General Dog Chat Part II

[BiteyShark]

A place for nattering about our canine friends.

Old or new, feel free to come and chat any time

It's glorious day here today. So much better than the torrential rain of late. BiteyDog has also been trying to find the sunny spots around the house

Having spent the last 4 months lead training our rescue, I am now somewhat an expert on dogs that pull

I have 4 levels:

1. The Drag, shoulders forward, bum tucked in full on drag, often accompanied by the Hump (bunny hopping along to drag harder)
2. the Hard Pull. requires shoulder and back muscles to hang on as they pull you down the street. Often find the Hard Pull has moments of The Drag.
3. The Light Pull, lead under tension, but can be controlled with arm muscles alone. As it slips into a Hard Pull, some pullbakc from the walker makes them slack off.
4. Loose Leash. The holy grail, slack lead.

Any of the above can be interupted by The Lunge, an arm jerking manoevre responsible for dislocated shoulders, and pulled backs. Usually in response to exciting stimulae, and usually followed by The Drag.

You're welcome!

Seriously though, we started 4 months ago with The Drag at all times unless he was wearing a halti round his muzzle which he HATED.

We now have a dog who walks Loose Leash or at The Light Pull, and almost never lunges.
He doesn't manage this in a new place, or with new people/dogs walking him, but we have got this far when I walk him on one of our regular walks.

We did it by watching lots of youtube
so - as soon as they pull, you stop dead and wait, when they look at you/relax lead, you start walking again.
This cut the worst of The Drag. But we couldn't get any further (and he is a very excitable spaniel, so not a natural calm walker)
So, we went out for training walks as well as his normal walks, 20-30 minutes on pavements being very strict about the rules. We also added in a couple of things

• when he lunged I turned around, and walked back the way we had come until he was back walking calmly, then we turned again and tried to walk past the obstacle again. We kept turning and trying agian until he walked past without lunging. Talking to him and feeding tiny treats all the while he was walking and calm, immediate turn round and retreat when he lunged.
• we concentrated to getting him to focus on us at each stage, so before we start, sit and look at me get a treat, then start off. When he is walking well, feed him tiny treats every 20 paces, when pulling too much, stop distract, gte him to sit, focus and give him a treat and then set off again.

It was a real slog to do it, but the end result is an unrecognisable dog. He will now walk next to me on command off lead, although he doesn't actually like it, he'd rather do it on a lead!

steppemum your walking categories made me laugh

I think we need to do some training walks separate from our normal walks as it's hard to train him when we need to get somewhere.

We’be Had a lovely walk by the sea today 2 1/2 miles or so. Hugedog is knackered. We use a Halti waist lead as Leonbergers will literally pull your arm out of it’s socket if they decide to go in the opposite direction. I am going to try the stopping dead thing though when he pulls, great tip. Generally he’s fine after a poo though and stops pulling (strange dog). He’s only just started to cock his leg which has made me and DH ridiculously excited as we remark ‘ooh big boy wees’. I never thought i’d Be that woman 😂

Bitey - making up weird pulling categories was my diversion when I was stop start down the round, and running out of patience!

Funnily enough my youngest dd was the best trainer, she was a stickler for doing it properly, and always enforcing it.

He is, I must point out, an adult dog, not a puppy or teenager, so I think probably easier to train.

I am so envious of all your lovely walks. I ended up going on a walk without the dog today as i was desperate for fresh air and exercise.

Blueskydog seems to be recovering well after her op and appears to be able to snooze 24/7. She hasn't done a poo yet which is troubling as I reckon it will be some sort of poonami when it does appear! I am wondering if the Tramadol is bunging her up. Anyone know anything about dogs taking Tramadol?

Oh the irony! Lovely weather and I have been stuck inside painting ds room, and he is on dog walking duty and I have had to kick him out to do it.

I would much rather have been walking than painting!

This is probably a stupid question but what exactly do you do with a Kong? And when should you give it to your dog? The trainer said we should use it as dogs love them but I’m a bit confused. Any help appreciated.

@Trying2bgd

You stuff it with a variety of foodstuffs. I've put a lot of different things in - kibble, peanut butter, cottage cheese, leftover sour cream, canned pumpkin puree a mixture of all the above... at the moment we're working through a free sample of Butternut Box, which is very easy to stuff into Kongs.

Start with something easy (e.g. dry kibble or a smear of peanut butter) so the dog gets the idea and then move onto things that fill it completely and require a lot of licking, and if the dog gets super good at it, you can freeze it for added challenge (especially in the summer!)

Licking is a calming activity for dogs, and it prolongs the pleasure that comes with eating, makes them work for their food and generally provides an enrichment activity.

My stupid dog just jumped up to the sofa and put her paw straight into my cup of tea whilst she was doing it.

