Positive PetzineWalkies
I’m wondering if you could help me?
>
> We are having problems walking Buster, our 5 month old boxer (we have
> only had him just over 1 month). He walks fine, if not a little
> distracted, when we start our walks, he gets a little edgy with loud
> noises and people walking around but we are working on that, our
> problem is when we turn around to come home, or even if we take him
> around the block so we are coming from the other direction he starts
> to pull so bad that he chokes, wheezes and gasps for air. It’s quite
> frightening to watch and that’s with him wearing a harness. Last night
> we tried to put a Halti on him which was such torture for him and us
> that it lasted 1 minute before we took it off.
>
> We can’t understand why he wants to be home so badly, this has even
> happened when we have been visiting and we take him for a walk he got
> off and ran straight back to the place we were staying.
>
> It’s getting so bad that if he gets much bigger, which he will, I will
> not be able to hold him so won’t be able to walk him.
>
> Any suggestions?
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Hi Julie, it is possible for
Hi Julie, it is possible for dogs to develop a fear of the big, wide world. It's quite possible that he wasn't socialised before you got him, or if he was, that he was frightened by something. Genetic predisposition also plays a part.
Do you know how to teach him to follow a target? I find that teaching an animal to follow a target can give them something else to focus on and can have almost miraculous results. Go for very short walks, just a minute or two, and work on his targetting. I've posted full instructions here for you.
The idea is to keep him thinking instead of reacting. He won't be able to maintain this for too long, so keep it short and fun. Build it up gradually over time, at his pace. This could be minutes, days, weeks or months before you can take him on long walks.
You can extend the targetting to have him target things that he worries about but only if you're sure he'll do it and that it's therapeutic. What I definitely wouldn't want you to do is "flood" him, needlessly exposing him to stimuli just to get him over his obvious fear.
I've written in the past about some of the miraculous results I have had from targetting. I'm not going to do that today because every dog and handler is different. I want you to move at Buster's pace, aware of the possibilities but comfortable to give him as much time as he needs.
Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com
walkies
work with your dog at home for a while. don't take him on walks until you can get him under better control at home.
work in the backyard. put treats in a bowl and then walk him towards the bowl. if he pulls, turn him around and go back to the start, or just stop him. when he settles, try it again. your aim is a slow controlled walk towards the food bowl, and the treats in the bowl become the reward.
if you can get a calm response doing that, change the location to the front yard, where there are more distractions (traffic, and people walking by). you want him obedient in all locations, ultimately. focused on you, and not on his surroundings.
you can also add other obedience training, even if you have already done some. sit, drop, come, stay, and wait. ten minutes a day for three months, in different locations, until he obeys without hesitation.
if your dog gets rewarded for pulling, by getting him sooner, he will keep pulling. stop him, and go back the other way. or cross the road.
some desensitisation may help. you say he is distracted on walks. if he is scared when outside the front gate, it explains why he wants to be back home. maybe some socialisation would help.
Walking dog
Vivat
I hope I'm replying to this properly. We had the pulling problem with Derek and he is a fairly big dog and I thought that I would never be able to manage him by myself to start with. We tried various harnesses - a couple worked for a couple of days until he got used to them. Our Vet advised against the nose halters as he had a couple of dogs that had very badly damaged their necks when lunging in them. My daughter finally found 'Kumalong' web page and ordered me one of their front leading harnesses. It looks awkward and you wonder how it works as it does not dig into them in anyway, in fact it is quite loose as it hangs down on one side depending on which side you are pulling the lead. But it works, we have had ours for about three months now and it is still working and we notice the difference if we use old harness. My husband thinks it might be because it seems to pull them slightly off balance if they pull. Hope this helps.
Dogle3.