Dog won't come back after walk.

Willie Stroker · 22-07-2011 1:09pm #1

Hey.

I have problem after a walk with my dog, when I go outside I usually just let him roam on a field or a park and kick the ball which he chases and brings back, everything fine and grand but I come back and try to bring him around the back he just lays on the front knowing I want to bring him back, he has a good bit of space in the back but can't use the whole backgarden because he tears the clothes down and causes destruction, but everything is clean, so when he is the front laying down, I have to lift him up and bring him through to the back, he is doing this for the last week I don't know why because he hasn't done this this before, very annoying and putting me off walking and running with him.

Thanks.

P.S he isn't huge but not very small either he is big and not easy to carry.

**Vai** · 22-07-2011 1:34pm

Try walking him on a lead and making him walk beside you instead of wandering wherever he wants. Hes not moving when you tell him to because of a lack of respect. If the dog respected you, it would move when told.

Could also be a case of him not liking the back yard so I'd look into why he doesnt like it and make changes where possible. Maybe he feels trapped in the back yard for some reason.

are you serious · 22-07-2011 1:40pm

Hi Willie Stroker, I had a similar problem not so long ago, still going through and trying to get a good recall, its ok but could be better. I got a leash similar to the one in the link I've posted and rarely let my fella off the leash now unless he's being good. With a long loose feild leash I find you have controll enough to give your dog a little pull if he doesnt respond to you while he's still able to wander a bit away from you, if he does not come back you can pull him all the way back in. I dont like the clix retractable leads(just dont trust them, and think they would break)

http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/nylon_leads/sinle_colour/146580

Willie Stroker · 22-07-2011 1:43pm

Thanks for the reply, tip is much appreciated and your probably right, and I also considered the possibility of me going to easy and giving him to much attention and love. I don't use the lead, I use the harness. Do you think I should go back and use the lead ?

The back yard issue, I washed it down a few days ago and it is pretty clean right now, really shouldn't be an issue but I'll will discuss with the family later.

Thanks.

**Vai** · 22-07-2011 1:54pm

I would go with the lead yeah. Harnesses are for sled dogs far as Im concerned.

I didnt mean to suggest your back yard was a tip or anything

I just mean if hes always put in there when you're in a hurry to get out or if hes left there for long periods with no company, can all be pretty stressful to the dog. Try staying out there with him til hes calm and then leave him for a while.

tk123 · 22-07-2011 1:57pm

OP how old is the dog?

are you serious · 22-07-2011 1:57pm

I will be going on to use a harness in a while just need him to grow out before I go spending money on one! Some days I carry my short lead with me when he's misbehaving I dont let him leave my side at all, this means a further distance of a walk for me though as when he's on the loose lead he still has freedom to run like a lunatic

So maybe even leave the harness on him just attach a longer leash to it and try work it with him from there!

Washing the back garden gets a thumbs up anyway i'm sure your dog was happy with that

You've got to look at the back garden from a dogs view, strange but true, and you may see something you might not have before!

Willie Stroker · 22-07-2011 2:05pm

I say about 4 or 5 at most, he was a stray, just came back from picking up his liter and he was a bit hyper barking and jumping on me, got him controlled then when im heading away he barks for me to come back expecting a rub. About to bring him on a walk in the next 30 mins, any thing i bring where I can punish for barking or walking ahead of me ?

seamus · 22-07-2011 2:06pm

Part of our routine when I get home from work is that I come in, have a shower, then take the dog out for a 10 minute walk to stretch her legs, and bring her home to get her dinner.

She knows this routine so well that sometimes we'll get 5 minutes into our walk, she's gone to the toilet, so she starts trying to drag me back the direct route towards home - towards dinner. As soon as we get home, she runs into her bed and sits waiting for me to put out her food.

Maybe if you structure your routine in such a way that 2 times out of 3 or 4, the dog is fed out the back, as soon as you arrive back from being out. The dog will quickly come to expect to be fed then after being out and you shouldn't have any difficulty convincing him to follow you into the back garden.

Willie Stroker · 22-07-2011 2:10pm

How much food ? I give him a can a day in the morning and some leftovers from meals throughout the day, do you think I should open a can and give him a bit to eat from each day ?

are you serious · 22-07-2011 2:12pm

Willie think of the positives rather than the negatives!!

When your walking on leash and he's good treat him and praise him, if he barks try ignore it(i'm at this point now when mine gets hyper) or simply stop walking until he calms down, when he does praise him then and continue your walk

Willie Stroker · 22-07-2011 2:14pm

Yeah I give him a lot of love when he is good, and when he is bad I have an awful habit of trying to rub him and get him to calm, even though I should be more strict.

