Behavioural Problem

[~Helen~]

Just posting this to see if I can get any advice for a chap I've met a couple of times walking his gorgeous Weimaraner

The dog is 15 months old now, beautiful boy :wub: and when I first met him he was about 8 months. That first time I was chatting to his owner, and the dog was trotting about with Josie (they're a similar age). But then the boy trotted up to me, cocked his leg, and weed on me. I didn't mind too much, he was a pup, and the owner and I agreed he was just a bit confused and would grow out of it.

I hadn't seen them since. Until yesterday. We chatted about how the dogs have grown etc, and the chap warned me not to stand still because his dog was "going through a phase at the moment..." of cocking his leg on people if they stand still (w00t) Apparently the dog does this all the time at the moment. He made it sound as if it was a recent thing - but I remembered instantly what had happened before :wacko: I kept moving... but this lad didn't care if I was moving or still, he was single-mindedly focussed on cocking his leg against me. It must have looked like a comedy act from a distance, with me saying very firm, "NO!"s and trying to keep out of his way, while he pursued me relentlessly. I've never seen such determination.

Now, this is just about okay if it's puppy wee. But 15 month-old Weimi wee is strong stuff I can tell you!

I asked the owner if he'd done any research about this behaviour, he said no. I suggested (pleasantly) that perhaps he ought to sort it out, or it was going to become a problem on walks, which would be a shame because the dog is so lovely in all other ways. The owner just shrugged. So I said I didn't really want to carry on walking with him because it wasn't very relaxing to be constantly dancing away from this dog

So he took his dog off and that was that. But the owner seems to be a really nice bloke, and I'd hate to think the pair of them were Pariahs up on the Common.

Any ideas?

 

[ILoveKettleChips]

Oooooooh dear. At great risk of being hung drawn and quartered (w00t) I might suggest castration. It's probably too late, as if the pup has always done this then the behaviour will be learned and not hormonal, but may be worth considering alongside other behaviour modification. He might want to try conditioning him to do something else when he meets people on walks - sit, down, make eye contact - anything. Favourite toys or mega-tasty treats like chopped hot-dog or small chunks of cheese might help this. Also, training a dog to do something on cue can sometimes make the dog less inclined to do it the rest of the time, so maybe teaching him a word for 'pee' would help (although where this leaves him if there's nobody to give him the cue, I don't know ... :unsure: ) :b

 

[kris]

one of my male shibas does this to me when im hanging washing out in the garden.hes so sneaky,he does it when i cant see him coming the little blighter!he creeps up from behind and the first i know of it is when my leg starts to get warm. :blink: he doesnt do it anywhere else and he doesnt do it to anyone else,so i think maybe he thinks im his female and hes marking me with his scent! (w00t) we used to have rabbits who did this years ago,the bucks would always spray me as i walked past but they never did it to hubs or any males only females :b maybe its a sex thing with them and they think they are spraying and marking their females! :wacko:

 

[*Lesley*]

Sorry helen i haven't got any advice but he does need to get it sorted not everyone would be as understanding as you were (w00t)

 

[lalena]

as kettlechips says, a form of distraction is needed. i think that maybe peoples reactions are partly to blame...

the cute puppy cocks on you, you dance about...presto! what a fun new game! over time the game becomes a habit

it will be harder to break the habit as he's older now, but with perserverance and above all consistancy (if he gets away with it at home, but not in public, he'll end up very confused) it can be done :luck: :luck: :luck: