At our house we are used to dogs that don't take food until they're told, see the video. I have posted this video before so some of you will have seen it already but It's a good example of what we expect of the dogs.
At the moment though this is not the case. If we go to make dinner and leave a certain dog and food in the same room where she is able to reach it, not only is the food gone when we return but so have most of the soft furnishings and anything else that can be dragged outside into the garden. So at the moment one of the ongoing lessons being taught is not to take food until told to do so. I'm not really expecting to reach the same standard as I have with Tommy in the video, but I will be expecting her not to take things from the tables or worktops. Other things being taught at the moment are obedience things when out walking. Recall is already good, I would say that it's nearing 100% except it's not been tested with a bunny rabbit or similar yet. I can also get her to stay at a distance but haven't managed to get her to sit at a distance. She is also starting to get the hang of 'walk', which is the same as 'heel', I just prefer to use 'walk' though.
Tonight we had a very close call when returning from our walk. I've been taking Tess on her own as I can't teach her the same when Tommy is there. Anyway we were nearing our house when I heard a noise behind so I turned to see the bosses dogs charging across the car park heading straight for us. They have attacked just about every dog in the village and on the estate so it was pretty evident what they were after so I quickly pulled Tess up by the lead and grabbed her but she wriggled and slipped from my grasp. By now the dogs were upon us so I was preparing to do battle and at the same time recover a startled Tess. This time I held on to her and turned to give the nearest dog a size ten mouthful if it was intent on trouble. I think they got the message because they both turned tail and legged it.
5 comments:
I just started working on the same thing today (not taking food) with Chewy. He seems to be catching on fast. I was able to do some training, with a bowl of food sitting right out in the open. Hopefully, with practice, he will realize that he can't simply take what he wants. So hard for an adolescent pup.
I'm sure Tess will catch on fast too.
So sorry to hear about the incident with the dogs. I've kicked some dogs myself (and literally broke my foot!) to try and protect my dogs.
Sounds like you have your hands full. We have a few bad dog owners in our area who leave their untrained dogs unrestrained, that is the very reason we have walkies with a large hardwood walking stick. I have often thought I should notch it for every muzzle it has met.
I was just concentrating on the drop of dribble that was hanging from Tommy's mouth! It was getting longer and longer. What a good boy!
Its very hard...!
Sounds like Tess is coming along nicely, even if she's a bit food-motivated :) Too bad about the dogs coming at her like that. Hopefully it won't cause any problems down the line.
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