What Am I Going To Do With Fletcher?

[Remolacha]

OK, let me start by saying, I love this dog, no, I adore this dog, and would do anything in the world for him. EXCEPT, let him dictate our relationship. I'll compromise where I can, and take his (many) quirks and issues into account, but the final choices are mine.

 

OK, the latest chapter and verse in our walking saga . I have been walking Molly and the foster seperately from Fletcher. The reasons, he is leash agressive with strange dogs and hates non greyhounds. I can handle him by himself when we see other dogs on our walks, thanks in large part to some tips I got here. It's much harder when I'm trying to manage two dogs when one is going nutso is tough. Add a third dog who may or may not be comfortable with leash walking, and well, I know my limits.

 

This has worked (walking seperately) but created a new problem. The dogs get very excited when they see we are going walking. I had Fletcher and Molly pretty well trained to stay fairly calm (do you like all the qualifiers ) but doing two seperate walks sent all that out the window. I've got Molly back to pretty good behavior, and my current foster is very timid, so the girls are good. Fletcher gets so worked up he barks at them, and me, and, I'm not sure how to describe his behavior. He doesn't exactly attack the other dogs, and they don't seem to react to his behavior except to move away, but it's like he is so worked up he has to express it physically. I started muzzling him, of course, and there haven't been any fights, but this behavior is unacceptable.

 

I thought I might try taking a day when I had no time limits and trying to get him to show calmer behavior. Every time I start to get the leashes and he starts reacting, put them down. Start again, and so on. But, this will take time I don't have on the days I'm trying to walk them before I go to work.

 

I'll try any suggestions anyone has, if it's something I can do.

[Remolacha]

OK, I tried to edit and it didn't work I just wanted to say, at the end, I realize any solution will take lots of work!

[greysmom]

You might try separating Fletcher when you're getting ready to go with the girls - baby-gating in another room, for instance. The other thought I had is one I'm working on with Toni and Dude - they both have issues with mis-directed aggression when excited. Before we do something "exciting" like go outside, I make both of them do some obedience cues - stop, wait, and watch me, mostly. This puts them in a calmer frame of mind and they don't excalate so quickly. I keep repeating the cues throughtout.

 

I have to say that Toni is MUCH better about this than Dude!

[Batmom]

Do you leash walk for pleasure or potty? And is there somewhere you can stash the other dogs (behind a baby gate, for example) briefly while you work with him?

 

Best if you can either not walk in the morning or make extra time for a few days, then follow the procedure you thought up in your last paragraph. I would start with just him present. Give him a command -- sit or down if he knows those, or settle, or wait .... And if he doesn't, put the leash back on the rack. Repeat repeat repeat until you get a reasonable approximation of the behavior you want, then put leash on, take him for a block or two's walk, bring him back. Repeat repeat repeat. Then with one other dog present. Then with all of them. Might take more than a week to get through all if he's a hardened criminal but he'll get there. FWIW, 90% I walk my craziest (who still has to behave) first, then least crazy. Once they learn the normal order of things, usually just a quick reminder is all they need to behave reasonably.

[Guest widowcali]

The girls all get excited when they see the leashes also. The problem is that I really only take the puppy for a walk. Cali and Widow poop out after about 10 minutes, so I just let them play in the humongous yard we have. But they still all get excited. I just seperate all the dogs. I also have the leash draped around my neck for about 10 minutes or so. After a while they loose interest in the leash, since I haven't done anything with it.

[Remolacha]

He might know "wait". I say might, because they know it on walks, but I've not used it in the house. This morning I put him in the back yard and closed the dog door while I walked the girls. When we got back, I let him in and he was pretty worked up, but was well behaved It's been suggested that I tire him out first, but he's developed arthritis in his right front leg&shoulder, and it doesn't take much to start him limping. He runs around like a mad thing with his toys anyway

 

I might try desensetizing them all to the leashes first, I can do that anytime I'm home.

 

I'll just have to see what I can work out. I know my reactions are part of the problem, I'll have to work on that, too.

 

Any one with some magic fairy dust?

[Guest MyHoodies]

When you find the magic fairy dust for "touching the leash and everyone going bonkers" please ship me some.

 

Mine all go bananas when they hear them jingle. I have tried to desensitizing them by moving them every so often but going on an actual walk just brings it all back.

 

hope you have better luck then I. I would have suggested putting him in another room, maybe with a chewy treat or toy to take his mind off of you????

 

just guessing here.

[Guest Adrianne]

The jingle of the leash gets Wilbur everytime. He can be in the back of the house, and I can try to quietly put the leash where it belongs. If it jingles in the slightest, he hears it and comes running. Well, he used to; I look forward to the day when he will again.

