Upset today

[Yveren1]

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I have been having problems with Kenza getting overexcited when we go out for a walk to the park. It feels like she is attacking me, a bit like when she is playing with other dogs. As we are in open space I cannot give her a quick time out to calm her down, so I have to pick her up to calm her down. The rest of the time she will listen to commands and is a pleasure. I just don't know what to do. I felt so upset today, what should be a pleasure is become a humiliating experience. Any ideas welcome.

 

[JoanneF]

Is she becoming overstimulated and muthing?

 

[JudyN]

I had this with my dog - I remember on one occasion he managed to burst a poo bag I was carrying and get it everywhere... I headed back to the car, with him leaping all over me, got in, and cried. So you're not alone

The first thing I would do is find somewhere else to walk, or simply only walk round the edges of the park. You may well find she's less likely to kick off there, and if she does you can give her a 'timeout' by turning your back to the fence/wall, or attaching her lead to the fence/a tree and standing just out of reach. We tended to aim for woods and took the narrowest paths possible where J was less likely to kick off and there were more opportunities for timeouts if he did.

If this tends to happen later in the walk, as she's had more time to get worked up, you can make walks shorter and either give her an extra walk to make up or do a little more play/training at home.

If, after giving her timeouts on walks, you notice her being about to jump up/mouthe but then hold back, give her a reward and lots of praise.

Also, have a look at the impulse control game 'It's Yer Choice' on Youtube. Not only does she need to know what you'd like her not to do, she has to have the self-control to stop herself doing it. And work on a really strong response to commands like 'sit'. In my experience, once J was in a 'jumping up' state then 'sit' wasn't going to work, but it works for other dogs so is well worth working on.

It can take a while to fix this (at least it did for me) but it will get better, and the more you can manage walks to avoid the situations where she kicks off the better.

 

[Yveren1]

Thank you so much. I will keep to the paths on the outskirts for the moment as she is always fine there. I will also follow your advice on the time outs. I feel more optimistic today. Thank you so much I will update you as the weeks go on. Thank you for taking the time to help.

 

[Yveren1]

Hi Joanne yes I think it is overstimulation so I will try and follow the previous advice. Thank you

 

[Violet Turner]

Hi, Your not alone with your overly excited dog. I am contantly doing time outs with Doris. Memebers of the public look at me strange when i tie her up to a lamp post or a tree. I can only echo what @JudyN said because the advice she has givven you is great. I have worked with dogs nearly all my life and they basicaly were all over excited with walks and the one peice of advice i give them is after walks where they have not mouthed/jumped etc. give the dog a high reward such as a bone (Never give a dog a cooked bone.) But if the dog is doing well on walks reward him then with small treats such as hot dogs, ham, chicken etc. But one thing is your not alone im sure everyone on here has had that moment when you want to cry because of their dog in public. I am one of those people. I hope the information helps, but i am sure someone will come and elaborate from this.

 

[Yveren1]

Thank you so much Violet it really feels comforting to know that I am not alone with this. I have planned some different routes and hope I will get back to the park sometime soon. Thanks again

 

[Violet Turner]

Your welcome

 

[Find&See]

I've had the same problem with hazel when she sees people and dogs. She manages to turn whatever ground she's on into a treadmill...

With her I found a really smelly treat under the nose to get her concentration on me and then ask her to sit, lie down and basically focus. It helps but we are very much a work in progress.

She's on a 20m long line in the park with weekend runs somewhere quiet so she can explore and we do some off lead training. Im cautious of her only listening when the line is attached hence the off lead work somewhere without distractions

 

[merlina]

Yup- been there, done that. Don't despair. I agree with keeping to a quieter walk and a really high value treat to gain attention- only given once the dog is sitting and focused on your hand. (My mother once owned a young corgi that became so excited when the doorbell rang he would nip her bottom on the way to answer it! I'm afraid we all thought it was funny - but of course it wasn't and we had to address it with training. Also he grew out of it I'm glad to say.)

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

Good luck with this!
I have a similar problem with my dog, when she sees other dogs out on a walk, she gets over excited if she's on the lead. She's fine with calm dogs, as long as I let her say hello to them. If other dogs are yappy or excited, that makes her bark and get too excited, even if I let her greet. it' so embarrassing! Plus some people don't seem to like letting their dogs greet other dogs, so they try and stay as far as possible as they pass, so I hold her back, but even if the other dog is quiet, she kicks off barking and trying to get to them. Sometimes if she's greeting another excited dog it can escalate to nipping at the other dog. I don't want people to think she's nasty, I don't believe she is, she just wants the freedom to greet other dogs and we live in a rural area so it's not often we see other dogs, therefore I haven't done much training with her. I'm aware of the method Victoria Stilwell uses, where you walk towards the other dog and if your dog starts barking or pulling, turn in the other direction and repeat until they approach calmly. It's just not having the other dog to practice this with that's the problem! Maybe I should try the 3 second rule too, only let greet for 3 seconds so that she can't get over excited. Off lead she's fine, if she's on the beach she'll run around playing with other dogs, it's on-lead that's the issue I think. Any advice?

 

[JoanneF]

Without the need for another dog to practise with, you could train a 'watch me'. Get your dog's attention with a sound or by holding a treat near your eyes and when he makes eye contact, click or mark the behaviour and reward. Introduce the verbal cue and when he looks at you, mark and reward. Gradually delay the marker to achieve longer periods of eye contact. Then if any distraction approaches, you can ask him for a 'watch me' to keep his attention and focus on you, not the other dog.

 

[Violet Turner]

you could teach your dog "watch me"
Basic Obedience Exercises: Watch Me
@JoanneF we both commented at the same time with the same things

 

[Mad Murphy]

I got stared at by some people sitting in their front garden last week.. Murphy had greeted another dog he knows and was then so excited that as we tried to walk on he lurched forward pulling my arm. I stood still and said nothing, he came to heel I took one step forward and off he lurched again, I stood still ...etc etc I think we did it about 6 times until he suddenly clicked and realised that while he pulled and lurched forwards we were going nowhere. We then had a relaxed and easy walk home.. The watchers hopefully learned something!

But we all have bad days (at least most of us do) or our dogs have memory loss days where all training goes out the window but we get through it and it gets better if we just keep on with training.

 

[Yveren1]

Thank you all so helpful to know I am not the only one. Just popped out for a walk along the streets and we had a perfect walk. Gave her lots of treats as advised when we got in. I feel so much happier today thanks so much.

 

[Violet Turner]

Great to hear!

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

Thanks for the advice @JoanneF and @Violet Turner I will try teaching her watch me
Glad to hear you had a pleasant walk @Yveren1

 

[JoanneF]

Gave her lots of treats as advised when we got in.

I'm glad it went well, just a word about the timing of treats - for the dog to realise what behaviour you want from her, the treat has to be at that time. So a calm sit - treat then and there. Focus on you when there is a distraction - treat then. Rewarding after you get home means she won't be aware why she is being treated. Lovely for her, but it doesn't help you with her training.

 

[merlina]

Yup- as I said make her focus on your hand first. What about a clicker? I have to admit to using a miser's clicker: I make the trot-on click noises I use for horses. I've always got that with me! Good luck.

 

[Nanny71]

Yup- as I said make her focus on your hand first. What about a clicker? I have to admit to using a miser's clicker: I make the trot-on click noises I use for horses. I've always got that with me! Good luck.

When I first had Dudlley I used to stay, stop and then walk on. One day I found myself telling him to trot on after the walk on command. Now I just say walk after we have had stop. Also I felt stupid saying heel so I say with me, which works brilliantly.