**Vai** · 22-07-2011 2:14pm

Willie Stroker wrote: »

About to bring him on a walk in the next 30 mins, any thing i bring where I can punish for barking or walking ahead of me ?

For a start, dont punish the dog. Never punish a dog. Keep it on a short leash to stop the walking ahead thing. And unless the barking is frequent I wouldnt worry about it. Dogs bark all the time and for various reasons. If it is frequent, just tell the dog to shhh or shut up or whatever your preference is. Mine know the 'shut up' command quite well at this stage

DBB · 22-07-2011 2:15pm

Using the long line is without doubt a great way to improve the recall, but you have a couple of other issues you might think about fine-honing.
Firstly, a long-line should never be used with anything other than a harness: if the dog comes to a sudden halt at the end of the long-line, a harness will tend to brace the impact, whereas a collar could potentially do him real damage. A well-fitting harness, I feel, is better for dogs from an orthopaedic/back and neck health point of view, than a collar is.
He may not want to go back in the yard. Or, he may know that in that particular set of circumstances, his walk is over. Dogs are really quick at picking up clues that predict the something nice, or something bad is going to happen. I wonder if, when you arrive back at the house, and/or he sees you going towards the back yard, he thinks "Uh oh, that's my fun walk over... if I lie down here I should get to stay out here a bit longer rather than have to go back into the (potentially boring) yard". My dogs always amble reeeaalllyyy slowly back to the car as they know their walk is almost done!
So, how about teaching him, on the long line, to come back to you numerous times throughout the walk, and when he comes back, he gets something really, really nice from you. For him, that could be a ball, or a piece of chicken: use something you know he really likes. Do this out and about, and when he gets good at it, start practising it as you get closer to the yard.
This way, your dog will be less able to predict that his walk is over, but he will also enjoy coming back to you more: a hard thing to do when for him, running around with his ball is such fun!
As a final incentive for him, I'd get into the habit of giving him something lovely when he gets back into the yard: maybe a stuffed Kong Toy, a tripe stick, or even his dinner. Again, you're trying to make coming back into the yard more beneficial for him, and therefore he'll be more likely to come back for you better at the end of your walk.
With my dogs, when they got back to the car, I started to give them a little treat when they got back in the car. I didn't hurry them or nag them, I just did this for several days without saying a word. Their progress back to the car became progressively faster! I just made the end of their walk nice for them, rather than it being a negative.

ISDW · 22-07-2011 2:15pm

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. Why would you use a harness instead of a lead? A harness would be used instead of a collar, but the lead would still be attached to a harness or collar

seamus · 22-07-2011 2:20pm

Willie Stroker wrote: »

How much food ? I give him a can a day in the morning and some leftovers from meals throughout the day, do you think I should open a can and give him a bit to eat from each day ?

From straw polls, most people typically feed their dogs twice a day. This would make sense - think about how hungry you'd be if you ate your day's food for breakfast and nothing else

I would avoid leftovers, for a couple of reasons:

- There are lots of everyday foods that we eat, which are harmful of downright toxic to dogs. Onion being one. If you do a google on it, you should get a fairly comprehensive list. Leftovers are OK if they don't contain these foods, but it's also worth remembering that human food is usually higher in salt, sugars, fats and carbs, when dogs need more of a protein base in their diet. Grains in particular are not good.

- If the dog eats on a picking basis, or a begging basis, then there's less routine and structure around his eating, which will have a knock-on effect on his behaviour. For example, if faced with the option of a scrap of food, or coming to you when called, he will go for the scrap of food because he doesn't know any better.

If you are going to feed the dog leftovers, then on top of keeping an eye what's in it and how much you're giving him, I would gather them all up into one portion and feed them to him as a meal, rather than in bits and pieces.

But overall my advice would be to bin the leftovers. Find out how much dog food you should be feeding him per day, then feed him half in the morning and half in the late afternoon/evening.

carwash_2006 · 22-07-2011 2:21pm

I would say even if you use a lead the dog is likely to just lie down and refuse to move.

When you get home you bring him to the back yard, how much attention does he get after this? Would he be left on his own a fair bit then?

I would say you need to make it worth his while and fun to be in the yard. Perhaps bring a ball or toy with you if he is into them and play with him as you get home aiming him toward the garden, then play with him for a bit there. Like the other people said feed him then and give him treats, but make sure he is not left alone for long either.

It's the same principle as not always putting your dog on a lead after you call him if he is running free. If they realise that a particular cue means the fun is over they will start learning ways of avoiding this. At the moment you are reinforcing the unwanted behaviour by picking him up, but the trick now is to try and circumvent the behaviour and stop it from happening, punishing him or being severe will only make him try and learn other ways of avoidance. So fun and rewards are your friends in this case, don't get to the point where he lies down.