[Guest kydie]

pick up leash, all of them, and wear them around your neck, all day, when you are off, the leash is setting off the reaction, when you want to take them out, get yourself ready, then the dogs, when your boy gets excited, turn your back to him, and you may have to keep moving to keep your back to him, no words to any of them, continue to prepare the girls, and leave, this is what I would do

[Guest SusanP]

I am following this thread with interest, because our Spinner sounds just like your boy. He is leash-reactive to dogs we see on walks, and he gets too physically revved up when he is excited in general. Just before the holidays, as the dogs were anticipating a walk and I took a quick bathroom break, he got too "into" Dr. Doug's face in the hall outside the bathroom door, and Doug bit him in the face (4 staples' worth). Dealing with this kind of a dog is tricky, for sure. I do walk my 4 together, but I muzzle Spinner on these walks. It seems to temper the leash reactivity a bit, and it keeps him from nipping at us in his frenzy, reassures the other dog owners, and protects his muzzle should one of our dogs take offense at his behavior and snap at him.

 

I have done some work with "look at me" and treats, but what helps the most is solo walking Spinner and praising him like crazy when he sees another dog. We can sometimes make it past the dog entirely without incident just on praise alone. Treats don't cut it. But the problem is far from solved. We avoid routes that will bring us in contact with many dogs at high-traffic dog-walking times.

 

I, too, am not sure what to do in the house, short of muzzling Spinner before he gets excited--something that is not always possible, and then you have the problem of one dog muzzled while the others, who could become irritated with him, are not. Luckily in our case, the other dogs mostly have adjusted to Spinner's theatrics. This recent biting incident was the first in 2 years, and no further incidents have arisen since.

 

I think our boys are probably not your typical greyhounds!

[kamsmom]

pick up leash, all of them, and wear them around your neck, all day, when you are off, the leash is setting off the reaction, when you want to take them out, get yourself ready, then the dogs, when your boy gets excited, turn your back to him, and you may have to keep moving to keep your back to him, no words to any of them, continue to prepare the girls, and leave, this is what I would do

 

I recently did this very thing. It was by accident. We had just finished walking and I had the leashes around my neck. I was just walking around the house and at first the ones that didn't go on the walk were going nuts. Eventually everyone settled. About an hour later I was taking the leashes off my neck and everyone jumped around. I stopped and put them back on my neck. I have now done this about everyday. Some days we don't even go on a walk (I know big tease for them) but I can say this has helped. They still get excited but they have calmed down so that they aren't all jumping on top of me.

[Remolacha]

I am following this thread with interest, because our Spinner sounds just like your boy. He is leash-reactive to dogs we see on walks, and he gets too physically revved up when he is excited in general. Just before the holidays, as the dogs were anticipating a walk and I took a quick bathroom break, he got too "into" Dr. Doug's face in the hall outside the bathroom door, and Doug bit him in the face (4 staples' worth). Dealing with this kind of a dog is tricky, for sure. I do walk my 4 together, but I muzzle Spinner on these walks. It seems to temper the leash reactivity a bit, and it keeps him from nipping at us in his frenzy, reassures the other dog owners, and protects his muzzle should one of our dogs take offense at his behavior and snap at him.

 

I have done some work with "look at me" and treats, but what helps the most is solo walking Spinner and praising him like crazy when he sees another dog. We can sometimes make it past the dog entirely without incident just on praise alone. Treats don't cut it. But the problem is far from solved. We avoid routes that will bring us in contact with many dogs at high-traffic dog-walking times.

 

I, too, am not sure what to do in the house, short of muzzling Spinner before he gets excited--something that is not always possible, and then you have the problem of one dog muzzled while the others, who could become irritated with him, are not. Luckily in our case, the other dogs mostly have adjusted to Spinner's theatrics. This recent biting incident was the first in 2 years, and no further incidents have arisen since.

 

I think our boys are probably not your typical greyhounds!

 

Wow, I could have written this post about Fletcher! The only difference is, I am very lucky that Molly, my other dog pretty much ignores his theatrics. She's a broodie, and I think her attitude is "I raised over 30 puppies, you don't impress me, BOY" Fostering has complicated things, but I'm not going to stop that, so we'll just have to adjust.

 

It's early days, but handling the leashes, collars and Fletcher's harness without actually going for a walk seems to be helping.

[Remolacha]

Well, I think I have figured out what caused his change in behavior, and in retrospect, I should have seen it sooner! He is a huge momma's boy, and he is acting out because he doesn't want to be left behind! I took him first the other day, and he did very well, until we got back and I started to put leashes on the girls

 

I haven't decided if I am going to try to walk all three together, or just keep trying to desensetize him, but at least I have a better idea of what I am dealing with!

Edited January 17, 2010 by Remolacha