AWQH Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Help! The 4 y/o female BC we are trying to rehab is really troubling me. When someone puts a leash on the dog, she immediately drops and cowers right in front of your feet. You tell her it is ok and finally get her settled down and go to take another step, and she repeats the process. It takes about 45 minutes to make 8 steps with her. Luckily I know she is going to do that ahead of time. I'm handicapped and lose my balance off and on. My cautious behavior( because I know she is going to drop and cower) may be making things worse? Does anyone have any ideas on how to help this dog? My only other choice is to leave her 24/7 in a fenced back yard. That's not fair to her, as she sees the other dogs going places with us. She's not ready yet for trips. She has stopped losing bladder control when we go near her, so she is getting better. I can't stand the thought of giving up on her. Dianne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flrpwr52 Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 You could cut a leash short so it doesn't drag an the ground and let her "wear" it for a short time several times a day. Each time she walks and doesn't cower praise her. Then work up to a regular leash and let her drag that, each time she walks without showing fear praise her. I did this with one of my rescues and it worked great. It only took us about a week to get her to walk on a lead without fear. I wish you luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kat's Dogs Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 After (or while) or do what Linda said don't talk to her look at her, or touch her AT ALL unless she is 100% happy with the leash and not caring about it. Talking and comforting her is just praising to a dog. She is probably learning that she is supposed to cower because she gets "praised" when she does. So once she is dragging the leash just pick it up. Don't look, talk, touch, or feed her. Just start moving. And DON'T stop. Even if she stops just help her up and start going again (by helping I mean pull UP on the leash and maybe lift her rear). I do think that you being cautious might be confusing her a bit. Don't start the training until you are confident. And don't worry! Think happy thoughts! If you for some reason can't seem to let go then just ask a neutral happy person to do it (tell them exactly what to do) and just give them the leash and stand back. But only do that if you have to at this stage. Happy training! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth G Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 I agree. I had a male rescue I had to nickname gator as he would go into a roll bigtime everytime I tried to put the leash on...lol. So the first day, to put him at ease, I would just gently say no, and tell him he was silly and he would calm down. The next day when he would start rolling, I would just walk away and he would be all puzzled but then follow me. So I just had to keep trying. Everytime I touched his neck or collar, I would put a treat in his mouth and he was at first VERY surprised. Next I moved to touching his neck with the leash. Then, actually putting the leash on him. This took a whole month. But I was new to this as he had been one of the worst abuse cases I'd ever seen. The police were searching for his ownwer and the wife and child were in hiding. So I was real patient with him and he came around. Of course everyone in the house had to go through that to walk him, but it worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miztiki Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Instead of cutting a leash, you could tape the handle loop shut or do like I did and use several twist ties. That way she she's much less likely to get it caught on anything and she can just drag it around. I would put the leash on her and then just walk away (but keep an eye on her without being obvious). I wouldn't say anything at all to her. When she moves on her own and sees that absolutely nothing happens then she should get used to it fairly quickly. From there you could walk up to her (again, not saying anything) and just pick up the end of the leash. For that part I wouldn't even look at her directly. Just go slow and make it into a total non-issue. However you go about it, I hope she comes around for you and lets go of her insecurities. Thanks for helping her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWQH Posted May 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 Thank you for all the responses. Instead of cutting a leash, could I just use my retractable? You can stop it at any length and it will stay. We'll try these and see if these ideas work. I feel so bad for her. Dianne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 The retractable would be a really bad idea. The handle would bounce along and simply terrify your dog, and there's no way to keep various parts of it from catching on something. You can tape the leash handle shut if you dont want to mess up a leash, or buy a super-cheap one at the supermarket or even the dollar store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunar Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 I agree, no retractable, very bad. My Zoe still freaks out a bit when the retractable falls on the ground. The idea is to put something light and sort of leash-like on her and let her drag it around without anything bad or scary happening to her, so she gets used to it. The purpose of taping the handle loop shut or cutting a leash is to prevent it from catching on anything. You could always just buy a short rope and tie a clasp thing on the end to attach to her collar. (I think you can buy them at hardware stores - the clasp part.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy in AZ Posted May 30, 2006 Report Share Posted May 30, 2006 You could try using baling twine. The "leash" that they used at the pound was made out of woven baling twine (so a little thicker than a single strand would be) with two loops woven into it. By slipping one loop through the other it created a slip-type collar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flrpwr52 Posted May 31, 2006 Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 The reason I use a cut off leash to begin with is because it hooked on the same and makes all the same sounds as the real leash would but is light and the dog would hardly notice it was there. Then after the dog is OK with that being on then I go to the full length leash. I thought it was important for the dog to drag the leash behind her so she knew it was not going to harm her. If you tie the leash up in some way it could be heavy on the neck or bounce around and that could also scare the dog. Again I wish you all the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWQH Posted May 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2006 Thanks. Ok, we won't use the retractable. I've got a short Iams one which we never use. I can either fold it and tape it, or cut it off. Today is the first decent day to work with her on it. We've been having rain and storms. Thank you all for the advice. I really appreciate it. Dianne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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