advice please

Woody76

Hi

Just looking for some advice off people please.

My hubby and I have rehomed a lurcher 2 months ago. She is 8 mths old and absolutely adorable. My hubby is at home mostly with her as I work full time and when we got her he was able to take her on long walks and she was tired and content. For the last two weeks he has been able to walk her only on minimal walks due to illness and she is understandably very excitable and being very naughty. She has basic traning but getting her in from the garden is proving tricky when she is so hyper. Obviously when the weather is reasonable we can leave her outside for a while and play with her out there to tire her out but in the bad weather this is difficult. We use a stuffed kong once a day and she loves this and this keeps her occupied for a long while.

Any other ideas that will help us occupy her till we can take her on longer walks.

Thanks for reading
Woody x

pawsies

chew toys?

daily training? teach her a new trick? research clicker training, that'll keep her occupied

Woody76

Thank you pawsies for your quick reply

She has a couple of rope chews and dog bones (ie the sterilised sort safe for dogs) but she is very good at destroying most toys lol

We are training her but to be honest I think its easier training her myself than to teach hubby to train her lol though he does copy what I do and encourages the good behavior when im not there

I know the only answer is probs to go on long walks again just hoping of some simple fix but arnet we all lol

wouldnt part with her though she is gorgeous

Woody x

Lieja

I find that tug-rope type toys are good at tiring a young dog out, and can be used indoors if you have the room!

If I'm leaving my pup for a while I usually leave him a raw lamb shank as once he's eaten the meat, the bone occupies him for days! Obviously that's only an option if you're ok with feeding raw meat as cooked bones can be dangerous.

Do you allow her to run off lead on her walks? If so then maybe try taking a ball or something that you can throw and she can chase?

Woody76

Thanks Lieja

We cant let her off yet as she will only come back when she wants at the min and trying to catch a young energetic lurcher is not fun lol. We are in the process of training recall but this is proving difficult with her. She will sit, lie down and give paws no probs but come back???
We do play tug of war with her but im worried it will encourage her to not give things back what do you think re this??
unfortunately balls are of no interest to her

Woody x

Lieja

I have heard some people warn that tug toys can make the dog show aggression if it thinks it's capable of 'winning', but I just always make sure I'm the winner! As for not giving things back - I suppose it's possible although I haven't heard of this. My dog knows from my tone or body language when he's got something he isn't supposed to have (not that he gives it up right away!), but he knows which specific toy is for playing tug and he knows that when I eventually win, he gets to chase it when I throw it away and he never fails to bring it back for another go! He's very energetic and it tires him pretty well, and he spends the next half hour or so playing with it by himself too.

I never really taught him to come back before I let him off-lead, but we had him from very young so it's much easier. I always take treats and make sure he knows I have them, and call him for a treat and let him go without putting his lead back on so he doesn't assume he's going to be stopped from running. Saying that, we live in the country and I would never let him off anywhere near roads so it's easier in that respect too. If you walk her in a town or by a road then I imagine it would be much more difficult.

I would definitely try to get your hubby more involved - my dog reacts so much better to my partner than to me, because he's made sure that he's the 'alpha' in all respects and his commands are very commanding! The pup behaves himself much more with him than me, especially at recall when we're out walking. I think I'm a bit too soft with him sometimes but it can be hard to be strict when they're so adorable!

MatyMoo

If the walks were tiring her out and helping her behaviour how about a dog walker until hubby is up to it again?

krlyr

Can you walk her in the evenings? Maybe hubby could take on some of your evening "jobs", e.g. cooking dinner if that's something you usually do, while you take the dog out? Or a dog walker, as suggested.

Alternatively, maybe look up enclosed areas locally where hubby or you could take her for a good run off-lead. School fields, tennis courts, fenced in parks, indoor horse stables or fenced in paddocks, etc. Then it's not so important if she doesn't come back when called as she's secure - I'd just take some really high value treats with you and every time she comes back (I wouldn't call her - you know there's a good chance she won't come, so you'll lose the value of the recall command), really reward her. You might also want to reward her for 'checking in', e.g. praise her for making eye contact and chuck a treat her way, so she learns to constantly interact with you and you become part of the fun of the walk as much as (and, eventually, more than) the surroundings.

Also, mental stimulation can be just as tiring as physical stimulation. Trick training isn't just a gimmick, it can take a lot of thinking from a dog to figure out and that can wear them out a lot. Or things like self-control exercises can be really tiring too - so practicing things like the 'leave it' command, teaching her not to dash out of doors before you give permission and so on.

You might want to look at teaching her the "go crazy and freeze" exercise - you purposely excite the dog and put it to a cue, but then cue the stopping too. The idea is that by putting both behaviours to a cue word, the dog learns the difference so you have a calm down cue. A bit like teaching a dog that nuisance-barks to "speak" on command so that you also have a "quiet" command to use to stop the nuisance barking.

You could also teach her a proper "settle" - this is slightly different to teaching a dog to "go to bed", which is usualy just teaching a dog to go to a certain place and to lie down, you actually teach the dog to relax and switch off. An 'off' button as such.
Not only will they help you in the short-term, but they're great for the long-term, especially if she's an easily excitable dog.
http://www.youtube.com/kikopup and http://www.youtube.com/pamelamarxsen should keep you busy with ideas for ages! You'll find videos for the checking in, go crazy and freeze, etc. I mentioned on one/both of those channels too.

If the stuffed Kongs are working, look at making them last longer and require more work by stuffing with wet food and freezing. Naturediet works quite well, or tinned fish, couscous, mashed potato, etc. Or sometimes I blitz dry biscuits in a blender with a bit of warm water and then freeze that.

pawsies

Woody76 wrote: »

Thanks Lieja


We do play tug of war with her but im worried it will encourage her to not give things back what do you think re this??
unfortunately balls are of no interest to her

Woody x

Tug away! It's a game dogs love and doesn't have anything to do with dominance. Dominance is an outdated theory that should be abolished.

Also, I would teach her a 'drop' command whilst you are playing. Have a good tug, as soon as she lets it go slack say 'Drop' and then reward her by playing again/giving her a treat.
She may be determined so patience is a virtue.
If you say 'drop' and she doesn't drop then I would let go of the tugger as it isn't any fun if there's no one to tug against and walk away.
Restart again whenever you want.

3v3

Some great tips in this thread

krlyr wrote: »

...
Alternatively, maybe look up enclosed areas locally where hubby or you could take her for a good run off-lead. School fields, tennis courts, fenced in parks, indoor horse stables or fenced in paddocks, etc...

This is a great idea and one we have been putting into practice at our local tennis courts.

Unfortunately, someone has taken umbridge over it and seems to have made it his mission in life to have a go at anyone who goes in the court with their dog; to the point where the gate has now been removed.

The local parks aren't fenced in and the school fields have big signs up stating: "No Dogs".

I'm finding it harder and harder to find 'secure' places.

Woody76

Thank you for all the replys

My brother in law has an allotment which has a large field which should be enclosed as he has a horse there so will ask him if I could use that.

Cant afford dog walkers as as hubby doesnt work money is tight.

Krlyr thanks for that link will look at it when get home as Im at work just now but looks really interesting

Thanks for all the really useful advice everone - never thought of freezing the kong with treats inside thats a really good tip

I will update you all soon

Woody x