First time BC owner needs help understanding two habits

[JuneM]

I have also used the cling film on some doors. I didn't find it hard to install at all and the design is quite pretty.

[WaveProfesora]

I am very much a novice, but for the walks, we have had wonderful results with the Easy Walk Harness and the Head Halter they make. I think a head halter is good in your situation for two reasons: 1) when you walk, it makes your dog focus on you instead of the trigger. You can associate this with a command ("leave it" in our case and when I want to distract him from a trigger, I use "Hey Piv?"). We've been on a head halter for three months and there has been HUGE improvement at lunging at bicyles and motor scooters--though not 100%. 2) The head halter makes the dog look "scary" so people who have no manners won't walk up to you assuming you and your dog want to be friends. By no means do I want people to think my dog is mean, but we have had a HUGE problem with people coming up to, petting, letting their dog sniff without asking--often before I can even say anything. The head halter fixed that.

 

The Easy Walk one comes with a DVD on fitting it and using it. I found that really helpful.

 

We have also had good results with Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocal. For barking at outside stuff, you need two people (one person to "trigger" her outside and one to correct inside).

 

None of this is a sure thing (even my dog still stumbles), but obsessive behavior is self-rewarding and MY mistake was trying too many things that didn't work for too long. I needed to nip it in the bud and fast!

[hr3191]

You can buy cling film at Lowes/Home Depot thats frosty looking or a design to let light in but block the view, I used it on my back doors to eliminate All Day Squirrel Patrol when it started getting out of hand.

 

[hr3191]

This is a great idea!!!

[Murray Momma]

I still swear by the Halte (Gentle Leader) head collar for walks. As previously mentioned, you'll get people who will say "Oh your dog is in a muzzle. Is he mean?" I also saw that as a perk while training. It leaves you more time to focus on your dog versus what random people are going to interrupt. (We're almost graduated out of the Halte on Murray and he's just over a year old. I wish I had used one earlier, he used to pull so hard that he has a "dead neck" as per my obedience instructor. He'd probably pull me in a wagon down the road if given the chance.) Another good trick is praising the dog for "checking in" while on walks. The dog sees something but then looks at you for direction. I'm a heavy treater for check in's as it cements that Momma is Boss on the walk and I'll lead the dog to where he needs to be. My neighbors probably think I am crazy but I also talk to Murray on walks. We have some mouthy neighbor dogs that will wind him up to a kangaroo as we walk by (Halte or not) and if I can get him to look at me and stay focused on me by talking (i.e. "Oh what a good boy! Look at you walking so nice! We don't need jerkface over there to keep going.") then I am teaching Murray to succeed.

 

The advice about taking the dog to the dog park but not going in is now on my To Do List! I am betting this will finish off the "I NEED TO PLAY WITH THAT DOG" issue Mur has off our normal walking route.