My neighbour, who's a bit of a grumpy old man but we've got on ok over the last 12yrs, acquired back in the summer a terrier puppy that is totally deaf. The thing is that when he lets it run free of course there's no chance of any recall, and now it's 5months or so it won't allow itself to be caught. So of course it wants to play with Cassie when we happen to meet which is fine, but of course I dn't want Cassie to pelt of after it whenever she sees it, up till now when off lead she's always followed me away. I might not be making much sense as I am still upset. Cassie has to be walked on her harness because she's on heat, but 3 times now this terrier has come up and of corse Cass wants to play and starts lunging ect while on her harness. What can I do when another loose dog that cannot be controlled evokes her over threshold? Should I do the LAT or hand touch which I have started bur forgot about? She's heavy now and even if she wasn't I don't want her doing that, I worked so hard on her behaviour and I just feel everythings been undone. To be fair sometimes she does sit as if she thinks she should but it's asking too much of her in that setting. I've been using this heat period to work on her lead walking but that went out the window tonight. It's a long time since I've cried but this has made me cry, much to Cassie's consternation.
Oh Selina, I'm sorry our upset and this is a difficult one for you but I doubt all your hard work will be undone due to this one incident. Could you walk somewhere else while Cassie is in season to avoid the puppy at least for now? You could then work on LAT and other training too. If that's not possible and you see the deaf puppy again I would quickly turn direction and walk the other way giving her great treats, if you clicker train use it, this would hopefully avoid Cassie going over threshold because if she is over threshold LAT won't work or hand touch as she can't focus on you. I remember when Hattie was in season I just went to very out of the place walks to avoid the hassle. I hope you are OK, please don't be upset it's a minor blip, tomorrow is another day. Sending you and Cassie xx
Hope you are ok. It will be ok it's just a bit of a backward step. She's in season so a bit distracted. I'd avoided deaf pup and Hattie mum has given you some great advice. Please don't be upset its all sortable.
Thank you, the thing is I live in an out of the way place, in the middle of private 400 acre estate that we are all lucky enough to have full access to, there's only one male dog and I knew he wasn't at home. Yes I can try what you suggest, but honest to God this little dog appears from no where, I'm pretty good as a rule at spotting other people/dogs but this one catches me out. It's got some Bedlington/lurcher in it I'd say. Came from a gamekeeper. And in truth it's likely to be an on going problem, even when she's not in heat. I went into meltdown tonight especially when he told me to calm down and it wasn't Cassie's fault. As if I thought it was. Thank you @charlie for your kindness ---Cassie is now snoring on the sofa, I've opened the wine
I would be frustrated and upset too. I get upset when the small dog up the road rushes at Harley every time we walk passed because it can get through its gate and the owner doesn't care. And when I yell at it, Harley gets a fright. My blood boils. But exactly as @charlie said, our dogs are adaptable and resilient and what may seem like a major setback for us, or a missed opportunity just doesn't register in their minds the same way. You have been clearly working so hard with Cassie. I wish the grumpy old man would realise the risk he is placing a deaf puppy in by not keeping it safe. I am looking forward to reading about tomorrow and the next day and all after that, the challenges if there are and the highlights, of which I know there will be plenty.
Thank you, the thing even if she's not on heat , how can she resist another puppy jumping at her and generally wanting to play and do what puppies do? I do believe she does try
Sounds like a beautiful place to live Silly grumpy man saying silly things too If you think this is going to be an ongoing problem with this dog you might need to suggest to the owner that he keeps the dog on lead or a long lead for it's own safety aswell as for other dogs too as you are training Cassie. I have done this with a man with a flat coat and labrador that cause havock in our area. Not that he has listened but at least I had my say. In the meantime keep training Cassie to focus on you with food or toys and run in the other direction if you see the puppy Enjoy the wine!! xx
To be fair he does, there was no risk from traffic etc, and he does tend to place the responsibility on others any way. What makes me angry and upset is that I work so hard so that Cassie is ok around everyone else and their dogs etc. Thank you @Harley Quinn for your thoughtful post --- as ever
Yes it is a beautiful place to live, I'm very lucky, I did "suggest" he keeps it on lead in mid meltdown, might have come out a bit wrong, I'm not sure I will try to run, but like I say, it comes from nowhere. We will have to have a dog walking rota! Yes, I am enjoying the wine.
