Marlene

Hi, I haven't been here in a while, as things have been good with Apollo. However I am needing help with an issue I am seeing. He is super friendly, and loves people, dogs and adventures. We go on regularly walks around 2-3 hours most days, which consists of walks, hikes, mostly of leash and play dates. We also attend some dog parks I also attend dog behaviour class once a week in an open field, where he does training around lots of dogs. My question is whilst he loves to play, I am finding he is a bit on the pushy side. He meets a dog, does the sniffing thing, when they start to run and play, he chases them and is seems as if he is herding sheep, is seems he takes nips at their bums to keep going. Secondly when he he along side a dog he tends to rest his head on their back, close to their head. He also has been trying to hump. And yes he is nurtured. I do correct if by either telling him no, leave it and then pulling him off the other dog. I attach the leash again, sometimes make him sit calmly, and allow him to play again, if he does the same thing I take him away from the area and play and begin a training session away from other dogs and head home. I have asked the trainer's, they have seen his interaction with other dogs and aren't particularly worried and say dogs do this, but if done to the wrong dog a fight can happen. They advised that you just have to keep correcting him. I am always watching him and do command him to go slow and to not jump ext, whilst he is playing, he does seem to listen but there are the times he doesn't. I feel it becoming more frequent as if he is showing who's boss. He has been corrected by some dogs but doesn't seem fazed. He does seem to back off other times. My question is how do I train him out of this before it gets worse. Should I be doing something before interaction with dogs. After a short time he does stop and plays normally and then stays with me. He is 2yrs 5 months VID20220616124937.mp4 This is him when he plays Apollo is the Shephard/ husky. VID20220508091516.mp4 VID20220508091516.mp4 VID20220610100454.mp4 VID20220508091445.mp4 VID20220309105537.mp4

Sorry for late reply, no he wasn't trying to mount him. He stood over him as the dog was small at fits under him. When he does this. I immediately pull him off. Since writing to you, I have been practicing the above and am seeing progress. I have been using a collar instead of harness and have been getting a better response. Tomorrow we also start obedience training in a group environment, so hoping this will help with the over excitement. When he reaches the end of lead I have been calling turn around or sometimes I just stop and he knows to come back to my Side. This is working great, you can see his mind ticking, and his walking has improved, when he sees something exciting I just keep stopping turn around and move closer when calm. If his not calm we don't progress.

Hi again, with the above training, for eg when I am walking Apollo and he starts pulling with excitement knowing that where we are walking too has dog friends there, I will practice the heeling/ look into my eyes also the sit and calm behaviour as we attempt to get closer. But is there a time limit on how long you can do this for as they may become super frustrated. And do I not allow him to eventually play with the dog friend if he can't intially just be calm enough for me to even take off the leash. Also yesterday I was at an oval he saw a dog friend approach, I had him on leash and he started pulling and jumping around wanting to play with his friend. In this circumstance I was already at a park,. Trying to train focus with him, which was hard as all he kept doing is looking around waiting for a dog to come) Anyway he got too strong for me and took off and I fell. I didn't hurt my self. He played with the dog but I feel he was too rough, and being the bigger dog he would stand over the smaller dog, so I leashed him again and had him sit/ down position and waited for calm, the other lady leashed her dog as well so she couldn't come to Apollo either and excite him. When he showed calm we let them get closer, when he stood over her I pulled him off again and so on. He definitely calmed down, but there was no off leash time after this, In this case, because he initially pulled and showed no calm at all once I got hold of him should I have taken him away and not allowed any interaction with the other dog. This is where my confusion starts, they need socialisation but are reacting inappropriately to start with. I am looking into training, but there is a wait due to lock downs we keep having in Melbourne/ Australia. So having to do it on my own for now.

Thank you so much, I will start with these above tips. How true it is when I thought it should be easy now, you have reminded me of the adolescent age.

Thank you, I used to take him to the dog park to desensitize him. But stopped Bec I felt bad I will begin this training again.

