Need a little help with Mitzy and some of her, er... Quirks! *training help needed*

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Thelwell_Girl

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Hello all!

Now i dont often venture in here, so please be nice :o;):D

Went on a lovely walk with Mitzy today (sadly she isnt mine!), gorgeous weather and met a few of my friends on the way!

Now, Mitzy is one of the most well behaved dogs I have ever met in my life. She is impeccably behaved around children and strangers, and loves her cuddles!

She isnt that good with other dogs, though. She hates the boys sniffing her, and will bark and tell them off. She also seems to hate Greyhound/Lurcher types, and big soppy dogs, and will yell/chase them off a bit. Oh, and she seems to be scared of small terriers!

She also doesnt seem to understand that dogs want to 'play' with her, NOT eat her!

I partly put it down to her being rescued off the streets of Israel before she came to england, and had a tough life. Maybe she's nervous? However, Im not sure.

Is there anything I can do to help stop the snapping/barking at other dogs on our walks? Is it a confidence issue? Our walks are nearly always 100% off lead, but I have taken to putting her on just till we walk down the street a bit towards the park, a minute or two away.

Another problem we have sometimes is, if there is food in the road, there is a good chance she will go off to investigate it! Now, this road isnt too busy, but I would die if something happened to her while I was in charge :( She doesnt have that good a recall (old dog, new tricks?) but will eventually come back to you if she's in the right mood. Most of the time she trots ahead of me happily, occasionally stopping to check I am still there :o:D

Is there anything I can do to stop her drifting into the road? (I would like to keep her as off lead as possible, but I totally understand if this isnt possible!)

I only walk her once a week after 6th form, for 1-1.5 hours. We love our walks, and I feel so close to her when we are ambling along in the sunshine :)

Thank you for reading my little ramble there, any advice you can give will be very much appreciated!

Fox's Bisquits for all xxx

A gratuitous picture of Madame :D
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She is very cute for an oldie and as a result knows all tricks and few you don't know about.;):rolleyes::rolleyes::D:D:D

As far as the food in the road is concerned - keep her on the lead until you get to the park - better safe than sorry!:)

With the other dogs it is probably as a result of here well 'ard start in life - others can probably help better but I would just try and keep her out of those situations if at all possible.:)

As for her recall I would try having treats in your pockets - and everytime she comes back she gets a treat - she sounds like to type of dog that will learn coming back means food!!;):D:D
 
Oo I think its incredibly dangerous and a little irresponsible to let her off at all. I wouldn't be letter her off until i could work through her issues.

If she has little recall, wanders into the road and is aggressive that's a lawsuit and worse waiting to happen.

But you can do lots of on lead work to help combat some issues.
Do a search on here for recall work and dog aggression there should be lots of recent threads for you to have a read through. You will also have to get her owners to work with her in the same way though. Its all about consistency.
 
We are always nice:D

I would definitely to say always have her on the lead on or near to the road - it only takes a second for an accident to happen as you know. I always keep Henry on a lead, even along a track which is at the top of a bank next to a tiny lane. The time I didn't was the time he suddenly darted down the bank and over the road - very nearly under a car:eek:

CC and others can give you better advice on the dogs thing, but generally I would say try and get her focus off the dogs and onto you.
 
Thanks for the responses guys! I have a long-ish lead (not her normal flexi) which I can bring with me next time, and we can try and do a bit of focus work.

I have just read my post back, and i make Mitz sound awful! It really is just a 'go away' bark, I have never EVER seen her agressive in such a way (though obv doesnt mean it still couldnt happen). She normally just skitters away back to me if a dog sniffs her/surprises her! Kind of like a doggy-spook?

She happily pootles along off lead, and if anything is a bit more nervous when on lead and meeting dogs, if that makes sense?
 
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Tara's exactly the same as she was attacked when she was a puppy but she's gone the opposite way and is now very dog aggressive.
When a dog comes up to her, have a treat in your hand and let her investigate that whilst the dog is there - she will learn that making friends equal treats! (don't put her back on the lead when a dog approaches her as she will feel threatened and trapped - she has nowhere to run should something happen when still on the lead if this makes sense??)
Deff keep her on the lead by the road - it only takes one situation to make her go into the road :(
As for recall - use a long lead or lunge line - let her wander off (on lead, let lead go long) and call her back. Make yourself exciting, shout, wave your arms show her treats, jump about..!! When she comes back, ask her to sit in front of you, give her a treat and praise.
Repeat this and she should get the hang of things ;)
K xx
 
I would have her on the lead until you are in the park and a distance from the road. And only if her recall really is good should she be off. Mind some chicken should ensure she is compliant if you give it a few walks!
I didn't read her as being bad.. more like most middle aged terrier types!
 
I think I will definitely keep her on lead till we get to the park - am now looking into long lines! Any recommendations?

I think that is why she doesnt like being on lead when around other dogs - at least if she is off she can skitter away and then come back to me!

Oh... She also isnt very good with 'sit' :o Even if I wave a whole chicken breast (her fave treat :rolleyes:) in front of her nose, she'll just stand there!
 
SusieT said:
I would have her on the lead until you are in the park and a distance from the road. And only if her recall really is good should she be off. Mind some chicken should ensure she is compliant if you give it a few walks!
I didn't read her as being bad.. more like most middle aged terrier types!
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Thats good to know! She really is an angel 99% of the time!

I will invest in a long line, and take her to one of the nice big grassy open bits and practice with her :)
 
Although I'm a big fan of longlines (as most of us are in AAD) I'd still be keeping her on a short leash until you are actually in the park and then you can swop onto a longline. I almost ran over someone's spaniel (who I knew well) because he skittered onto the road on a longline - she thought she had it gathered up enough, but it wasn't the case :eek: Could have been a nasty one! I always found with my spaniel that she focused a lot more on ME when she was on a short lead and that made the recall much better later on when I let her off or swopped her over to a long line :D

Definitely run anything you're planning to do past her owners first - if they aren't involved, they will more than likely undo all your hard work! :eek:
 
thelwell_girl said:
I think I will definitely keep her on lead till we get to the park - am now looking into long lines! Any recommendations?

I think that is why she doesnt like being on lead when around other dogs - at least if she is off she can skitter away and then come back to me!

Oh... She also isnt very good with 'sit' :o Even if I wave a whole chicken breast (her fave treat :rolleyes:) in front of her nose, she'll just stand there!
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Hold a treat in your hand, and bring your hand in an upwards motion towards your chest and say "sit". If she doesn't sit, bring the treat over her head and push her bum down gently and say "sit" :)
K x
 
Numptynovice - Of course I will, me and her owner are good friends, wouldnt want to upset her!

I was planning on doing just that, wouldnt want her to wiggle her way out into the road if she was on the long line :(

KellysHeroes - Heh, thank you :o Will work on that with her next week!
 
Brilliant, just thought I'd make sure - there is nothing worse than thinking you are getting somewhere and having it all undone by an unwitting owner! Also means you can swop notes and Mitzy will have no choice but to be the Ultimate Perfect Pooch! :) Good luck, let us know how you get on!
 
Don't know what others do but I found out dog long lines cost twice as much as a lunge line. We bought a cheap nine metre one from robinsons. Be prepared to wash it a lot after its been through. All the puddles even if you are trying to reel it in to keep ot off the ground!
 
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