Excuse me, are you a dog trainer?

[Atemas]

Someone in the village stopped me this evening and asked me that question ?. I laughed and said ‘no, do you want one?’ Turns out she does although I think she needs a behaviourist. She has a rescue dog who stops walking, lies down and refuses to budge when he gets near home. I said it may have had bad experiences in his former home. Anyway we chatted and she said she has watched me going past her house and thought I was training a guide dog ??. She has watched Red trotting along by my side. She wouldn’t have thought that if she’s seen Red do one of her lunges when she sees another dog ?.

 

[Selina27]

What a great accolade, that's brilliant! Start of a new career?

 

[Atemas]

Start of a new career?

Retirement is too sweet ?

 

[edzbird]

That's a super compliment - take it, you deserve it.

 

[M.F.]

What a compliment! All that hard work has paid off!

I’ve had someone try to help me across a pedestrian crossing cos they saw Snowie in a black harness and assumed I was blind!

 

[Charlie]

Fabulous, you must look very professional! xx

 

[Beanwood]

Wonderful! You must feel proud. I also love the fact she felt she could approach you

 

[Oberon]

Nice work!

 

[Mabel’smummy]

Fantastic

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

That's a great compliment!

She has a rescue dog who stops walking, lies down and refuses to budge when he gets near home.

I've had plenty of foster dogs that did this at the beginning. Heck, Carbon still tries it every now and then. Of course no way to know for sure with her pup, but usually it's nothing more sinister than just "Nope, not ready for the end of the walk yet!".

 

[Plum's mum]

Well done! Bet you never thought that would happen in those early days of despair.
You deserve it, you've worked so hard.

 

[Atemas]

I’ve had someone try to help me across a pedestrian crossing cos they saw Snowie in a black harness and assumed I was blind!

?

 

[Atemas]

usually it's nothing more sinister than just "Nope, not ready for the end of the walk yet!"

I think it is much worse than that. I have seen her in the distance before with him refusing to move. She said sometimes it has taken her 20 minutes to get him going. Of course when I got home and had finished chuckling about her dog trainer question, I thought of the obvious - does she use an enticing lure to get him moving - if I see her again, I will ask. She did say she was going to look for a trainer when it’s not so hot so I guess she’s not desperate as the hot weather shows no let up ?.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

I think it is much worse than that.

Oh, poor pup... An enticing lure does sound like a good idea.

 

[SwampDonkey]

It's so nice that she could approach you and ask. You may have helped her more than you know. Hope you she her Again,. Well done xxx

 

[snowbunny]

In general, I find it better not to lure to get the dog to go in a direction they don't want to, whatever the reason. I've found a better approach is to "ping pong" between that direction and the opposite one. You can do this with two values of treat; throw the lower value away from the "bad" direction. When the dog has eaten it, drop the higher value at your feet so the dog comes back to where he originally was. Over a few reps, you can start tossing the high value towards the "bad" direction. If the dog hesitates, throw another treat back in the "good" direction. Just keep ping-ponging. This way, you're taking the pressure off the dog by allowing him to retreat, rather than simply applying more and more pressure, even if it's with something nice like a treat.
This is such a useful concept. I should take a video of it to show what I mean. "Picture / 1000 words" type of thing

 

[Boogie]

Great compliment, we’ll done you ??