Dog Community

Isis' misbehavior

Posted : 12/18/2006 9:50:34 AM

I've still got that post adrenalin shake goin' on thanks to my dear doggy this morning. OK, take the kids to school, Isis in the car. I get home, load my arms up with teh dolls and toy dogs my child has to have on teh way to school. Get out of the car, like every single day, direct doggy to the gate. She decides this is a good time to run after two Schnauzers that are a block and a half away. She has NEVER done this before. I'm screaming at her, running after her hunched over my armload of toys, looking like a total fool. At one point I called her name, she looked at me, I could see the wheels turning, and she decided she'd chance it and off she went to smell some Schnauzer butt. She crossed two roads and my heart may never recover.

She's 6-years-old, have had her since she was about 1. I have never had her do this before. She has always listened to me in this situation. Senility, change of life? What's the deal? Needless to say, she will be leashed from now on for the short jaunt from car to gate.

olinda

Posted : 12/18/2006 10:59:52 AM

[sm=lol.gif] 2nd adolescence perhaps?

twelvepaws

Posted : 12/18/2006 12:20:18 PM

2nd adolescence perhaps?

LOL. I think so. The look she gave me, before she darted is just killing me. What made her think she has a CHOICE in the matter! Maybe we need a little NLIF.

I just got back from our morning walk. I'm still so mad at her. I have been giving her teh silent treatment - I showed her! [8|]

ron2

Posted : 12/18/2006 12:40:36 PM

I am reminded of a case of an owner who had a Sibe that won off-leash obedience awards, which seemed, at the time, to contradict the traditional wisdom that you shouldn't walk a Sibe off-leash. One day, she spotted or smelled something interesting and took off like a shot. As a breed, they can run 30 to 40 miles an hour for 10 minutes or more and average 30 mph for an hour or more, unloaded. She was never seen again.

It sounds like your dog found something more interesting than the promise of a treat for obedience. I think it can happen to most anyone but some breeds are more prone to it than others.

twelvepaws

Posted : 12/18/2006 12:48:38 PM

Yikes! At least she came back.

You bring up a good point, Ron. I probably am so in a rut and EXPECT her behavior to be good. What reward does she ever get? Certainly not treats. I think this might be a nudge to start appreciating the good behavior.

ron2

Posted : 12/18/2006 1:06:37 PM

I try to reward proper behavior and I work on off leash obedience in the back yard. Specifically, stays and recalls. In a moment of danger or escape, I hope to have him stay to avoid traffic and recall so that I can re-leash. But I do not let him out of a contained area without being in harness and leash. I know and respect his breed trait enough to know better.

When I first got him, I didn't know better. My in-law's dog never strays and a few others had had dogs that stick to them. So, I had Shadow in the front yard with me, the day after I got him. He smelled something and pfffft! gone! He stopped about 1/8 mile away for something really interesting and I was able to re-leash him.

Any dog can be trained for off-leash but they can "forget" when it suits them. I also understand how you are amazed that she would even consider that it was okay to disobey and decide her way was better. To address that would require me to use terms that are not popular here and use examples of happy, off-leash dogs that would not be accepted here.

I'm also not sure that the turn and ignore is going to help in this instance as this "correction" is removed in time from the actual incident. And to turn and ignore at the time would have been as easily ignored as your recall command.