You poor thing , I can feel your distress from here , and I do empathise too , nothing worse than someone else or someone else`s dog ruining all you hard wok , except that it isn't completely ruined , honestly , its a very annoying blip which is not insurmountable . Enjoy your wine , tomorrow is a fresh start , your little one is doing well , and will continue to do so as you are putting in a massive effort , lots will sink in and stay there x
The thing is, you can get as annoyed as you like with people who let off lead dogs run up to on lead dogs - but unfortunately the world is full of idiots who think this is ok. So the only solution is to train your dog to cope with it. Complete sympathy with being annoyed by it though, it is very annoying. And, I have to say, I have a lot of tolerance for people who know it isn't ok and hot foot it over to get their dogs pronto - because I've been there, for sure, with Labrador puppies! It's perfectly possible to get a dog to ignore an off lead dog running up. My 11 month old puppy is able to do this and has been able to since she was about 9 months old. She is not completely reliable, and less so in her pet dog environment than at training, but pretty good. It took much, much longer to get my older dog to be able to do this, because I didn't start working on it until it had become a problem, but I got there in the end. He struggles if it's another male that 'squares up' to him though, but still pretty good. It isn't about using X cue, or Y cue, it's about working on your dog's engagement so it is strong enough to withstand an off lead dog coming up. My puppy is extremely food motivated, so her heel cue is strong enough and she'll walk at heel for hotdogs even if another dog wants to play with her. My older dog isn't at all food motivated, so I have several games that are strong enough. It's just about finding what works for your dog and working on it like mad.
Thank you @kateincornwall you are very kind, my little one (now 30+ kilos ) Is happily sleeping by the wood burner
Yes, and actually Cassie has been doing really, really well at this. The issue here is that because the other dog is deaf and has now learned to evade being caught by it's elderly owner this goes on for some considerable length of time. Of corse the world is full of idiots. I will have too find a way of working on this, but this evening it really got to me.
@Selina We all and I include myself here , have those times when it gets to us , keep the faith , this is a difficult situation for sure , a deaf puppy must be a massive liability and made worse if the owner is struggling x
You could try carrying a spare slip lead in your pocket, holding out seriously amazing treats and catching the dog yourself. I've done this many times and returned a dog to its owner. I've never yet failed to catch a dog using enough king prawns thrown on the floor.
Ok !! I'll have to do better than the bits of kibble I had in my pocket tonight! It was all I had as Cass wasn't going to be off her harness, I did try, but with a fit young 11 month old lunginging around and a 70 + owner, not me (!), it didn't work, no surprises there! I must be prepared for anything!
That poor little dog is going to end up dead. Deaf and running loose, even it is a private area. I walk in 1,000 acres myself and I don't think 400 acres is all that large, really. OUr trainer was asked a similar question and her answer was, don't waste your training on a loose dog. She said you have no control over the other dog and it could really ruin your training to expect your dog to comply when neither of you has any idea what the other one is going to get up to.
they get better as they get older what attracts her now won't in 18 months or so. You lay the ground work for a good relationship now. Other dogs become less attractive she will want yo be with you because you are fun you feed her she trust you and she loves you. My dogs went through this stage by 3 they were less interested in other dogs less playful with others . Rory listens to me and we have a great time together and he just not interested in other dogs now. He greets some and even plays with a few but we move on. Mine have all done this.
So sorry you've both had a disappointing walk. It is frustrating when dogs run up, but as we all know, it's not that easy to stop it sometimes. Hope the wine helps tonight and tomorrow is a new day. Cassie is gorgeous and I know how hard it is to train when other dogs want to play x
