this at about the same age. She would just literally stop whether we saw anyone or not. She wasn’t tired. I followed @Boogie’s very good advice and eventually she stopped. It did feel like it lasted a long time but looking back it was just a few weeks. I found it strange just standing there not paying any attention to her for what seemed like an eternity to start with. It got easier when I accepted it was just something she needed to do at that stage in her development .
Quinn still does this sometimes when she sees certain dogs and she is almost 2, but it has gotten less and less as she's gotten older. I just stand by her and wait it out, sometimes if it's getting a bit long, I use my happy (crazy) voice and say let's go (which means keep walking on or off leash) and she gets a treat or her ball if she gets up. I find people think I trained her to do it to let them pass (I didn't at all).
Actually that reminded me that Sky used to do that when she was younger - she has never been interested in interacting with other dogs and preferred to do that. Now she just ‘skirts’ around other dogs if she is off lead so she doesn't have to interact. She isn’t antisocial, far from it, she just can’t be bothered with other dogs.
My puppy used to lay down! He's only 6 months old but he will sit if he sees another dog he wants to play with. Normally I will just make it way more exciting to move on
I thought lying down was good behavior, shows the other dog you mean no harm, you’re small and harmless. Snowie did this a lot when a puppy. And I see puppies do this to him now. Seems completely normal to me. Snowie rarely does it now - he’s almost six years old. But on the weekend he did - and my heart was in my throat cos there was a very scary dog approaching, an extremely stocky pit bull looking dog with clipped ears and a HUUUUGE head. Clearly Snowie felt the same as me! Off leash forest area, Snowie was ahead of me on the path. I called out to the owner, is your dog friendly. He laughed, “of course, I wouldn’t bring him here otherwise.” Thankfully nothing happened, and I was very pleased Snowie lay down when approaching and made himself unthreatening to this hulk. Cos Snowie is generally not submissive.
There is a lab puppy at our training class - she must be 5 or 6 months old now. She is dreadful on the lead and frequently lays down and refuses to budge. Her owner tugs and coaxes with pleading words but she ignores him. Yesterday, the trainer took the lead from him and pranced around, making himself really exciting, and played with her has they moved forward - OK, the pair looked nothing like the other dog/person pairs heeling nicely, but she did move forward ( and up an down ). Her owner tried this for the remainder of the class and yes, it worked - even if Amber was now a hyped up whirling Dervish.
Unfortunately she is not in the least bit interested in me, she is 100% focused on the dog she can see. Even waving her favourite treats in front of her nose gets only a nose twitch but no other response anymore. I can sometimes wait it out but if the dog is coming towards us she just sits and stares like a statue. I expect like Atemas says it is something she just has to do.
[QUOTE="MF, post: 326999, member: 1016" I called out to the owner, is your dog friendly. He laughed, “of course, I wouldn’t bring him here otherwise.” .[/QUOTE] Always best to check with this because we all know that some people don't care if their dogs are aggressive and anti-social at all. I always put Maisy on a lead when approaching another dog on a lead because I know she will want to play with it and not everyone wants that, also that dog may not be as friendly as she is. I learnt that the hard way as once a small dog came from nowhere off lead, latched onto Maisy's back legs and drew blood, there was so much screaming from her it was heartbreaking. We can't stop that happening of course but it has made me very aware that there are some selfish, thoughtless dog owners around. Sorry, a bit off topic there.
@Shaz82 all my pride has gone out of the window long ago - I do look a total loon walking Coco - I do whatever it takes. A couple of weeks ago we met a chap with a rescue dog - he reckons this dog is aggressive - it's just afraid I think. Coco has big difficulty approaching and passing dogs. This chap hid behind a car. Coco knew he was there with his dog. I shouted "hello, we'll just jog past" and I galloped with Coco, trilling "let's jog! let's jog!" in a high pitched sing-song voice. Then I stopped behind a wall and had a normal, adult conversation with the man. Nothing can embarrass me anymore.
When bailey was a pup, I had to literally sing "Bailey oh Bailey" in a shrill voice to get him moving. Now even when he is loose lead, litter and basic obedience trained, the song gets him excited. Bailey is now 2. Recovering from a bb shot from point blank range by the neighbourhood bullies.
It can be due to many causes such as being submissive, playful, stubborn or being interested in the other dog.
My guy is a little over 1 and has done this since he was a puppy! It has gotten better (and we know it isn’t because he is tired now) but when he does it we just turn our back to him, give him a moment, then say let’s go enthusiastically and he pops up! He will throw himself mid walk on his back in front of people if they have a dog, or just down at the park if he wants to check it out. One trainer we had said to do a hand target then treat him, but then he just started throwing himself down and stare at me like “when do I get my treat?” It used to drive me nuts but now I laugh along with everyone else. Also if yo act frustrated they tend to lay down longer!
Joy (6 months) does this whenever she sees something she's not sure of. I think she likes to have a really good look and a think about it. Our previous lovely girl, Solstice would just charge headlong at whatever it was and recall was non existent as a pup. She grew up to be a brilliant dog but I must admit the more cautious pup is easier to handle. Having said that I'm retired now and rarely have to get anywhere in a hurry (bliss) and am also possibly just about beyond embarassment being now on Lovely Loony Lab number 5 but perhaps I shouldn't speak too soon!
Did you train recall with Solstice as a pup? I am trying with Maisy and when we are on our own she is very obedient, but when another dog comes into view it all goes out the window. I might as well not be there. She lies down to watch, then bounds toward them taking no notice of me (in between the bounding she keeps lying down!). She is still being trained and obviously a puppy but some people can be quite impatient with puppies. If Solstice mastered the recall it gives me hope. This happened last night 3 times, I just can't let her have a run off-lead when other dogs are around. This is in addition to the lying down not moving problem - quite the opposite.
