- Location
- Canada
I want to say no...but honestly? I'm going to vent a little because in this space, you understand what Im talking about, and that it's not me ragging on them...it's the frustration of having put in all that time and money and not having back-up from the rest of the family unit.Harder work than the pupper. I hope they are not undoing your work
It's more like...rules when I'm home, and rules when I'm not.
The one place it's being actively undone is the front window. I have come home to hear human barking amid dog barking. FRUSTRATING! I spend all morning using "All done"(shamas) and "Off"(trixie) to stop the window barking...and I come home to hear a human joining them instead of managing them. So I walk in to two wound up dogs. and have to drop commands to end the barking the second I walk in at 10:30pm. Sure my neighbours appreciate THAT 5 nights a week :/ If the same commands were used all day, and re-enforced with food, it'd stick.
Hubby won't even walk her, because without the Halti, she's too strong. He only walks Shamas, who is calm, and slow now. And he doesn't seem to believe in walking on less than a 6 foot lead---which gives her all the momentum in the world to dig in and drag him wherever she pleases. Which is part of why I can't use a harness on her. If she dug in on a harness, on a 6 foot lead, she'd be unstoppable....you'd just see her dragging people along behind her like an untrained, unsocialised pet of someone who wants a friend but doesn't put in the time. I keep telling him to shorten the lead....you can't lead a dog on 6 feet of leash. It will go wherever it wants, unless it's taught verbal commands. I'm working on verbal commands, but we aren't there yet.
AB walks her, but uses Halti. Because the goal with AB is to have Trixie at the heel at all times. Walks with AB are working walks with breaks. That's going pretty well, except for forgetting to give a command when they see dogs. I keep reminding them--3 seconds from when you see the dog to when Trixie decides what to do about it. You have 3 seconds to tell her how to behave. If you don't tell her, she'll bark and jump, and carry on like an untrained brat. Tell her "leave it" and walk by...or if it's too much, and she's stalking, have her "sit..just watch" so she can process her feelings. Tell her SOMETHING
I'm using a combination loose-fit Martingale, and retractable/lose martingale and 6 foot lead held with 3 feet to walk her. I'm working on loose leash manners. She HAD them. At 6 months. Before she learned how strong she was, and that she could dig in and refuse to move. Now, there are times I actually have to take the handle on her tactical collar and shift her with a combination of gently pulling the collar and moving into the space she's occupying. I can't just allow her to dig in to sniff like that, because of her tendency to find chicken bones and eat them. It's a literal safety issue. I've considered muzzling, but given her poor reaction to Halti, I doubt muzzling would go over well. She'd "walk" down the street on her hind legs, pushing her nose along the ground. Or smash me around the legs with it. Or just sit and sing her song of sadness.
Unfortunately, she's not working for treats. Half the time, she sniffs the hand, then ignores it; even with chicken weiners which she loves. She only works for treats if she feels like playing that game today. She's also not working for tug. And she's ignoring me half the time, for the far more interesting squirrels, leaves, cars, dogs, and world in general. Front leading harness stresses her out, we've tried a few types now. Back harnesses give her too much pull power, and collars don't seem to allow for much communication...so I'm pulling a blank in trying to get through to her. Even the clicker doesn't interest her. I mark the behavior, and she acknowledges that I did, and continues on, grinning. Seems the positive re-enforcer is simply the marking of the behavior...the treat is irrelevant. Good for my budget...but bad for trying to get her attention.
