MollyMoomin
Well-Known Member
I think...?
Today Herman met 3.5 (I'll explain...) dogs on his walk today. When he met them, he was on the lead and normally he is very rude and will jump up and bark at dogs walking by. I know it's rude, I hate that he does it and I'm trying really hard to stop it and today I *think* we got somewhere. I 100% stand by the fact that he's trying to get the other dog to play but is being rude over it. However, I accept it's awful to see a huge (and he is rather large, even for a Weim) great grey beast leaping at your dog, barking...
Anyway, I digress...
First dog we met was an 8month old Border puppy. We actually met her earlier in the week when she ran round a corner off lead straight into us and took us all by surprise. Owner was mortified (although I think he was expecting to come round the corner and find his puppy in pieces) so when he saw us today, he put her on the lead. Herman was perfect, walked up to her, all 4 paws remained on the floor, he didn't bark and we left just as the paws started flying (which is his ignorant way of saying 'play! Chase! C'mon!').
Happy with that. Had his offlead bit where we know we're not going to run into other dogs, recalled him off birds, played with a new ring-frisbee thing he has, threw treats for him, had a lovely walk and he stayed off the lead even when we got back to the footpath. Normally I put him on when we get to it but he was being really good and not going too far away before coming back to check in, so I left him off for a good quarter of a mile on this path. I could see all the way down it though.
When we rejoined the path which meets with the playing fields, we met the lab he played with the other week - he was back on the lead by this point. To explain how the paths are set out, there's 2. The proper one, which we were on which is unpassable in winter and the unofficial one which OHs dad (who farms the field) has left so people can still walk their dogs and not ruin his field in the process. The lab (which is the .5 of a dog) was on the unofficial path and there's a really thin cover of trees/weeds/general gumpf between the 2 paths. He saw her, I said hello to her owner and we carried on going. No jumping or barking again! OK we weren't close, exactly, but it's never stopped him 'chatting' before.
Met yet another lab a bit further on, again he remained polite so he was allowed to say hello to her as well and again we left before he could try to initiate any games.
Then the last dog - I'm so cross with myself, I messed up on that, badly, I think. We were on a narrow straight footpath. One side is the river and on the other is allotments and the path itself is only about a foot wide. I saw a girl running towards us with a springer (bloody spangles
) so I put Herman into a sit at the side of the path but I wasn't quick enough to get my treats out *cross* before the springer came into view. He was alright, actually, till the springer got a bit closer and then stopped and looked at him. I was still fumbling to get my treats out for him and was too slow before he leapt forward and barked at it *crosscrosscross*. The girl did apologise, which was nice but not exactly her fault. If I'd been quicker with the treats I'm fairly sure he would have had them instead of barking, or even trying to squeeze along with her as it would have kept him moving. The sit was probably a bad idea in retrospect.
BUT - 2 dogs greeted politely and another ignored - for him, that's pretty good going to be honest. At puppy training last night he barked once when the other dog (there was only 2 of us last night, usually there's about 7 of us) came in and then settled fine.
One day I might be brave enough to bring him to an AAD dog walk if he carries on being a polite puppy (and if we're invited!)
I'm pleased with today. The recall is getting better and better too - I can recall him away from his friends now, it's just the initial rude greeting (which he does with his mates too, they just ignore him until he's stopped being a prick) which we have to work on....
ETA - sorry that got really long! Tea, butter biscuits, percy pigs OR a bite of my beef and horseradish sandwich for getting through this post...
Today Herman met 3.5 (I'll explain...) dogs on his walk today. When he met them, he was on the lead and normally he is very rude and will jump up and bark at dogs walking by. I know it's rude, I hate that he does it and I'm trying really hard to stop it and today I *think* we got somewhere. I 100% stand by the fact that he's trying to get the other dog to play but is being rude over it. However, I accept it's awful to see a huge (and he is rather large, even for a Weim) great grey beast leaping at your dog, barking...
Anyway, I digress...
First dog we met was an 8month old Border puppy. We actually met her earlier in the week when she ran round a corner off lead straight into us and took us all by surprise. Owner was mortified (although I think he was expecting to come round the corner and find his puppy in pieces) so when he saw us today, he put her on the lead. Herman was perfect, walked up to her, all 4 paws remained on the floor, he didn't bark and we left just as the paws started flying (which is his ignorant way of saying 'play! Chase! C'mon!').
Happy with that. Had his offlead bit where we know we're not going to run into other dogs, recalled him off birds, played with a new ring-frisbee thing he has, threw treats for him, had a lovely walk and he stayed off the lead even when we got back to the footpath. Normally I put him on when we get to it but he was being really good and not going too far away before coming back to check in, so I left him off for a good quarter of a mile on this path. I could see all the way down it though.
When we rejoined the path which meets with the playing fields, we met the lab he played with the other week - he was back on the lead by this point. To explain how the paths are set out, there's 2. The proper one, which we were on which is unpassable in winter and the unofficial one which OHs dad (who farms the field) has left so people can still walk their dogs and not ruin his field in the process. The lab (which is the .5 of a dog) was on the unofficial path and there's a really thin cover of trees/weeds/general gumpf between the 2 paths. He saw her, I said hello to her owner and we carried on going. No jumping or barking again! OK we weren't close, exactly, but it's never stopped him 'chatting' before.
Met yet another lab a bit further on, again he remained polite so he was allowed to say hello to her as well and again we left before he could try to initiate any games.
Then the last dog - I'm so cross with myself, I messed up on that, badly, I think. We were on a narrow straight footpath. One side is the river and on the other is allotments and the path itself is only about a foot wide. I saw a girl running towards us with a springer (bloody spangles
) so I put Herman into a sit at the side of the path but I wasn't quick enough to get my treats out *cross* before the springer came into view. He was alright, actually, till the springer got a bit closer and then stopped and looked at him. I was still fumbling to get my treats out for him and was too slow before he leapt forward and barked at it *crosscrosscross*. The girl did apologise, which was nice but not exactly her fault. If I'd been quicker with the treats I'm fairly sure he would have had them instead of barking, or even trying to squeeze along with her as it would have kept him moving. The sit was probably a bad idea in retrospect.BUT - 2 dogs greeted politely and another ignored - for him, that's pretty good going to be honest. At puppy training last night he barked once when the other dog (there was only 2 of us last night, usually there's about 7 of us) came in and then settled fine.
One day I might be brave enough to bring him to an AAD dog walk if he carries on being a polite puppy (and if we're invited!)
I'm pleased with today. The recall is getting better and better too - I can recall him away from his friends now, it's just the initial rude greeting (which he does with his mates too, they just ignore him until he's stopped being a prick) which we have to work on....
ETA - sorry that got really long! Tea, butter biscuits, percy pigs OR a bite of my beef and horseradish sandwich for getting through this post...
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