PatsyIppolito

Thank Adrienne for all of the information and Fredery for your encouragement. We are a work in progress for sure. We have been very diligent in doing 2 15 minute training walks per day for the past couple of weeks. For the most part I think we are making progress although some days are better than others. We have been managing to avoid the rabbits by going later in the morning and earlier in the evening. Our city and surrounding area are overrun with them so it is not easy to avoid them. Much of the time there is one who hangs out under our front step. We are working on relaxing more. We will continue to work on triggers. I have been using the smacking sound since I first found your site. It works well when she isn't too stimulated. I am thinking about consulting also with a trainer I can meet with with Maisie to get a better sense of what I may be doing right and wrong. I appreciate the information for sure, but I know it is also hard to get a sense sometimes just through trying to explain things in writing. I also find that I learn best by watching and doing. Anyway, I will check in again at some point. Thanks again!

With the rabbits, she definitely wants to chase them. With other dogs it's hard to tell what she wants. She doesn't bark like that and lunge toward every dog. Last night she was definitely over threshold. She is very social and especially loves people. Around other dogs she tends initially to walk tentatively and if they approach her will often lay on her back - paws up. She has been chased a few times by bigger dogs at some dog friendly trails so is quite tentative there. We haven't been there over the winter. She has a little dog next door that she plays with. She had a big buddy across the street that she played with too, but he unfortunately moved away. Recently I had a friend's little dog stay with me for 3 nights. She is a tiny dog and elderly so wasn't overly interested in playing. Maisie tried to play with her, but took the hint when the other dog indicated she didn't want to play. At the recommendation of our vet, I don't take her to off leash parks. The vet has seen too many dogs hurt or worse at off leash parks so discouraged us from going there. There was a small dog killed at one of our off leash parks just this past fall. We are trying to get at least one small dog off leash park in the city. Perhaps I should be finding other ways for her to spend time with other dogs? I think there is a bit of both at play - sometimes barrier frustration and sometimes fear/defensiveness. I think also that overall she revs pretty high - very high energy - wants to play all the time. I worry that I may have contributed to that. I am the only one here with her and worry about her being bored or unhappy. She gets lots of attention and stimulation - games, fetch, agility, etc.

Thanks again for your info. We have gone back to the very beginning as if starting all over again. I have a new harness for her and am using the front clip. We are going out at least twice a day for short stints. She is doing ok for the most part. Tonight we had a very short walk. Unfortunately we have many rabbits in our city and they tend to jump out and she completely freaks out. We turned and went the other way, but then two dogs came down the street on the other side of the street. She was already over threshold at that point and completely freaked out so we called it a night and came home after 5 minutes. I could also use some guidance regarding other dogs. If she meets other dogs in a store or when she is off leash in our house or yard when other dogs come over or when we go to houses with other dogs or even when we have gone to small dog play group or agility, she seems to be quite fine and is actually quite submissive. Out on walks however, if she sees another dog, she tends to bark and lunge towards them. Sometimes I can get her to sit and look at me and we do ok, but other times like tonight she is completely out of control. It is so embarrassing! I know she was over threshold tonight, but still. Again, any suggestions would be welcome. I feel like she should be better at that by now too. Maybe my expectations are too high?? Thanks.

Hi Again, Thanks for the information. What you describe in the paragraph which starts "Are you rewarding her consistently...." is exactly what we have been doing. She knows to sit and wait before the gate is opened and also at the door. Also when I stop she stops and sits beside me. All of those things she can do very consistently in the house and in the yard and has been able to do consistently in those settings for at least 6 months. Perhaps that is why I am so frustrated. Outside the yard I am still treating her every few feet, but she continues to run ahead. I don't allow pulling in any setting. When I take her places and she tries to pull, we turn around and go the other way or I call her to a heel position. I feel like she is losing out by not getting to go for longer walks and can't help but wonder what I am doing wrong that we struggle so much out of the yard. I do recognize that the breaks in the winter probably didn't help. We practiced inside, but it was simply too cold for a lot of the winter for her to be walking - even with coat and boots. -30 is cold for little dogs! Do you have a preference over stop vs uturn vs turn in circles when they pull? Also, the harness we have is the PoyPet No Pull Dog Harness, No Choke Front Lead Dog Reflective Harness, Adjustable Soft Padded Pet Vest - we need a new one so just wondering if there is something different that you would recommend. Thanks again, Patsy

I was using a harness that I could clip on the front or back - Poypet is the brand. I switched because everyone else at agility was only using a collar and I read somewhere that sometimes they respond better with just a collar. I don't allow her to pull - as I said we stop or lately I have been doing uturns instead of stopping as it didn't seem to be changing the behavior. She would come back and heel, but then we would take a few steps and do it all over again. Yes, this is my little Yorkie, Maltese, Shitzu mix. We took a bit of a break during the winter when it was so cold and practiced inside - like I said - inside things are fine - mostly in the backyard too. We have been working on this since I got her as a young puppy. She does get really excited when she sees other dogs, although we have been using sit and look at me and that has helped. Rabbits are another story..... I feel like a bad dog mom - she is almost 2 years old and we can't even go for a nice walk. Friends around me have dogs similar in age and are all out going for long walks. Some of their dogs are 15 feet in front of them, and if I was ok with that we could be too. Maybe I'm being to anal about the whole thing??? Seems like others just slap a leash on and let them lead, pull, whatever....

