Distracted dog

Vince32

I'm looking for methods to stop my Siberian Husky from wanting to run and inspect other dogs while we are walking.

She is 8 months old, and gets 2 40-min walks a day, and 2 1-hour visits to the dog park every week, also I started obedience classes, and too an extent they have worked a little.

While we were walking, she will walk at heel, the trainer showed me a good way of keeping her there, and that's fine, we get nice calm, relaxed walks.

UNTIL ! we see another dog, then she is suddenly out of control, she completely ignores the heel command and she is getting to be quite strong now, and nearly seriously hurt me with her sudden lunging at passing dogs.

I walk with a treat bag, and keep my hand inside it, so she knows there is a treat coming soon, and randomly I give her one every 50-100 yards, she stays at heel like a princess until we see another dog.

I can't think of what will make her want to ignore the other dogs, maybe 1 out of 100 times she will stay at heel, and I praise lavishly for doing it. I know she is still only a puppy really, but I have seen younger dogs behave better, so I want to know, what is the secret to keep a dog under control?

All comments and suggestions welcome.

Vince

micheleabc

It sound like your dog is only curios and eager to meet and play with other dogs. That's very normal especially with puppies. IMO being pack animal dogs should never be restrained from meeting other dogs in the early stages of their lives. The difficult part is to do it maintaining a good degree of control over the dog. You are already at a good point with the off leash walks, perhaps joining a socialization class will help your dog to satisfy her curiosity, to get rid of the extra energy playing with other dogs/pups and to be less distracted during the walks.
Also a good idea could be to find somebody with a dog with the same age/energy and get the dogs to play and walk together.

ISDW

Do you keep her at heel for the whole of the walk? Is that what you want to happen?

are you serious

Dogs want to say hello and they do this by sniffing, smelling etc...

I would suggest, a short lead attached to a harness at all times, the dog then does not get a chance to get any momentum up to pull or lunge and you then avoid any injuries.

Why do you not your dog to do this anyway?

tk123

Vince32 wrote: »

the trainer showed me a good way of keeping her there, and that's fine,
Vince

Really interested on this - what method are you using? Holding your hand in the treat bag or something else?!

(PS you're not in glasnevin by any chance are you?)

Vince32

Well a few different people to answer here, so I'll start from the top down,

I always use a leash outside, if I don't she will take off, and I might not see her again for hours, or even ever, but I sometimes use a retractable leash to let her get a bit of range to sniff around trees, lamp posts bushes etc. I usually start in the house, and play a game of recall, that's putting her in sit/stay and walking to the other end of the house and releasing her. She comes charging at me for a treat.
Then outside, I keep the extendible leash at around 4-5 feet, and keep my hand in the treat bag, she stays next to me, looking up to see if it's time for a treat, and I give her one, once in awhile randomly to keep her interested. That's all fine until we meet another dog, then she goes for them (playfully) or goes to the ground in stalking mode, then when the other dog is passing, she will lunge at them, and either scare to dog, the owner, or have a bit of a jump and a play with the other dog. which usually ends up with the leashes being tangled up, and me being slightly embarrassed.

I have seen other dogs, pass mine without even blinking, and they are around the same age.. just with better training I guess.

@ISDW, I would prefer it if she would learn the difference between walking and pulling while on the leash, I know Huskies are born to pull, and I have to give that point, but again, I've even seen huskies who would not be interested in jumping every single dog that passed by, even for playing. Basically I would like her to stay at heel for the walks, and ignore passing dogs, and then pull her little heart out while on the harness ( which I only use for walking the mountain areas / trails )

@AYS.. As I just said, I want the dog to only pull on a harness, so using it for walks would be counter productive in my mind, When we do pass other dogs I bring the leash back to 3 feet (shortest) and try to pass as calmly as possible, but as soon as the other dog is in range, she is all up in its business trying to get a game or some fun from it.

