Maris needs advice about her Golden Retriever:
“I have a 2 yr old golden retriever, female, who weighs 80 lbs. she is generally very well-behaved, but I try and take her for long walks each day. Where we live the walks are usually limited to the same 2 or 3 places. And she also has an affinity for other animal’s feces. Through either attempting to get at animal feces along our walk, or just for no apparent reason – she will decide to just stop walking and no treat or command will prompt her to continue. any suggestions? She’s too heavy to really ‘nudge’ along very far.”
Just to be on the safe side, I would ask the vet to take a look at her just to ensure there is no underlying medical condition contributing to her behavior, though I am sure she will be just fine. Golden’s do like poop and, given a chance, will happily roll around in it all day. The key is to find something she likes more, such as a favorite toy or an extra tasty treat.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that one of the best treats for even the most difficult to please dogs is pilchard (sardine) cake, though tuna cake and liver cake can be just as effective. You can make these at home, but they do stink. I have seen them on Ebay, so you could search and buy it ready made. Find what she cannot resist and use it to lure her away from the poop or to get her moving again.
Also, try and vary the walks. I know you mentioned there are only two or three places, but you can vary the route each time and change the day you go to each. It really can make a difference
Tamara needs a little help settling her rescue Labrador mix into her routine:
“We recently(2 mos ago)adopted a 12 month old Lab mix from a neglect situation where he was crated 23 hours a day. Our dogs are routinely fed at 6:30 AM and again in the evening. This new dog begs to go out several times a night because he knows eventually after 1 of those trips out it will be breakfast time. We are getting up about 6 times a night to either let him out or give him attention. He sleeps with our daughters at night and we close their bedroom doors so that he can’t have free run of the house. How do we get him to sleep during the night and patiently wait until morning for breakfast? He was very thin when we took him and is gradually putting on weight. I am also concerned because I have never seen a dog eat as fast as this one. Thank you”
Time, patience and perseverance are the only real things needed here, Tamara.
It can take up to 12 months for a rescue dog to settle into new routines. The main thing you need to do is to not give in to his cries to be let out more than once through the night. One thing that may help is to have him sleep in a crate at night in your children’s room. Because he was used to being crated so long, it might give him the added security to help him settle overnight.
Once he realizes that he is always going to get fed at a certain time, he should be less frantic. making sure he gets plenty of exercise and mental stimulation will also help calm him down a little.
Robert asked for help with leash training his Bull Mastiff:
“I have a 4 month old female bull mastiff i can not get her to walk with on a leash it ’s like a stand off she will just lay down i do not use a chocker i don’t thank it would help can you please give me some suggestion’s on how to do this so it’s not so painful on both of us thanks”
Try getting her to associate the leash with positive things. Have a selection of her favorite treats to hand. Lay the leash on the floor beside you and call her over to you. When she comes, give her a treat and let her go. Do this a few times, then try attaching the leash before treating. Take it off immediately and let her go. Again, repeat this a few times, gradually moving towards being able to hold the attached leash whilst standing up.
Once you have got her associating the leash with a treat, use the treat to lure her to walk beside or behind you while you hold the leash. Do this indoors at first then after you have got her happily following you around in the house, venture outdoors. Increase the time between treats and you will eventually find she walks along with you without needing them.
It looks like a time consuming job, but it should only take a day or two if she is receptive to the treats you offer. I have found that even ‘problem’ dogs can’t resist fishy treats like pilchard cake or tuna cake if you are stuck to find something she is prepared to accept the leash for.
Erica has got a problem pooch:
“What do I do when my 5 mo. old pom/yorky ignores a command I am certain he knows and there are no appearent distractions? Do I enforce it by putting him into position?”
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