Dog Community

Problems with walks - kinda long

Posted : 12/19/2006 1:05:13 PM

I thought Winnie's behavior would clear up on it's own, but after 9 days of me walking her, it hasn't, so I seek some advice.

Because of my schedule and DH's disability, we hired a dog-walker about 7 weeks ago to come in 4 times a week and walk our dogs. She's a neighborhood girl who does this in lieu of having a part-time job; her parents vouched for her; other neighbors vouched for her, and I saw her with her own and other dogs, so we hired her. She showed up on time, took the dog for 45 minutes and never said she had problems.

Well, now that I'm off work and since my dr has ordered me to exercise, I started walking Winnie and Petey last week - 30 minutes every morning, a good 2-mile walk. It's been a disaster.

Before the dog-walker, Winnie and Petey were perfectly behaved on walk: they stayed at my side, didn't strain the leash, hadn't been charging strangers or other dogs, but now all that has changed. Actually, Petey is fine, still the perfect little gentleman; Winnie has become a little terror.

She fights and strains against the leash to be out in front. She'll pull and lunge forward or she'll suddenly jerk backwards and twist and pull at the leash. She's become freaked out when we have to pass in front of cars at stop signs (I've tried putting her on the outside so I'm between her and the car, but that doesn't help). She's almost tripped me about 10 times trying to hide between my legs while we pass cars. She gets really worked up when we have to pass other dogs - in fact, that's when she's at her worst (and I probably look like I'm strangling her trying to get her to move). And, she's been charging and barking at people we pass.

I assume I'm going to have to re-train her by walking her individually, but does anyone have any tips for dealing with these things? She wasn't this bad in the first place, so I can't imagine what the dog-walker did.

Also, I don't have the energy to walk both of them separately, so I've been thinking of having the girl continue walking Petey, but I'm really afraid that if she does that, she'll mess him up, and he's still really good on the walk. Suggestions?

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Posted : 12/19/2006 2:39:12 PM

I would let the walker go for the holidays, retrain the dogs and then when and if you want her back take several walks with her to show her your commands and style of walking, If she is getting paid for it she shouldnt have any reason not to, its her job.

Chuffy

Posted : 12/19/2006 4:25:08 PM

I'd do what sheprano says.

I would also cancel walks for a couple of days and give them lots of bursts of lead training and heel work in the garden instead, then go out only for very very short walks in as quiet a place as you can for a couple of days, walking them seperately,just while she re-learns her good manners. She did it once, so my guess is it won't take her long to get them back as long as you are consistent.

- Try to stay as calm as you can and keep the lead quite slack.
- If she pulls, turn round and go the other way.
- Give "threats" a wide berth, aim to keep the distance great enough that she remains relaxed; you can reward her for doing well and she will more responsive to your signals in this mindstate.
- If she just freaks out and starts jumping and biting the lead for no apparent reason- well, personally, I'd go home! Missing a walk or two will not harm her, particularly not if she does get stimulation in other ways and this is the clearest message you can give her that such behaviour won't be tolerated. I've done it with mine and it worked for me - but you do have to have it very clear in your mind where the "line" is, react immediately she crosses it and be very consistent otherwise its just plain confusing and frustrating for both of you.

espencer

Posted : 12/19/2006 5:01:07 PM

If you go home every time she freaks then you will end up not walking at all, let her do he "temper tantrum" because she knows she wont be in the front anymore, 5 minutes after she will give up and accept the new way to walk, if only after 20 seconds you give up then she will learn that you always give up and will fight all the time to have it her way, let her jump, "scream" and whine all she wants, she has to learn you will not give up and she will accept that after a few minutes

You should have a short leash in the first walks to have more control over her and avoid hiding between your legs, with the fear situation all you have t o do is re-direct her attention away from the object, there is a lot of methods you can use for that, choose the best one that fits you better

Chuffy

Posted : 12/19/2006 6:13:31 PM

ORIGINAL: espencer

If you go home every time she freaks then you will end up not walking at all,

If this was true then I would still be at home to this very day and the dog leads would have disintegrated due to disuse. Like any training method, sometimes it will work and sometimes it wont. Largely it will depend on what you are comfortable with and how consistent you are able to be. It worked for me and I was happy doing it because it is in line with everything I do with my dogs at home - I don't smack, shout or yank on their leads. But if they wont sit and be calm I won't pet them or look at them, if they walk away from their dinner I take it away and if they don't walk nicely on my terms, then we don't walk.

Xerxes

Posted : 12/19/2006 9:44:36 PM

IMO it sounds like you've got the making of a reactive dog. If you cannot avoid all "threats" which is highly unlikely, you need to implement some sort of distraction training. It's best that you walk the dogs somewhat seperately.

You'll have to begin leash training 101 again. Show her you're the confident leader, and that there's nothing to be scared of on walks. All of her s" should be avoided and she should be desensitized to. There are some great threads on leash reactivity that can help point you in the right direction.

Don't "flood" this by continually taking her close to these s. That will ruin the trust bond that you have with her. Instead find out what her "threat distance" is and work with that.

Did you dog walker tell you that she was having these problems?

I ask because after I had a dog walker I noticed several behaviors that I didn't like which appeared in Xerxes. So I suspended my service with the company. I can't have my dog developing habits which are detrimental to his being a part of society.

Stacita

Posted : 12/20/2006 7:48:11 AM

If this was true then I would still be at home to this very day and the dog leads would have disintegrated due to disuse.

I agree with you Chuffy. I give mine quite a bit of leeway on walks and every once in a while the boundaries get overstepped. One of them will get a little too excited over a squirrel or whatever. I've found that going straight home in a heel is like a time out and it doesn't seem to happen again for a while. Could be coincidence, but it works for us.

Chuffy

Posted : 12/20/2006 9:02:06 AM

Would just like to add - 1. a dog freaking out that much is clearly not being reassured by the presence of his owner, which she should be if there is a strong bond of trust there and the dog trusts no harm can come to her while their Mum is around. So it sounds like Mum's status needs to be reinforced and this is easier to accomplish at home before placing the dog in challenging situations. So going home is good for that reason too. 2. It's hard to remain calm when your dog acts up like that - and if you feel yourslef getting twitchy then the dog will only pick up on it. So its better to go home, calm down and try the walk again at a later stage when you are in a better mindset.

mudpuppy

Posted : 12/20/2006 9:39:14 AM

those are all fear -based behaviors you're describing. The poor dog must have been quite scared to go out with your dog-walker and developed these "proactive" methods of dealing with fear-- If I charge and bark, it'll go away. Unfortunately fear begets fear, so just expecting her to recover on her own is unrealistic, and taking her home at the first sign of trouble might actually "reward" her-- she gets to get away from the scary world.
Try to get hold of a copy of click to calm by Emma Parsons. She goes over re-training in great deal. Or do some searches for "reactive dog", because that is what you have now.

a_ryan

Posted : 12/20/2006 9:44:46 AM

Chuffy is probably more right than I thought. I thought my behavior and body language were strong enough and firm enough on the walks so that she would trust me, but then I realize that at almost 8 months preggo, Winnie has been acting differently towards me in all occassions. I'm probably more stressed on the walks (particularly by the thought of her tripping me) than I realized, and she's probably picking up on that.

So, we're going back to leash training in the backyard. I've got a long enough walkway back there to get her back in shape.

I'm definitely not letting the dog-walker take Petey. She insists that Winnie didn't have any problems on the walks, but maybe she simply wasn't familiar with techniques for walking more than one dog at once. Petey and I will go on walks together, and Winnie and I will train in the backyard.

Thanks, all, for the tips.