@tk123
I'm in tallaght at the moment, I try to keep the dog as focused on me as possible, so I keep my hand either in the treat bag or close enough to it, and without another dog around it works like a treat (pun intended lol )

I'm racking my brain to find a way to make passing dogs, less like a toy to play with, and all my internet searches have come up with varying methods, but either I'm doing them wrong or the dog is just to eager to play, to care about my commands. (huskies are notoriously independent, stubborn and have very much a mind of their own)

So I came here for some help, hoping that someone on here has dealt with this before successfully.

I do let her play with other dogs in Marley Dog Park, for about 2 hours a week, and she gets on well enough with most of the dogs, and some of them don't like being played with, I've had to take her away from a poodle who didn't like the game at all !!

So is there something I can do, to make her pass other dogs on the street with her jumping all over them? or is this something I'll have to learn to live with?

Vince

planetX

more play time!!!!!!!!!!!!
she's still a young pup - she needs to be playing more with other dogs or she won't be socialised properly.
Anyone you can meet up with? or use a doggy daycare.

ISDW

Hey Vinny, I wasn't going to say about pulling. My point was that, if this is her exercise, it is also her only opportunity to play and to catch up on all the gossip. To keep a dog to heel for every walk must be incredibly boring for the dog. They sniff to find out what other dogs have been there, what they've eaten, etc. If it was my dog, I would allow her more freedom on her walks, don't let her pull if you don't want to, but allow her a longer lead so that she can sniff, and see whats going on. I think that expecting any dog to concentrate on staying to heel for that length is unrealistic. When does she have fun? She's still only a puppy, what incentive does she have for going out for walks if all it is literally is walking? Other dogs that can go off lead have a fantastic time sniffing and going in bushes etc to see whats going on in the world, its what dogs love doing

tk123

Vince32 wrote: »

@tk123
I'm in tallaght at the moment, I try to keep the dog as focused on me as possible, so I keep my hand either in the treat bag or close enough to it, and without another dog around it works like a treat (pun intended lol )

Ah I'm glad cos I saw somebody yanking/ceaser milan kicking a poor sibe puppy yesterday in the park cos it looked in my guys direction!

Anyhoos feel your pain - LITERALLY lol.. TK in VHI clinic 2 years ago with excruciating back pain and suspected cracked ribs (it was only pulled muscles thank god)

Doc - "You said your dog yanked his lead and you started having pains.. Is he a big dog??"
TK - "No...he's a 3 month old puppy :rolleyes::pac::pac:"

You need to teach her some self control and it's really easy What you can try is.. with her lead on, throw a treat a head of you and stand there (ie don't let her pull you forward), once she turns to you click (if you don't have a clicker it's one of the best tools you can get for next to nothing), loads of praise and step towards the treat. Only let her have the treat if she calmly walks up to it, if she pulls say her bold phrase and take her a few steps back. Start off in the house/garden - you may have to pull her back from the treat the first few times if she lunges towards it but keep at it and she'll catch on. My guy is a pro at this and will tip toe up to the treats lol. Practice this in the park too as you're walking along - this is what seemed to cement it with my guy and in fact any commands like look or recall - practising it where we do most of our walking and where the most interesting things are.
It worked really well for my guy.
If you don't want her to interact with the other dogs at all you could try a look command to get her to focus on you. So with the treat exercise above you'd ask her for a look before letting her carry on to the treat.

She's still a puppy though and getting ready to be a teenager so stick with it.

EDIT oh and a bungee lead will help keep your arms in their sockets the manmat ones are really good but I have to confess I've since moved on to a normal lead with a 12" bungee extension - sorry ISDW!! :P

dealornodeal23

ISDW wrote: »

Hey Vinny, I wasn't going to say about pulling. My point was that, if this is her exercise, it is also her only opportunity to play and to catch up on all the gossip. To keep a dog to heel for every walk must be incredibly boring for the dog. They sniff to find out what other dogs have been there, what they've eaten, etc. If it was my dog, I would allow her more freedom on her walks, don't let her pull if you don't want to, but allow her a longer lead so that she can sniff, and see whats going on. I think that expecting any dog to concentrate on staying to heel for that length is unrealistic. When does she have fun? She's still only a puppy, what incentive does she have for going out for walks if all it is literally is walking? Other dogs that can go off lead have a fantastic time sniffing and going in bushes etc to see whats going on in the world, its what dogs love doing

Spot on, you clearly know what a Dog wants

Vince32

Thanks TK, I'll be trying that with the clicker for a few weeks, I gave up on my clicker ages ago because she responded better to me than the sound. But if it has a chance of working, then I'll dig it out of the drawer. I do have a canicross belt, ski-line and X-Back harness, but I only use them for mountain walking, the shortest ski-line / bungee line I could find is 3 meters long ! and that's just crazy for the burbs, absolutely no control.

EDIT: I'll be getting the shoulder harness and bikejoring antenne, next week some time, we will starting short bike rides next month (she'll be 9 months old then) and she will love the chance to break free and really get her run on. I just hope I can find a grassy area big enough for her

I think the shoulder harness would be more practical for walks, because if she darts off suddenly, when she gets to the end of the line she is jerked around by the collar, and that's not good at all, part of the reason I want her to stay at heel. Either that or a short leash with no chance to explore the surround.

As far as more play time goes, I guess your saying 2 hours a week in the dog park isn't enough, and if that's the case then I'll certainly pop down 4 days a week if you think it will help.
As far as walking goes, we go for a 40 minute walk either once or twice a day, depending on my schedule and the weather, and we play football with a deflated soccer ball in the gardens, and fetch, hide and seek, with scented cotton buds in a jar (not really a game for huskies but it's good fun for both of us) She is a very happy dog, not down, depressed or sad at all, in fact quite the opposite always happy and playful, with a perpetual grin.

So I'll be putting in more time a the dog park for sure, but I don't really see how letting a dog jump and play with other dogs unrestrained more! will stop her wanting to play with other dogs she meets on the street, But ! I will be doing it, because if she needs more play time then I will provide it.

I have to admit I think it's more of a self control issue as TK suggested, and the method suggest seems logical, that with more play with the other dogs, and walking the mountain at the weekends should do at least something to help with the problem.

Thanks for all the suggestions

Vince

ISDW

No, I'm not saying more play time, I'm saying more freedom when you are walking her on the lead. When dogs pee on things, they are leaving messages for other dogs, so its great if, when they're out on their walks, they can 'read' those messages. They can't read like we can, they use their noses, so being given the freedom to just have a good old sniff around is great for them. Maybe if she's pottering, doing her own thing and happily have a sniff, she won't be too interested in the other dogs she sees. I'm not saying to let her have a really long length of a lead, just a little bit of freedom on the walk

rorrissey

My puppy is EXACTLY the same! He does the stalking and then lunges, and he's way stronger than me now at 7 months! Apart from that he's perfect on his lead. I'm going to try TK's treat trick on him now and see if that helps him.

Vince32

I know what you mean now, and I do let her have a bit of a sniff about, I stop for her to read the messages and you put it I don't walk her like a military march lol, I'm not THAT mean :P

But when we are moving on, I am trying to keep her at heel... well because I think that's the mark of a well trained dog honestly, and this little girl just wants to jump and play on every dog we see, and it's getting frustrating.

There is a guy around the block from me who has an Irish Wolf Hound, one of the biggest dogs on the planet, and it heels for him without question ! won't leave his side.. if my little one had a chance it would run over and want to play, big, small, medium, doesn't matter really, if it's on 4 legs she wants to play with it, and show her a horse !! omg you probably seen the excitement in your own dogs, it's almost scary lol

So trying to manage some kind of control when passing other animals would be a wonder untold to me and the other owners around the place. She caught and ate a bird the other day.. snatched it off the water feature while it was drinking.. poor little bird.