Good job I had just about finished it

PestDog really wanted a game of fetch when I was eating my dinner a few months ago. The way he tells me this is that he picks up and drops the ball in front of me. Except that time he picked up and dropped his slobbery ball in my dinner

Bluesky

Yes Tramadol can cause constipation in humans and in dogs

You have a Leonberger Pradaqueen They are enormous but gorgeous. Does it eat huge amounts? Poo bags must weigh a tonne

Bluepuppy is another that still squats to pee. I may have seen him cock his leg once or twice but it’s usually the squat. After having a foster dog that had to cock his leg and mark every 10 metres on a walk it’s a relief in a way.

Does anyone else have family that help them with their dog? My parents visit Bluepuppy twice a week. Usually separately so once a week for my mum and once for dad. They are retired, don’t live too far away and don’t have any grandchildren. I still feel bad about it though. It’s part of the reason I’m planning to get a second dog.

@AvocadosBeforeMortgages

Thanks for the advice. It makes more sense now!

I haven't caught up with posts yet but wanted to acknowledge steppemum and her walking categories - Hilarious!

YogaDog is either a 1 or 2 at all times - although she doesn't lunge. She does drag as far to the left as possible and she sets her shoulders (we call it the pit bull stance because her shoulder muscles suddenly look twice as big!) puts her head down and drags at a 45 degree angle to the left. Grrr.

I have tried stopping as soon as she pulls but we barely get through the garden gate this way and although I'm on leave this week I usually have a full time job (though DP works from home all the time so DDog is never alone) so I really need to get her out and exercised with minimum disruption. At puppy training originally we were taught to walk her on the left with a small treat in our hand to give her every so often which corresponds with what you are saying also steppemum

We definitely need to go back to basics with her. The really annoying thing is that if she isn't on the lead she will walk beautifully next to me - a perfect 4! But I can't risk that on our way to our usual field as it's along the side of a busy country road.

Another dry day so far here thank goodness!

Walking on the beach sounds lovely Pradaqueen. YogaDog loves the beach and swimming but rarely gets the opportunity and has to make do with swimming in lakes. Do Leonburgers need lots of exercise? They are a beautiful looking breed but I know next to nothing about them.

Interesting about the Kong Avocado. YogaDog likes hers but it's hard to find things to fill it with which don't just fall out of the hole in the bottom. I tend to use peanut butter and liver pate as at least these grip on! I like the idea of freezing it in the summer

Hello lovely dog people. Blueskydog managed s poo let night. It was small and a bit hard but it is a start! Next problem is that she doesn't appear to have done a wee since Wednesday. She dod. A few once I brought her home form the vet then nothing since. She is drinking water fine. I will give her until lunchtime to pee then call the vet I think. They are such a blooming worry!

Glad to hear that blueskydog is recovering Bluesky. Sleeping is the best thing for her recovery at the moment. She may find the "poo stance" uncomfortable at the moment and coupled with the tramadol she's probably not feeling like going. Is she eating? Unusual question about a Labrador but our lab didn't eat for several days post surgery.

x-post bluesky Glad to hear blueskydog's managed to poo. She may be a bit dehydrated from the drugs but if she's drinking well then the wee will come eventually (what goes in must come out!)

I don't think the tramadol actually affected BiteyDog that much but maybe it was hard to tell given he was very poorly generally.

bluesky they definitely are a worry. Given it's nearly the weekend I would also phone today if she doesn't pee.

bluetongue I don't have any parents my side and DHs are too old to cope with a bouncy spaniel so we don't have any family help which is a shame as my late DM would have loved to have met him as she was very fond of dogs.

The other day I was sitting on the edge of the bed with a cup of tea in my hand. SquirrelDog jumped on the bed, head butted the mug and launched tea ALL OVER me and my duvet cover. Which I had JUST CHANGED. He was entirely untouched by the tea (was worried about that cos it was hot!) and very much enjoyed sucking it out of the bedding (he loves tea. And coffee. ) Horrid dog.

Also, I applaud your patience, steppe SquirrelDog is just about manageable with a front fasten harness and a waist lead. I really need to get back to working on it with him, but he’s so bloody hard to engage - he doesn’t give a shit if we stop dead because he can still look at whatever it was he’s interested in - I don’t think it’s actually twigged that the lead means he’s attached to me, if that makes any sense, and if he’s fixated on something he won’t make eye contact or take treats anyway.

Blueskydog is eating fine. She is getting less food as she is not being walked and we don't want her getting fat. I on the other hand have not cut down my food intake and will be the size of a house soon!

@bluetongue My DF looks after PestDog when I have to work away or otherwise go on holiday. PestDog clearly adores him and vice versa (and that's saying a lot for a dog that's pretty much a one woman sort of dog). He is in another city so it's not an every week thing, but last time DF came to visit me I had trouble getting rid of him at the end of his scheduled visit, with him making noises about how he was going to miss PestDog. So I don't feel guilty