My OH has been the main dog walker over the last month or so (just the way because of holidays and work) and I'm now in the process of sorting a few things out. The worst one, is where I turn for home on a couple of walks, Charlie sits down, put his concrete bum on, and refuses to move! Find out that when he does this with OH, he gets an extra 20 minute walk because "he doesn't want to go home"! : But the other thing is odd - when a dog is approaching Charlie directly, Charlie will sometimes go flat in a calming signal. There is nothing to indicate Charlie is nervous, and often the other dog is the worried one, and is reluctant to walk by. Charlie has always done this off lead if other dogs look nervous, but rarely on lead. I'm not sure what to do about it! I can't just pull Charlie along, I'd choke him. And having massive problems getting his attention with my usual dancing, treat throwing, distraction techniques. Yet another odd development from mad pooch Charlie! I feel so daft, stood there while my dog communicates at a distance with another dog!
Re: Laying down on lead Riley does that.....I just have to wait. He's too fixated for treats, I'm not prepared to drag him along. If one gentle tug and a brisk come on doesn't work I just wait it out :
Re: Laying down on lead [quote author=bbrown link=topic=6808.msg92428#msg92428 date=1404203364] Riley does that.....I just have to wait. He's too fixated for treats, I'm not prepared to drag him along. If one gentle tug and a brisk come on doesn't work I just wait it out : [/quote] So glad to hear this! There isn't a lot to be done about it, it seems.
Re: Laying down on lead I guess it's one of those proofing things.....for some reason the particular dog approaching is too close for Riley to be able to 'look at me' or take a treat. If we're out on a walk we can't manage all the other dogs and distractions so rather than make a big deal of it I just wait. More than happy for someone to say there's another way though
Re: Laying down on lead I do my best to intercept the behaviour chain before we get to on lead lying down as my boy will gather up to a lunge sometimes from that position if he decided he wants to say hi and he would have me over. We've got a pretty good 'look at me 'as soon as I see his ears prick and his interest start to show....and that will usually get us past. We've got concrete bum and concrete paws if I don't walk in the direction HRH deems acceptable : If 'Let's go' doesn't get him started I wait it out until he takes a step forward then he gets some chicken for forward motion. Chris got a bang on the window the other day for bribing him down the street from the park entrance ...throwing the chicken on the floor...Dex walks to it,eats it and sits down ...and repeat all the way home. He was having a great time I don't spy on Chris ,honestly ;D
Re: Laying down on lead Is Charlie's behaviour a 'calming signal' or just another way of stopping you from making him exit the scene?
Re: Laying down on lead Is it really obvious you're going home? and is there anyway you can disguise that you're heading home? I used to have a slightly different problem with Kenzi pulling more when heading home so I now rarely walk the same walk twice and vary the route pretty much every day so she never quite knows when we're done. However, that said she used to do the same thing on a walk in a strange place nowhere near home when we were heading back to the car, so her internal GPS is definitely finely tuned. On the sitting/laying down with other dogs, i'm in the same boat, mine is a professional dog stalker and she's that stubborn she'll just refuse to budge - any ideas from others on solving that problem would be hugely appreciated
Re: Laying down on lead Molly has started 'The Flop' too and there appears to be no reason for, no other dogs and no returning home. I give her a minute or so (a girl can have arrest can't she) then I say "Walk on". If this fails I bring in the big guns. One lousy bit of kibble tossed about 4 feet ahead. Actions speak louder than words, especially if they involve food
Re: Laying down on lead A nice big, tasty jackpot treat when arriving home every time will do the trick
Re: Laying down on lead Our previous Lab, Cocoa, would slow down and sniff every blade of grass if we turned towards home. She'd try to drag the walk out for as long as possible without actually stopping. Holly lies down in the calming signal whenver she sees an unfamiliar dog. Next time she meets the dog she's quite happy to walk up and greet them. We reckon its because she's a lady and likes to be formally introduced
Re: Laying down on lead [quote author=Oberon link=topic=6808.msg92436#msg92436 date=1404205425] Is Charlie's behaviour a 'calming signal' or just another way of stopping you from making him exit the scene? [/quote] Well, who ever knows what's going on in their heads? It looks the same as his off lead calming signal and he tends to do it most when a single dog is walking towards us, head on, where he'd get to the other dog quicker, if he kept walking. So I just thought it was a calming signal.