So I hope you understand I need to nip this in the bud, if I can't teach her to pass a simple dog without playing with it, I'll have little chance with mushing, sledding and the other dog sports, so fingers crossed something starts to work.

As I said, I'll be starting bike training next month, and I know a few people who would be up for a dawn run on the bikes over the weekends, and in sept she will be 1 year, and ready for a little scooting and pulling, but how can I take her out on a bike or scooter, if I can't make her pass another dog...

tk123

Vince32 wrote: »

Thanks TK, I'll be trying that with the clicker for a few weeks, I gave up on my clicker ages ago because she responded better to me than the sound.

Try "charging the clicker" before each session - so click, treat, click treat say 10 times so she leans that click = treat. You can use the clicker for the heel work too so click when she's in the right position/ lead is slack.
Any class I've ever been in has always advised against using flexi leads if you're trying to train them to walk nicely and it makes sense to me - I can see it with my guy when I have his lead set to different lengths (it's a double ended one that you can set up different ways) - once he knows how much slack he has he works with it he keeps it loose - if he was on a flexi he'd be confused I think? He's had 2 operations and was on strict restriction for 3 months so heel work and no lunging was a really important thing for us to learn for his safety/recovery. But I really think there's a balance as ISDW has pointed out. When we're walking on narrow paths or ones with cycle lanes he's by my side for safety more than anything else. In the park if he's on lead or when we walk where the paths are wider I give him the slack on lead - and he's usually head down sniffing away:p. The lead is still loose which is all I want - I don't care what position he's in - as long as it's to the side so i'm not tripping up over him lol!! I let him greet other dogs and praise him afterwards when we move on - he can be shy of other dogs so I try to let him have as many good experiences with other dogs as possible.

ISDW

How is she when you go on the walks with everyone around Wicklow? Does she walk nicely along as part of the pack, or is she mad to play?

ISDW

Sorry, something else from re-reading your original post, maybe she's getting too many treats, so they've lost some value for her. Maybe try only giving her the treats when you see other dogs, so get her attention on you and reward her, and don't be giving them to her for walking to heel. You know yourself, if something is a bit rare, it tends to be more special.

axle108

Vince32 wrote: »

" or have a bit of a jump and a play with the other dog. "


"but as soon as the other dog is in range, she is all up in its business trying to get a game or some fun from it."

" the dog is just to eager to play, to care about my commands. (huskies are notoriously independent, stubborn and have very much a mind of their own)"

So I came here for some help, hoping that someone on here has dealt with this before successfully.

"So is there something I can do, to make her pass other dogs on the street with her jumping all over them? or is this something I'll have to learn to live with?"
Vince

I hope you dont mind for quoting only the above. As you have shown your husky is highly motivated by treats in your other post , that is only until a higher value of reward is present i.e " play " or excitement, another dog.

So your walking along and 100 yards away is a dog heading towards you. Your dog is heading straight for it, were gonna meet. Fixation, stalking, anticipation, closer, closer and then bang all hell breaks loose. The reward is a massive injection of excitement, and whats the alternative, a treat .

Your dog is young, full of energy and highly motivated by play. Use this as a reward and to your advantage. Get your dog highly excited by regularly tugging with a tug toy. When out on walks, take out the toy, play, release and walk on.
When a dog is approaching, tease your dog with the toy and tug and play whilst the other dog passes by, then release and treat. It can take some practice, sometimes requiring you to distract the dog off to one side with the toy whilst the other dog is getting near then when they pass, the walk starts again.

Vince32

Sage advice from all of you, thanks alot for the time it took to reply, I know you don't have too and probably have better things to be doing, I'll start clicker training again tomorrow, and spend more time in the dog park, hopefully with some perseverance she will learn not to jump on every dog she sees.

Vince