More advice please, Poppy is still recovering from her Op and is still on short walks only,I hope she is just frustrated and once she can run free again this will stop, but we are back to her really bad behaviour on the lead jumping up grabbing the lead and tugging and tonight she actually knocked me over it was bad enough when she was little but she weighs 21kg now she seems to be quite aggressive when she does this, I make her sit and try to control her before we set off to come home and put her in her crate and tell her off when we get home but I guess she wont understand this...but it makes me so cross and a little bit upset....any suggestions gtreatly received thanks Lois x
Re: Poppy back to Nightmare on the lead!! Hi Lois, hope you didn't hurt yourself when Poppy knocked you over . Could you put Poppy on a halti or harness to give you better control and also to stop her leaping about after her op? Does she like treats?, perhaps you could calm her down and get her to sit with treats. Your right she wouldn't understand why you have put her in her crate and told her off when you get home. I am a novice myself but just my thoughts. Someone will come along and give you sound advise. I hope she will settle down a bit when she gets some off lead exercise.
Re: Poppy back to Nightmare on the lead!! Ah Lois hope you are ok?she probably is fed up with being restricted ,Dexter didn't seem to remember he had an op ....only that he had a wound he could reach ??? I never had the jumping up on the lead just pulling .......but I would stand still and not move forward until she stops.....that might mean that you don't get very far( I've been there and it's stressful because you think they are missing their walk)or if you could make her sit And then you can reward her with a treat for a good behaviour instead of the behaviour you definately DONT want! How are you getting on with the cone?sorry guys,I know it's language of the devil when the cone gets mentioned! ;D x
Re: Poppy back to Nightmare on the lead!! Hi Lois, how difficult for you. If I remember rightly, Poppy is a border collie / labrador cross, right? That's a busy mixture you have there. I can imagine that trying to keep her calm and happy with only short lead walks is mighty difficult right now. However, you are right - putting her in her crate and telling her off when you get home will only backfire on you, as she will have no idea what she is being punished for. Angela's idea is the best one - refuse to walk when she jumps or pulls, and reward her 'good' behavior (i.e. no pulling or jumping) by moving forward. What sort of things does Poppy enjoy? Does she like searching for things, using her nose and her brain? Perhaps you could do some 'search and find' games with her in the house or garden, to keep her occupied? Or you could teach her some tricks, just simple stuff to begin with like giving a paw, or rolling over. Border collies need lots of mental stimulation! Do hope this helps a bit.
Re: Poppy back to Nightmare on the lead!! Thanks Karen yes she is a Collie x Lab and very lively hopefully on Friday drs will give her the all clear for a run, whether she will come back is another matter haha, I will have to find some more search games we play hide the treat, and hide and seek any ideas for indoor games greatly appreciated as always and we will do some more training as well, at the moment I dread taking her out on the lead she turns from a loving doggie to a devil dog, but par for the course I suppose...
