Yesterday, while filming a short item for BBC South News in Farnborough I witnessed a very strange event. In the middle of the park was a beautiful Wire Fox Terrier apparently doing a perfect sit stay. In the car park some distance away were two women sitting in a car who the dog was watching intensely.
My husband and kids were keeping warm in the car, eager to get off to the cinema and they were watching this scene while I was doing my interview. Eventually curiosity got the better of them and they decided to ask the women what was occurring.
Turns out this happens most days. Their dog decides he's not coming home and does this sit protest for sometimes several hours. If they approach, he runs off and sits a little further away. He isn't remotely interested in food so that hasn't worked. Their only hope is if someone with a dog comes along, he'll then either run over to the dog and make friends and then can be caught or he'll be afraid of the dog sufficiently to run to the car for safety.
Isn't it amazing that they've put up with this situation without stopping letting him off the lead in the first place or investing in a Flexi lead!
They confessed to some days giving up, going home and coming back a bit later when they hope he's got bored. They say he used to run after the car and jump in if they started to leave, but even that has stopped working recently.
What would you advise them to do next?
They confessed they have vented their frustration on him when they have finally got him back so that may be part of the syndrome.
I don't have their contact details but I guess we could always leave a copy of the magazine in the car park for them to read as they do seem to spend a lot of time there!
What would you tell them to do.... sounds like something like doggie Relate is needed!
Beverley Cuddy, Editor
Sounds like my Staffy Jez used to be like (she still can be a little minx at times when she decides its not time for her walk to end). We too had tried everything (except telling her off when she did eventually return). We took Karen Wilde's advice (@Wildpaw on Twitter) and let her trail a long lead on her walks. At the end of the walk it was much easier to get close enough to either bend down & pick up the lead or to just stand on it. In emergencies we could always ask someone else to grab it for us. Over time Jez got a lot better so now we can leave the lead off and, most of the time, she will come and sit to have her lead back on.
ReplyDeleteI just wouldn't let him off the lead! If they want to leave him loose than have him on a long line (much easier to grab hold of when needed).
ReplyDeleteThey should also practice recalling him then letting him go over and over and over, possibly starting at the other end of the park and then getting closer and closer to the exit.
Amazing what people put up with and think is acceptable behaviour. It sounds like he doesn't want to go home, or doesn't like the car to me.
ReplyDeleteMy initial advice would be to buy a long line and take him off on walks with him dragging it behind him. Work on recall on the lead at home and out on walks, until it is really good. That way, at the end of a walk, they can pick up the line, rather than not being able to get near him.
Venting frustration at the poor dog will only increase the behaviour by negative reinforcement. Who wants to be caught if you're going to go home and be told off for it? Far too late to vent frustration too - well after the actual bad behaviour!
Positive reinforcement when he recalls will gradually improve his recall to the point that they should be able to take him off lead again, but they need to reward each time he recalls and do it all over the walk, not just at the end.
Oh, and just to add, leaving a dog in a park and hoping it will get bored is a very bad idea. It could run onto a road, under a car, get attacked by another dog etc. If it's wearing a collar and causes an accident, I'm sure the authorities would look down on the fact it had been left somewhere unsupervised.
ReplyDeleteI'd start with rebuilding the relationship with the dog! Start in the home making it lovely for the dog to come to the owners, and really build it up to be a habit. Never, ever, physically punish this dog. Ever. Never again.
ReplyDeleteInvest in a toy (terriers love squeaky toys), teach the dog to love it, then only ever let him have it for 10 secs at a time, when he's come to the owner for a play. Never, ever allow the dog to have it on his own, or more than once or twice. The idea is to keep him wanting more, not to be bored to death with it.
Call him from around the house 20 times a day, and reward in some way, so it becomes a habit to return.
Then invest in a long line and a harness, although leaving it to trail loose might not work with a terrier - he'd soon learn how close the owners need to get to pick it up and would start moving sooner! Walk him on a long line, and every five minutes, put him on a short lead and walk for 5 mins, before letting him off. Repeat, repeat, so he can forget the idea that going on the lead means going home.
They are breaking more than one or two laws by leaving the dog behind in a car park.