Hi, can I please have some advice on how to train my 16 month to not get so excited and run off when he sees another dog. Apollo is super playful, he loves dogs people. My issue is when we approach a park or even on the street ( he is on lead), he gets super excited and pulls to get to the dog. Walking on the street is ok I manage it with treats and a heal, but I feel his energy. When we get to a park where I let him off leash he just bolts to another dog, at this point he doesn't know I exist. The problem I have here is although his not aggressive, other dogs warn him off with a growl, as they may not want to play with him and he keeps going in to play. Of course I get to him and leash him again then leave the park, but I want to be able to bring him there and he interacts with us as apposed to dogs that may not want to play. Basically I would like him to play when I say go play and stay and leave others alone when I ask, as I see with other dogs. I will add when we take him on bush walks off lead he listens to our recall most of the time but not 100%> What steps do I take to teach him calm when in these situations. I have so many teqniques I read about but not sure which to begin with.

Thank you for your input, I will try what you have suggested and read through your story

Thank you and yes he once did bite over a wrapper with food. After that dilemma I hand fed him for 2 months whilst also training him. I now can get him off street objects and food by a simple leave it or tossing treats away from him. I will try the above mentioned, I didn't even think of steak being higher value than a bone, so thanks for the info. I will let you know how I go. Here's a pic of my cheeky boy.

Hi, I would like to know a good approach to resource guarding. I have trained him heaps and he doesn't growl or fuss with when we are around his food or toys. The issue I have is when we give him a juicy bone and we try to get it off him after a couple of hours of him chewing on it. I've been told they shouldn't have it too long so even two hours is over kill. I have eventually lured him away with giving him his dinner, but I had to tie him up so I could get the bone as he was showing aggression , which I haven't experienced with him before. I feel. The more he gets into a raw bone he becomes more wild it that makes sense as he is super playfut loves all dogs is very effectionate. My question is, is it realistic to be able to go up to yr dog and trade his bone or is it matter of luring away to grab it. Then do i promote resource guarding when he sees that I take the bone and throw it. Should I let him just bury it so he knows it's his when he wants it. And if I allow this, can the bone make them sick from being in the ground. Sorry for alot of questions, I just want to have the right approach as I don't not want to give him a bone.

Hi, I need some advice, I have a husky X shepherd. He is lovable, trains well and just loves being around us. He is super friendly and doesn't mind strangers. I do not free feed him, I sometimes train him whilst he then received his food, or he eats his food in snuffle matts or puzzles or go find it scenarios ect. My issue is when walking outside, and he grabs something he shouldn't, like food that is sometimes wrapped in foils. I tell him to drop it, leave it, sometimes if it's something small I can get him to let it go but mostly he will growl. In this scenario, if I have tried to grab it from him he has bitten me. I'm so dis heartened right now because he is treating like a king and he doesn't need to want for food. I'm not sure how to stop this behaviour, I feel he should trust me to know it could be dangerous for him. This morning, I put my foot on the wrapper he was eating to try and move it away from him and he bit my foot. I immediately Brought him home, we were just starting out walk. I also out him in our outdoor fenced area where he cannot have free play as I feel he needs to know he has done something wrong. What am I to do.

Hi, recently I have taken 8 month shepherd X husky to the vet as he was chasing his tail and whining whilst trying to reach his behind and biting on his leg. The vet relieved his anal glands but it still kept happening. I took him back to the vet and he said he had a swollen prostate, and recommended I have him neutered. He also has put him on hills zd food to see if he has an allergy to his food. My concern is he too young to be desexed, originally I was told to wait roughly 12 months. I'm thinking I was giving him to many different treats so maybe that caused an issue with the food. Just so unsure about the desexing issue.

Oh yes I have seen these games, that is where I got the idea from.

I think he is starting to feel uncomfortable with the heat, for safety do you think I can leave the crate outside, but closed,

Thankyou, I think that as the heat is starting to rise here in Melbourne he was probably getting hot inside the crate. Today he was lathargic and didn't want to eat. We set up a dog pool for him and I must say he loved it. He was back to his playful self.

Hi, I mean outside in the yard. He does spend alot of his time outside. We are always around, at night time he does like being outside to rest and does sleep near the back door, but his not scratching to come in. He doesn't really chew on furniture, but that's not to say he won't start if left unwatched. The reason I ask if it's ok for him to sleep outside is people tell me he is a big dog and needs the fresh air as apposed to being indoors in a crate.