Henrietta Posted March 10, 2007 Share Posted March 10, 2007 My Chi Abby is nearly 14weeks old. I starting taking her out walks after she had her vaccinations, firstly taking her out to the front yard letting her explore (only our backyard is fenced so she hadn't seen a great deal of the front yard) or sometimes just in the backyard to get her used to her leash. I used treats to encourage her to walk beside me and heaps of praise when she was doing well. We have now moved on from the front yard and have starting walking down the street or around the opposite corner (I try and mix things up) I did exactly the same with her as I did in the front yard (praise and treats). At first she was reluctant but with some encouragement she seem to be enjoying it. When we can, my parents also bring their dog, whom Abby is very friendly with and kind of looks up to (if you know what I mean). She was fine when my parent's dog came with us, but now she is starting to seem really nervous. She just decides she doesn't want to go any further and just sits there and stops. I can encourage her to follow me again with a treat but she soon stops again. She stops when a dog on our street barks, when a car comes or just whenever she feels like it She has been attending puppy preschool and she loves the people there, and the small dogs but she seems to be wary of the bigger dogs. Also, when we go walking I'll see a neighbour out and go and have a chat and some people she likes, but with strange men or if there are too many people (there were three people out gardening this morning) then she acts all nervous and barks and doesn't want to be patted. I'm concerned that I am somehow nurturing the fear, but I ignore it or distract her and praise her good behaviour. I try and make it an enjoyable experience, I let her stop to sniff things if she wants but if she is just stationary for no reason I call her and praise her when she follows. I had a thought that maybe she was going through a late fear period? If so, is it best to just give the walks a miss until she is back to her old self? It goes without saying that I want her to be well socialised and happy, I just want to do the best for her but at the moment I'm not sure what that is She is booked in to start obedience when she is 17 weeks old (can't wait!) and I'm unsure if she'll be ok. She is responded well to basic training at home such as sit and stay etc. Just 5 mins at a time type stuff. I am pretty concerned, is it at all normal behaviour ie fear period or is it something that I have to nip in the bud straight away? Please any suggestions or advice is welcome. Sorry, stupidly long post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mystiqview Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 have you left the two dogs alone where say your parents dog may have been a little TOO boisterous and given abby a fright? Has abby when she walks outside had any experience where she may have had a fright? At 14 weeks, puppy has just recently come out of a fear period and if something there happened (and not necessarily bad) the puppy may have lost confidence. Being a small dog, do you pick your dog up if it shows stress? If you do... DON'T - this re-inforces a dogs fear. Best is to leave puppy on ground, and be positive, reassuring and confident yourself. Hopefully puppy will pick up on your confidence and run with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrietta Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 have you left the two dogs alone where say your parents dog may have been a little TOO boisterous and given abby a fright? Has abby when she walks outside had any experience where she may have had a fright? At 14 weeks, puppy has just recently come out of a fear period and if something there happened (and not necessarily bad) the puppy may have lost confidence. Being a small dog, do you pick your dog up if it shows stress? If you do... DON'T - this re-inforces a dogs fear. Best is to leave puppy on ground, and be positive, reassuring and confident yourself. Hopefully puppy will pick up on your confidence and run with it. Thanks Mystiqviewwbcs for your help. Abby hasn't been left unsupervised with my parents dog because I am a bit cautious when it comes to rough play. When they do get a little boisterous (and they do) we do a time out. We try and do this before it gets out of hand, but of course there is a possiblity that some rough play has fightened her. She shows no fear towards my parent's dog, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she definitely hasn't had a fright does it? I'm trying to think back to whether I can remember her experiencing anything whilst out on a walk that could've frightened her but I can't think of anything obvious. I thought she had just come out of a fear period, during which she hadn't seemed to display any signs of fear and we introduced her to household things like dishwasher, blender, washing machine etc without making a big fuss of her (trying to just go on like nothing's happening etc). I have tried not to make a habit of picking her up when she is scared. For example, the other day when a GSD with owner (beautiful ex-police dog ) came by on the road while we were having a walk and Abby was starting to look a little scared. I encourage her to walk a bit further and asked her to sit and when she looked calm I praised her. However, I have picked her up to let our elderly neighbours pat her, but she likes this particular neighbour. That's the only circumstance in which I have picked her up. Do you think I should cease this? Thanks so much for your response, I will definitely be making sure I am confident and positive around her and I'll keep up her training :rolleyes: It may take a little time, but that is no worries. Hopefully her obedience classes will continue to boost her confidence too. Cheers, Em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymc Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Emma,are you using the Treats constantly?She stops so you give her a treat.Seems like your rewarding her for stopping. A smart Dog would soon work out, the sooner I stop the sooner I get the Treat. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrietta Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 (edited) Emma,are you using the Treats constantly?She stops so you give her a treat.Seems like your rewarding her for stopping. A smart Dog would soon work out, the sooner I stop the sooner I get the Treat. Tony Thanks Tony, It's amazing how sometimes you can't figure out the most obvious things Maybe instead of rewarding her for stopping and coming back to me, I should just encourage her to follow me and then when she is doing really well ie. no stops - then give her a treat. She has a very high food drive. Yes I think she is pretty smart - sometimes to the point that she is smarter than me.... *sigh* Nevermind, I'm sure if we work at it, we will get there :D Cheers, Em Edited March 11, 2007 by Emmala Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymc Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 no Problems Emma. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeychild Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 (edited) I dont know whether chis are notorious for this sort of thing, but one of mine (just turned a year) has always been a bad walker, ive tried all types of techniques, but shes recently gotten really bad, she wont walk a all!! She just drags along behind and sprawls out on all fours. I have picked her up on occasion because i couldnt wait around forever waiting for her to walk, but i know i really shouldnt as it just reinforces undesirable behaviours, what if she was a big dog and i couldnt pick her up. Im really at a loss. The other is a perfect walker, so i cant walk them together at all, i'd like to hear if figure anything out emmala!! Good luck! Edited March 12, 2007 by honeychild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymc Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Honey,I take it your Pup has no health issues of any sort that might be causing pain?When she flops down and spreads herself out,what is your reaction? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeychild Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Honey,I take it your Pup has no health issues of any sort that might be causing pain?When she flops down and spreads herself out,what is your reaction? Tony Nope, no health issues. I encourage her along, call her, distract her, sometimes use treats or a toy, but as you said before, i didnt want her to learn that stopping means treats, sometimes give a little tug to let her know that im not stopping. Its quite strange really, because i just cannot figure out why she has progressively gotten worse on lead for no apparent reason. At first i thought she might be scared for some reason, then i thought maybe stubborn or just plain being naughty? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymc Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Honey,what is her behaviour if you put her on a Lead and walk around the backyard? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeychild Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Yep thats interesting also. Instead of dragging behind, shes pulling in front and i have to drag her away from every little thing that she seems to get enthralled in, kind of uncontrollable (though shes only small so obviously i can actually control her) Ive done stop walking until she stops pulling, rewarding when shes walking by my side etc... I know it means something, just cant figure out what... It sounds like a dog that doesnt get out much, but that couldnt be further from the truth. Shes been on lead since she was a baby, puppy classes, obedience, the lot, I know it must have been something ive done wrong, i have no idea what though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymc Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 So she is fine on the lead in the Backyard by the sound of it.When you take her out,how far are you going? How far from Home will she throw herself down?Is there anything going on around you and her when she throws herself down,like passing Cars or another Dog?Or is the throwing down likely to happen anytime? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrietta Posted March 12, 2007 Author Share Posted March 12, 2007 honeychild I dont know whether chis are notorious for this sort of thing, but one of mine (just turned a year) has always been a bad walker, ive tried all types of techniques, but shes recently gotten really bad, she wont walk a all!! She just drags along behind and sprawls out on all fours. I have picked her up on occasion because i couldnt wait around forever waiting for her to walk, but i know i really shouldnt as it just reinforces undesirable behaviours, what if she was a big dog and i couldnt pick her up. Im really at a loss. The other is a perfect walker, so i cant walk them together at all, i'd like to hear if figure anything out emmala!! Good luck! Thanks honeychild. I will definitely keep you posted with her progress, you'll have to do the same if you have a breakthrough too We can bounce ideas off eachother. Good luck! By the way, the chi in your avatar is gorgeous How did your chi go at obedience despite being a bit reluctant on the lead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeychild Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 (edited) honeychildI dont know whether chis are notorious for this sort of thing, but one of mine (just turned a year) has always been a bad walker, ive tried all types of techniques, but shes recently gotten really bad, she wont walk a all!! She just drags along behind and sprawls out on all fours. I have picked her up on occasion because i couldnt wait around forever waiting for her to walk, but i know i really shouldnt as it just reinforces undesirable behaviours, what if she was a big dog and i couldnt pick her up. Im really at a loss. The other is a perfect walker, so i cant walk them together at all, i'd like to hear if figure anything out emmala!! Good luck! Thanks honeychild. I will definitely keep you posted with her progress, you'll have to do the same if you have a breakthrough too We can bounce ideas off eachother. Good luck! By the way, the chi in your avatar is gorgeous How did your chi go at obedience despite being a bit reluctant on the lead? She caught on quite quickly, eventually she started pulling out everything she knew before i even said it because she knew it would get her treats, She really seems to enjoy it, even if shes not the smartest cookie I had thought i might put her into agility just for fun when shes old enough, to burn off a bit of steam because shes soo full of beans, cant really see that happening anytime soon though he he Edited March 12, 2007 by honeychild Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonymc Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Honey,She has learnt as you said if she flopped down that you will pick her up.I would be trying for a start these two Stratergys.Both may take time and patience. When she does flop down,face away from her and completely ignore her,Because she expects you to react in a certain way it will take a little time for her to change her behaviour.You will have to wait her out.Ignore her completely, but as soon as she gets up praise her. Another way is get an old Jam Tim or something like it and three quarters fill it with pebbles.Carry the Can with you.When she throws herself down,turn your back to her and rattle the can loudly.Immediately that she gets up stop the rattling and praise her. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrietta Posted March 12, 2007 Author Share Posted March 12, 2007 (edited) She caught on quite quickly, eventually she started pulling out everything she knew before i even said it because she knew it would get her treats, She really seems to enjoy it, even if shes not the smartest cookie I had thought i might put her into agility just for fun when shes old enough, to burn off a bit of steam because shes soo full of beans, cant really see that happening anytime soon though he he Honeychild, I was hoping to put my girl into agility when she is old enough to see if she enjoys it too Obedience first though - really looking forward to it! Hehe, I had to laugh at your description of your girl doing everything she knew because she knew she'd get treats. Mine's a bit like that at the moment, very food motivated. Suprised me about the chi, everyone I had spoken to had said they were fussy.... ha! not mine. She'd eat everything and some more if I'd let her. Maybe she just hasn't developed her more discerning tastes yet Edited March 12, 2007 by Emmala Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeychild Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Honey,She has learnt as you said if she flopped down that you will pick her up.I would be trying for a start these two Stratergys.Both may take time and patience. When she does flop down,face away from her and completely ignore her,Because she expects you to react in a certain way it will take a little time for her to change her behaviour.You will have to wait her out.Ignore her completely, but as soon as she gets up praise her. Another way is get an old Jam Tim or something like it and three quarters fill it with pebbles.Carry the Can with you.When she throws herself down,turn your back to her and rattle the can loudly.Immediately that she gets up stop the rattling and praise her. Tony Thanks so much for your advice i'll definately be trying it! I must admit i have been getting pretty fed up lately, but i will perservere! Those suggestions sound like the kind of things that would work with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeychild Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 Do you have any pics?? Id love to see her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrietta Posted March 12, 2007 Author Share Posted March 12, 2007 Do you have any pics?? Id love to see her Oooh of course! I just have to remember how to post photos One tic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrietta Posted March 12, 2007 Author Share Posted March 12, 2007 (edited) Ok, the first one is of her the week we got her Here she is now And sleeping Hopefully I have fixed them so they aren't as big... Honeychild you will have to return the favour and post some piccys of yours please. I can't get enough of them Edited January 9, 2008 by Emm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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