Re: Laying down on lead [quote author=skooch link=topic=6808.msg92439#msg92439 date=1404205556] Is it really obvious you're going home? and is there anyway you can disguise that you're heading home? [/quote] I don't have a big problem with the not going home one. I'm just not giving in. I'll wait him out, and when he agrees to walk home, he'll get a treat. A few days with him finding out he no longer gets to extend his walk will fix it, I reckon.
Re: Laying down on lead Angela mentioned Dex sometimes lunges from that position. The Tibetan terrier up the road that goes for us every time we meet started off doing this and a staffi we meet lies down as we approach. I know it's going to lunge for some reason it's owner hasn't worked it out yet. : I'm not suggesting Charlie is going to start lunging at these dogs just forewarned is forearmed. It's a funny one because as you said lying down, which he does off lead, would be seen as a calming signal like a still play bow is a calming signal. I wonder then if there is some difference difficult for us to see with the lying down that leads to a lunge and the lying down that is calming ? Maybe I've been reading my Turrid Rugass book too much. :
Re: Laying down on lead Milly just goes straight to lunging. No lying down at all. I'm no help at all.
Re: Laying down on lead We had months of lunging alright, but he didn't seem to lie down beforehand...there is no reason he wouldn't lunge after going flat, of course, if he decides the dog looks ok to play with, I can't see a reason why he wouldn't decide to lunge from lying down. So far though, it's still all playfulness. No nervousness or aggression.
Re: Laying down on lead I wasn't suggesting Charlie would be being nervous or aggressive Julie I'm assuming it would be play. I was just wondering, not necessarily to do with Charlie as we dont know why he's started lying down, what makes one lying down a calming signal and the other a precursor for a lunge ?
Re: Laying down on lead No probs, Jen. I don't know, really. I don't see the going flat thing as related to a lunge in Charlie. I mean, he lunges towards other dogs anyway in a panting disgrace of "please, please play with me" (unless I take some kind of avoiding action, although he's getting much better). I reckon that his natural inclination is to do this unless the other dog gives off "back off" signals. Eg a GSD in town growled at him at his first bouncing chocolate approach and he couldn't get away fast enough - I reckon he misjudged that one. He might just think going flat makes a game with a nervous looking dog a bit more likely. I suppose in terms of the dogs you are talking about - can going down be self calming? Maybe if they are worried, they'll try anything, and when the situation doesn't change, lunge anyway. Perhaps in any event, if the calming signal - if that's what it is - doesn't change the situation, the dog will just do what it was going to do anyway?
Re: Laying down on lead [quote author=Hollysdad link=topic=6808.msg92448#msg92448 date=1404207701] We reckon its because she's a lady and likes to be formally introduced [/quote] Absolutely. Perfect etiquette, Holly. (Wish you could pass some on to young Pongo here.)
Re: Laying down on lead You could be right with that idea Julie. The dog lies down trying to calm itself or whatever is coming towards it. It feels that hasn't worked so lunges even if its just excitement. Offence is the best form of defence so to speak. Between us Julie I bet we could write a dog behaviour book and what we don't know we can work out.
Re: Laying down on lead Yes, I reckon. With excitement though, I think that probably a dog is looking for no change, where I suppose with fear, they are looking for a change. Charlie wants the other dog to approach, I suppose a fearful dog wants the other dog to go away? You are right though, either way it ends up in the same place (if the dogs are is on lead, nothing will ever change).
