Dog Community

he screams and screams....

Posted : 2/5/2011 6:28:14 PM

I just wrote all this out and it crashed....:(

Anyways, my cavalier king charles billy is a nightmare to walk, he is ok when he sees people but he screams and screams with excitement when he sees other dogs, you cannot stop him, I have tried food distraction, shouting, talking calm, picking him up, running away, hiding which isn't always possible, and the things I'm ashamed of where Ive been so wound up Ive scruffed or tapped his bottom....nothing at all stops him he is so fixated. I used to use a harness tho the pulling was so bad, I changed to a gentle leader tho this slipped off his flat head and undershot jaw many times, so we moved to a collar, less pulling but I worry about the pressure on his neck when he flips out.

I have tried letting him greet everydog we see tho some owners dont like this and sometimes their dogs don't either. We have tried letting him off in a park and once he has seen the dog he calms down, tho he will not listen to us at all and this has been dangerous as at times he has bolted ran right past us and into roads etc, so we cant risk that, He walks on a flexi lead tho there is only so far it can reach, he isn't a pleasure to take out and i feel so bad he misses out when the girls go to the park etc. we have started walking him at night in the dark down quiet roads, such a shame. He was socialized more then the others too as I had him from 5 weeks. I just don't know what went wrong?

He is so food orientated at home, drives us bonkers tho he is fed well on Arden Grange sensitive I think one of the best foods over here in the UK? we don't have much to choose from.

Any advice?

jennie_c_d

Posted : 2/5/2011 7:10:45 PM

Has he had any formal obedience training, at all? He sounds like a dog with no impulse control. There are quite a few ways to install impulse control. I've used a clicker, mostly, and lots of positive interaction.

How old is the dog, and when did the problem start? As far as the food love leaving when you're out, you may need a better treat, or you may need to start from a greater distance, to get the work done.

ETA: I meant to tell you, a couple of books I"ve loved are Click to Calm, by Emma Parsons, and Control Unleashed, by Leslie Neilson. They have a lot of calming and impulse control games.

glenmar

Posted : 2/5/2011 8:09:53 PM

How about an easy walk harness for the pulling? This is pretty much a harness, but the lead clip is in the front. Formal training would help too, and loose the flexi. Those teach a dog to pull.

Try getting some REALLY stinky treats for high excitement situations...liverwurst, really "oh my gawd that stinks" cheeses....the worse it smells, generally the more dogs go for it.

And ditto everything Jennie said.

tiffy

Posted : 2/6/2011 6:00:10 PM

I would lose the flexi, IMO. I only use the flexi for potty breaks. For walks I use a 4ft. leather leash. Have you tried turning around and going the other way when this unwanted behavior starts?