Dog walking.. or not walking - is this normal or a cause for concern?

Hi Sian, i completely agree. Isla is our 2lab and 4th dog but she is by far the most challenging of all and the only one to have anxiety issues. I wonder how fair genes play a part.

 

Hi Leigh,sorry to hear Kyko has separation anxiety too. We also have a camera to watch Isla and she lays down by the front door waiting for us too.

That's interesting about not being on their own for long, I wonder if it's worse for pups who's owners are mostly at home?

 

I call her nosy to make light of it when she watches people, that’s what I tell them. She doesn’t bark at objects but will bark at some men . Gwenni has many of the behaviours that people talk about on here and many of the excellent skills too. She does everything 100% too and often OTT! She finds it so difficult to manage her emotions , which I understand there is an adolescent element running through all of this but it’s HER in the adolescent phase and whilst some of her behaviours have “just being a puppy “ as everyone reminds us there are additional things about Gwenni we have to work out I’m convinced!

 

Now Gwenni is good when i leave her for work 6 hrs. She has a number of food challenges to do every time I leave her. We also have a camera and she does sleep/ lie in her bed a lot. Yes she has on occasions had a chew of things she shouldn’t but generally she doesn’t. Think she likes the calm at times.

 

I have always had dogs and high energy ones too but never have had to do so much training and never found them so difficult to live with at times. I do love the little soul though even if I really don’t like some of her behaviours!

 

We had a day out with Toby yesterday at the Wiltshire Game Fair.
I wasn’t sure how he would be with all the noise(gunshot especially) people and dogs of all breeds. He was great.Nobody really came directly up to us as there were so many dogs there so he had no reason to bark at anyone.All dogs were of great interest and as they all seemed well trained we had no issues. We stood and watch hounds and horses cantering past, miniature ponies and carriages, dogs retrieving dummies and clay pigeon shooting. I wish I had taken him to things like that sooner and will certainly look out for others to go to.
The only slight issue I had is he is pretty food obsessed and had his nose down a lot looking for dropped bits! He is a very strong dog and I realise I need a better harness to protect him and my hand! He was exhausted on the way home. Lovely day out and great to meet 5labs too.

 

Gwenni loves a show she has been to 2 and enjoyed seeing all the animals and dogs and did a good job of finding any morsels on the floor too like Toby !

 

Sort of related. Last Spring, Cooper (4 years) suddenly decided she did not want to walk past the gate to our Home Owners Association. She would go through it going into the property but not going out. If we went through the woods and back to the road she was OK. This continued during the few trips we made up there in the Summer. Something seemed to freak her out near the gate. A couple of weeks ago, we went on a walk with two of her dog friends and she went through the gate with them though she still seemed a bit skittish. We did several more walks with her dog buddies and she seemed to get better. This past weekend we tried it without her friends and she was fine with going through it, though she still walks on the far side of the road, away from the gate operator. I think we desensitized her to what ever bothered her there. I think it was the buzzing from the overhead light, but that is only a guess.

A few weeks earlier I had tried to coax her through with treats, and I did have some progress. I think it would have worked eventually, but walking with her dog buddies worked quicker.