How to discourage 'anchoring'?

VonVix

One of my dogs has developed quite a bad habit lately, or at least... it's getting worse!

He has begun anchoring whenever he's near his favourite spots in the park. By 'anchoring' I mean dropping down to the ground so he won't walk unless he can walk through/go over to whatever he is trying to get near. Often it's so he can go see the sheep, look at the dog park, go over to a family so he can say hi because they're cooing about how cute he is, sniff a tree over in the middle of a field. He often anchors to try and get us to walk a different direction/pathway than the one we intend. It used to JUST be the dog park he'd want to go over to, but he's started finding multiple places he wants to go over to and will anchor down in order to go over to them.

I carry treats with me, and they do work but only if he see's I have one out and I say "come on, lets go" or "look look!" then he is trotting next to me loose leash with eye to eye contact 100% perfectly, but ideally I don't want to always have to do this if possible.

He weighs 30lbs so pulling him to go along doesn't work, if I keep tugging his harness starts pulling off him!

Any new suggestions/ideas how I can discourage his anchoring?

Whispered

Can you pre empt what he's gonna drop for or is it too random?

What happens if you just wait him out?

One of mine used to try pull the way I wasn't going and I used to lure him with treats, like you I decided I didn't want to have to wave treats under his nose a few times each walk and cajole him into behaving so I tried two things, one was to get him moving with a treat but then palm it and only give the treat when he's moving with me without it luring him. Another was to move in the direction he was pulling for two or three paces with a faster pace than he's used to me moving at and changing direction at a jog when he's moving. He usually is so excited to be jogging he just changes with me.

VonVix

Whispered wrote: »

Can you pre empt what he's gonna drop for or is it too random?

What happens if you just wait him out?

One of mine used to try pull the way I wasn't going and I used to lure him with treats, like you I decided I didn't want to have to wave treats under his nose a few times each walk and cajole him into behaving so I tried two things, one was to get him moving with a treat but then palm it and only give the treat when he's moving with me without it luring him. Another was to move in the direction he was pulling for two or three paces with a faster pace than he's used to me moving at and changing direction at a jog when he's moving. He usually is so excited to be jogging he just changes with me.

It's 70% predictable with certain areas of the park, the other 30% is usually him wanting to sniff something in particular but he's not near enough to get to it.

I've waited a few times but most of the time I have tried to encourage him somehow. The times I've waited he usually gives up and we walk on again, usually takes about 30+ seconds but most of the time there's usually a lot of people around so I feel like I'm being looked at if I'm just standing there and he's lying down on the grass. There's been a fair few times I've simply picked him up and walked a few feet before putting him on the ground again, more often than not I think he has a "but moooom...!" face on.

Treating him while walking sounds like a good idea, with him I've trained him to sit the moment I stop whenever he is 'engaged' with me, so he has a bit of a habit of sitting when I give him a treat after he trots with me for a little while.

fishfoodie

I sometimes wonder if there's a dog version of boards.ie where they all log on at night & pose questions like;

How do I stop my human trying to drag me away when I catch these really interesting scents ?

Or,

Why do I have to sit in the boot of the car after I've had a really nice mud bath, followed by a roll on the smelliest piece of roadkill I could find ?

mymo

My dogs...
"Why do they shout when I help myself to the smelly stuff in the bin?"

Or for the cat...

"Why did the younger human scream when I tried to feed her a live worm this evening?"

On topic, I have this problem with my bitch on rainy days, she keeps stopping and looking like every rain drop is torturing her.
I wait and she eventually walks on a bit, so I praise her a little and speed up for a bit. I know what you mean about standing waiting like a fool while people look at you!

VonVix

mymo wrote: »

I know what you mean about standing waiting like a fool while people look at you!

And the thing with him is he tends to attract a lot of attention because of his appearance, you don't see many blue merle shelties around these parts!

tk123

VonVix wrote: »

He weighs 30lbs so pulling him to go along doesn't work, if I keep tugging his harness starts pulling off him!

Any new suggestions/ideas how I can discourage his anchoring?

:pac: My younger dog does it (she stops rather than lies down) and she's 33.6 kgs as of yesterday and all muscle so very strong. She's never pulled out of the harness though - I'm using a Freedom harness atm. I used to give her treats but I found she was doing it FOR the treats. When she does it now I either tell her "c'mon!!!" and walk faster/pull her along, take her by the collar for a second or my big guns is a spare squeaker in my walking belt which usually gets her attention :P If she's just being extra stubborn I will scold her and she'll usually move. Once she's moving again I give her lots of praise and sometimes a treat - she's not as treat driven as her big bro so praise is as good atm! :P... I wonder how long that will last lol! :pac:

VonVix

tk123 wrote: »

:pac: My younger dog does it (she stops rather than lies down) and she's 33.6 kgs as of yesterday and all muscle so very strong. She's never pulled out of the harness though - I'm using a Freedom harness atm. I used to give her treats but I found she was doing it FOR the treats. When she does it now I either tell her "c'mon!!!" and walk faster/pull her along, take her by the collar for a second or my big guns is a spare squeaker in my walking belt which usually gets her attention :P If she's just being extra stubborn I will scold her and she'll usually move. Once she's moving again I give her lots of praise and sometimes a treat - she's not as treat driven as her big bro so praise is as good atm! :P... I wonder how long that will last lol! :pac:

That's in part what I'm worrying about, he's ridiculously intelligent and would have no problem manipulating me to do whatever he wants. :P I've tried giving him a stern voice and it has worked a few times, but I honestly feel bad doing that, it's not like he's doing something REALLY bad, it's just annoying!

tk123

How old is he?

VonVix

tk123 wrote: »

How old is he?

Turned 2 in March. He started anchoring only a couple of months ago when I took him to an event at my local park where there was lots of people and their dogs, he met lots of people and got treats from them, so as I was leaving he dropped down on the ground and wanted to go back to the crowd of people. I indulged him only once and so I think he learnt from then on dropping gets what he wants.

Whispered

VonVix wrote: »

Turned 2 in March. He started anchoring only a couple of months ago when I took him to an event at my local park where there was lots of people and their dogs, he met lots of people and got treats from them, so as I was leaving he dropped down on the ground and wanted to go back to the crowd of people. I indulged him only once and so I think he learnt from then on dropping gets what he wants.

That's brilliant! They are so clever aren't they.

I'd try the "ok we will go your way.............haha not really lets run this way" approach, even once, to see if it will work. I find getting them to move with you, in whatever direction, then changing direction is easier than getting them moving in a direction they don't want from a stop.

I don't like dragging my fellas anywhere, even on a harness simply because it makes them less likely to comply, pair of stubborn brats will lean into it. Plus Harley is an anxious fella when out anyway so I try really hard to make sure everything is nice and happy all the time. Even when I've been tempted to abandon him somewhere :pac:

Another option you could try, is a long line, when he drops, loosen the line a bit and keep walking without a backwards glance. Obviously the situation would have to be appropriate to you walking away but the confusion of you appearing not to care might get him moving again. Then, as you will obviously do anyway, a huge fuss when he catches up.

tk123

"NO!!! I won't walk!!!" : - yesterday morning lol!! Both dogs are banned from the park atm due to ailments so our usual 7 mins stroll to the gate + 30-40 mins of off lead romping has been replaced....with a brisk 45 lap of the area!