Also, I forgot to mention, that I have switched from using a harness to just using a collar and a non-retractable leash. We have always only used a 6 foot leash - nothing retractable.

Hi there. I am feeling very frustrated (which I'm sure isn't helping). I have a 21 month old terrier mix who is very smart. She can learn a trick in less than 10 minutes and is able to sit, stay, roll over, play dead, be a sad puppy, play fetch, put a ball in a small cup, find hidden treats, does agility classes, just to name a few... What we can't seem to figure out is loose leash walking. We started in the house and she consistently is able to do it there as well as most of the time in the back yard. However, despite much practice, and working in only very short sessions outside the yard, as soon as we leave the gate, she is pulling and running forward. Originally I would stop and stand still and wait for her to turn back so there was slack in the leash and then treat at my side. After a lot of this and still not gaining much success outside the yard, I switched to making gentle u-turns every time she moved ahead so the leash was tight and then treating her at my side. We have been trying to work on this a couple of times a day for months. She is high energy so usually we do something to tire her out before ie. play date, brain training, fetch etc. What am I doing wrong? It is making walks very unenjoyable for both of us and I so want us to be able to walk for more than 100 meters in an enjoyable way. Any suggestions are welcome.

This is Maisie!

She is a mix - supposedly Yorkie, Maltese, Shitzu, but she also has very long legs??

The behavior continues, but is not a problem - more a curiosity. This is not a toy she actually every plays with, but every day, at least once a day, she finds this little soft ball and walks around with it whining and sometimes almost howling while she finds somewhere new to hide it and then all is well. I've chalked it up to some kind of mothering instinct.

She is spayed and has never had a heat cycle. Was spayed at 6 mos.

My 1 year old puppy engages in a strange behavior with one specific toy. It is a small (slightly bigger than a golf ball) soft ball, it is actually a kids toy - a squishy little ball that you can get wet and throw at others for water fights. Anyway, every day, at least once a day, she will find it and pick it up in her mouth and then walk around the house whining, whimpering and crying until she finds somewhere to hide it. Sometimes the whining escalates into a noise that I don't even know how to describe - almost a howling?? Anyone have any insight into what this is about??

Thank you for your response - lots to think about, work on and figure out! Your suggestions are great! We will continue to work on it.

Thanks to both of you. She is not left in the yard alone since my yard would be one big hole if I did - lol! I am out there with her. Most of the time she is playing fetch with me, playing hide and seek with treats, or playing with the dog from next door. She also has a digging box, several toys, and things to chew on. No matter what we are doing or she is doing, if a person or dog appears in the alley or one from down the alley starts barking, she runs to the fence and starts barking. We have practiced the smacking sound and me whistling, both which she responds to if we are out for a walk or are in the house. We have a great place we go to with trails and trees where we meet other dogs, but she doesn't bark at them except for the very rare occasion. She also has quite a good recall most of the time and we do "look at that" as well. If there is a dog in the alley, she won't respond to any of these. We have also done 2 levels of obedience training which she did very well at. We go for walks daily to practice, loose leash walking, leave it, etc. She loves to learn things and knows several tricks. We have also started agility training which she loves. I took a peek at the "hear that" method and am going to give it a try. Thanks again!

Hi there, I have a one year old puppy who barks at any dog going past our yard in the alley whenever she is outside or if she even hears another dog barking. How do I get her to stop? Any ideas would be welcome as it is very annoying for me, my neighbours and anyone walking their dog in the alley. Thanks!

I am wondering when or if ever, dogs should be allowed outside in the yard on their own? I have neighbours with dogs who let the dogs outside whenever they want, unsupervised. Both are puppies less than a year old. My puppy is 9 months old. If I let her outside unsupervised (or even supervised for that matter) she is into things - digging, eating and pulling out plants etc. I keep wondering if I am being too controlling?

Thanks again. Since there are no other people in the house (or pets), I've been able to rule out several things. I am left with the feeling that my mistake has been taking her for walks and giving her treats to reward appropriate behavior when walking. I always break the treats into tiny pieces because she is so small, but I think she still gets enough to fill her up. She is very strong willed so this may take a while. I have been taking her for walks even if she doesn't eat, but instead of treats I give her her kibble for appropriate behavior - she is not impressed. She does still eat her second meal - by then think she is quite hungry. She also has a favorite toy, so today, I thought I would wait until she eats to give her access to that toy. So far, no go, but I'm curious to see what happens when she does eat and gets the toy. That may click in as I think the toy is even more motivating than the walk for her.

I think I created confusion by talking about her past history of itchiness. Since changing her to a fish diet, itchiness is no longer a concern. I was just trying to give a bit of history as to where we have been on the feeding journey. As I mentioned, the food she currently gets is a very high quality kibble and is fish. Other than beef bones, which I was told I could introduce again and she has had no reaction to, her treats are all fish based. The vet doesn't recommend soft foods. What I'm still struggling with is getting her to eat her food, especially in the mornings. I still wonder if she is holding out for something different. Tricky when we are training. I have started putting a treat in her bowl after she has finished eating to see if that will send the message food first, then treats. I'm not sure if that is a good plan or not.

Thanks Adrienne, She has always been a bit finicky - when we go to other people's places though, if she can get at their dog's kibble she is always happy to gobble down as much as she can get before it is removed! She hasn't been free-fed for a few months now. Even when she was though, she was never a gobble it down quickly kind of dog. We have been exploring the itchiness for a while. She was on a very strict fish only diet for a month and then slowly started introducing other sources again. Poultry definitely makes her itchy so that is no longer part of her diet. The itchiness definitely seems to be associated with food. When she eats only fish, that virtually disappears. I have reintroduced beef bones which also seems to be ok. She has grown and is healthy in every way, so it appears she is getting enough food despite now always eating well. I am reluctant to switch food again. I have done it a couple of times (gradually) and each time, initially she is very happy to eat the new kibble, but after a week or so, is not so excited about it. That's one reason why I would like a brand that has a couple of flavor options ie. fish and lamb so that she can have some variety. I am going to try the mixing kibble with hot dogs trick for training to see if that helps.

Hi Again, My puppy is now 9 months old and is a finicky eater. Initally I was free feeding, but then read that that might not be a good idea, so for the past couple of months have been feeding only 2x/day and taking the food away if she doesn't eat. She gets a very high grade kibble. She seems to get really itchy if I feed her poultry, so her food is seafood. Unfortunately the brand I use is only seafood or poultry so also not a chance to get much variety. I am considering switching to another brand that has seafood and lamb as another option so I can give some variety. In the morning, she seldom eats when I put her food out. I have tried mixing it with water to bring out the aroma and using different feeding systems such as a wobble ball. I have also experimented with seeing if it made a difference if I fed her before or after her walk. Doesn't seem to make a difference. She is very treat motivated and when we do walks etc., she does get treats as we are working on loose leash walking and heal. She has no problem eating the treats! I have begun to wonder if she is filling up on treats or is just holding out for more treats. For the last few days, I have started using kibble as treats on walks if she doesn't eat it at meal time. She is less than impressed and will snub it or spit it out. I saw your idea of mixing the kibble with hot dogs and letting it sit over night and may give that a try, but also don't want to have to be doing that for every meal. Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

Thank you! I am implementing some of the things you mentioned and things are getting better!

Hi, I'm chiming in here because I have a similar problem. In particular, I need some guidance in how to handle a particular type of situation. My puppy is also 8 months old. We have been working on not barking at people and dogs on walks. Mostly, I have been able to distract her with a heel command or using the smack. Today when we were out for a walk, a little girl came around the corner on her bike fairly close to us - I didn't see her coming. My puppy started to bark. I turned around and walked the other way which definitely helped, but then a guy came running down the other side of the street with his dog and mine went nuts - barking and barking aggressively which I haven't heard before. It seems like we are making progress in general, but when there is a surprise, I need to know how to handle it appropriately in the moment. I used to pick her up and walk the other way, but then I read somewhere that I might be making her more afraid by doing that. That wasn't my intention, it was just to remove her from the situation. Any guidance is welcome. Thanks.

Thanks again - so helpful! We are working on the going on demand. She does get play time with the other puppy - typically once a day. Now that the snow is melting, I need to get on top of things and clean up the yard. I try to do lots of fun things with her - games, tricks, etc. I'm always open to new games and tricks to teach her.

Thank you! So appreciative of all of the ideas and tips. I have been putting some things into effect and I think things are improving. The puppy next door has been there since I got mine. They love to play together which is great, but mine is constantly looking for her. Unfortunately, there is nowhere in my yard where she can't see the fenceline where the other puppy hangs out so she is still looking every time she goes out to go potty. We will keep working. Can you tell I'm a first time dog owner - lol! i love her to bits - she's just so darn smart!

Thank so much for your response and the information. We have some more work to do! I am wondering about getting rid of the bell. Is there a way to do that properly? One more thing I am noticing is that when she comes inside from a rigorous play outside with her buddy from next door, she is very wound up and wants to play more - almost hyperactive. Today I tried something different and gave her a bully stick to chew on when she came in. She chewed for a while and then went to sleep. I'm also open to any other tips and suggestions. Thanks!