Willie Stroker · 22-07-2011 2:22pm

I seriously got some great advice from people that can understand my problem and relate to it, so thank you.

I'm going to start with some of your idea's which make sense about him enjoying coming back and yes he gets that his fun walk is over and thats why he doesn't want to go back in.

trio · 22-07-2011 2:53pm

Willie Stroker wrote: »

Yeah I give him a lot of love when he is good, and when he is bad I have an awful habit of trying to rub him and get him to calm, even though I should be more strict.

Yeah, that's part of the problem alright. Humans can tell the difference between different types of rubs, but dogs can't. To them, all rubs = reward.

I remember an episode of It's Me or the Dog where this little Yorkie wouldn't let the husband into the bed at night next to the wife. There were night-vision cameras set up and the husband would try to get in beside his wife and the dog would go nuts at him. And he'd go away in exasperation and the wife would be lying there in the bed, rubbing the dog, trying to calm him down. And Victoria Stilwell was like "Look! He's getting all lovely rubs and soothing attention because he's just attacked your husband!"

When our dog does something he's not supposed to do, we give a sharp UH-OH! and turn our backs on him. He'll stop pretty sharpish then. He's not getting any good stuff from us.

schmel22 · 28-07-2011 2:34pm

Willie Stroker wrote: »

Hey.

I have problem after a walk with my dog, when I go outside I usually just let him roam on a field or a park and kick the ball which he chases and brings back, everything fine and grand but I come back and try to bring him around the back he just lays on the front knowing I want to bring him back, he has a good bit of space in the back but can't use the whole backgarden because he tears the clothes down and causes destruction, but everything is clean, so when he is the front laying down, I have to lift him up and bring him through to the back, he is doing this for the last week I don't know why because he hasn't done this this before, very annoying and putting me off walking and running with him.

Thanks.

Dont dispare! We have a rescue dog and she is two and a bit (we think). We have worked a lot with her giving her positive reinforcement,although you'd like to throttle her sometime,I have a wad of cut up frankfurters the whole time (a treat that is easily/quickly eaten) Bella was never on a lead so she pulls the hell out of me,but she' getting better. Your guy is probably so afraid you'll abandon him like has happened before,we dont know what these little mites have been through. It is not right that your dog is afraid of you but you have to be the boss (to use an overused term,pack leader) Dogs just crave your attention and praise,so when we came home from a walk and let Bella out of the car she would 'leg it',I would shout and run after her (mad woman!!) but I now coax her back with treats and praise her what she has done right and not what I deem that she has done wrong,afterall they dont understand English. Now Bella is by no means a great student,she has ADHD,I'm sure of it :-) but when she settles in more and more every week it is just so rewarding to see how happy she is. Just remember these dogs probably missed the training when they should of had it,so they are starting at a disadvantage,like when we have to play catch up when are mates have been boozing before you meet them - joking! I keep an eye out for cheap toys(Woodies have ropes and bargain toys sometime for 2euro),lots and lots of them,she that they are distracted and wont attack your posessions because she has her own. They are just loking for attention,your attention,but they shouldnt be punished for craving affection or attention,they just have to learn what they are allowed do and what they arent. Bella when on the lead(she hates it) is VERY barky towards other dogs especially whe they are off leash,I carry a little spray bottle of water and just say FIRMLY NO! and spray her. I also explain to the othr owners who are generally disgusted at Bella,that she is in training and that she was frightened/threatened by their dog (it is extremely frustrating though and upsetting as I am trying my best,I'm no professional) I dont have much but patience is the key,the more wound up you become the more confused your dog will become. Routine is very important also. I never took Bella bowl up when she didnt eat her food,but now I do. So I put the food down and call her,if she hasnt eaten it with in 30 mins or she shows no interest in it,I take the bowl up. SHe soon realises I provide but also have the control to take it away,it regulates her routine and habits. At the beginning the rescue centre recommended that I fed her by hand,again establishing who was the boss and the provider. I walk her with a short lead,ad a head collar caled a canie (think is the spelling),I found the harness gave Bella to much power to pull me. I know I'm rambelling but slwoly slowly catchey monkey (or doggie) I was really down at one stage as I hated waking Bella,she barked at everything,she lunged at cars,people,bikes and pulled so hard I was laid up with my back for over a week,now she's better,just better but better all the same. Best of luck,youtube and google with turn up good sites for you - I did a whole lot of that at the beginning and found some really helpful info. BEST of LUCK,I hope you can persevere,the cheeky git making you come get him (we have the same problem at bedtime,she does the limb cat routine!)

Dog won't come back after walk.

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