Weaning a dog off afternoon walks

[Rinkydinkydo]

He is a big boy then,he looks a cracking honest dog. Shame about his joints,but him welfare is more important. Hope you find a solution to your problem.

By the way,if I was slipping him,I wouldn't fancy him launching himself at me either.

 

[JudyN]

Yep, he's waaaaaay taller than me when he jumps up! Sadly I think he's a perfect storm of sensitive sighthound genes and Irish terrier genes wrapped up in an almost deerhound-sized body, plus a few loose screws...

 

[JoanneF]

What about a Kong hanging from a washing line to make it harder? Teaching him 'I'm shy' using a post-it note on his nose - he should bring up a paw to knock it away, once he is doing that introduce the verbal cue then gradually reduce the size of the post-it until he does it on cue with nothing there.

 

[JudyN]

He'd probably bring the washing line down, @JoanneF! Otherwise, he might get bored and give up, but still then guard that bit of the garden because it's HIS Kong Scattering kibble around the end of the garden would be a good entertainer, but I did like the flirt pole because it was FUN, rather than just a way of getting food. I'm going to try attaching his 6' long fluffy snake to it tomorrow as he might then chew on that rather than the string. It's been
almost completely desqueaked but is in one piece so must be quite tough.

Hmmm, I have an old fleece - if I cut it in a spiral round the body I'd have a very long strip of fleece which I could plait to make it more chew resistant....

I taught him 'shy boy' once, using the clicker. It was an excellent example of how not to clicker train. The trouble is, once he got the general idea, he'd move his paw almost to his nose and expect a treat, and if it wasn't forthcoming he'd look so pitiful, start whining, pawing me, try a sit, a down, a bark, and looked really quite distressed, so eventually I'd give him the treat. And in slow steps, he started doing less and less, and I gave up all pretence of trying to shape a proper response, until 'Are you shy?' resulted into a slight dip of the head and twitch of the paw

 

[JudyN]

One old fleece, one broken broom....

Jasper had a little chase, but then lost interest. All he wants to play is catchy-ball, where I throw a tennis ball with such accuracy he can catch it without having to move, then he drops it and waits for the next one. It's not very exciting, and I really am not that accurate a thrower. I end up walking further than he does!

He did love the ball chucker till I broke it though. Again, he'd chase the first one and chew it till I threw the next, then he'd chew that one till I threw another... He doesn't believe in expending energy unnecessarily!

 

[Rinkydinkydo]

Do you think we will get to the day when dogs can go on a virtual walk.
Have a treadmill hooked up to virtual reality goggles. While we have a cuppa, they could be running on a beach somewhere beside us.

 

[JudyN]

You'd have to incorporate virtual smells and an automatic treat dispenser...

Just imagine how good it would be for desensitisation though - an environment where you can be in total control of other dogs, people, cats, rabbits.....

 

[Mad Murphy]

Do you think we will get to the day when dogs can go on a virtual walk.
Have a treadmill hooked up to virtual reality goggles. While we have a cuppa, they could be running on a beach somewhere beside us.

As @JudyN says it would be great for dealing with some 'issues' while not having any risk involved but as a day to day idea I think we would be doing dogs a great dis-service and depriving them of so much more than simple physical exercise.

 

[Mad Murphy]

I saw this today and thought of Jasper.... Much more fun than a walk...

 

[JudyN]

It must be doing the rounds MM, I saw that today too! I rather miss the days of mad zoomies... though I do remember the time he wallowed in the rather stinky, blanket-weed-infested pond, zoomed round the garden digging massive holes in the borders, and then zooming round the whole house, sofas included, finishing off with some frantic nest-building on our bed...

 

[leashedForLife]

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Bounding into the trampoline & literally bouncing off the walls is hysterically funny, his manic attack is a riot - but i also enjoyed his OH, YEAH! digging into the water-filled deep tray, he actually bit at the water as it slopped about, dug like a mad thing & sent it splooshing over the sides, wagged gleefully at his own play, & was completely engaged in the moment.

A place where a pup or dog can “make a mess” without being told off is so important.
License to be an eejit is wonderful.

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