Help for a friend...

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Buddy'smyboy
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:17 pm

Help for a friend...

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

My friend who lives down the road has a 6-ish month old mastifxGerman shepard named Bear. Everytime I pass the dad taking the dog for a walk they are in a constant state of tug-o-war; either Bear is pulling him to get somewhere or the dad is pulling him to come along. Every time I ride by on my bike I smile or say hi but the dad is too focused on the dog it seems to smile as Bear is standing on his back feet to try to reach me. It seems to me the dad sees walking the dog as a chore or bothersome more than anything else, and it makes me feel a little guilty since I know methods here that could help them but haven't told him any (not sure how to say it to him). I've been over to my friend's house and even in doors Bear is very rowdy. He seems to be in a constant state of zoomies and likes to chew on stuff. I don't see the dad walk him very often, so I am almost completely certain that it is because Bear does not get enough exercise. Judging from his energy level that I've seen, I think this is a dog that needs at least an hour to an hour and a half of exercise daily. However, because it has built up so much the dad doesn't want to walk him so the problem stays. And according to my friend the dad is the only one in her house that is strong enough to handle him (although I do find this debatable as way back when Buddy used to pull I could hold him steady and he's at least forty pounds heavier than Bear; yet my friend who is taller and older than me says she can't hold a smaller dog but that's kind of off topic so I'll get back to it).
Anyway, I was wondering what I could do to help them? I do think he would be receptive if I offered suggestions since I am friends with his daughter and because I helped get Bear back into their yard fairly recently. My only question is how to do it? My idea is to simply ask him something like "have you ever tried the about face method for his pulling?" because obviously if he doesn't know what that is then curiosity would likely prompt "what's that?" which would allow me to explain and pass on the info without him feeling belittled by a 14 year old taking a bike ride. I'm sure there are folks on here who have been in situations sort of like this so what do you think? I would like to help him and Bear very much in any way I can.
emmabeth
Posts: 8894
Joined: Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:24 pm
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Re: Help for a friend...

Post by emmabeth »

Good question and yes, you need to present what you know, in a way that doesn't make this guy feel dumb or stupid for not knowing or being outsmarted by a kid... hehehe!

Sooooo to get him onside - make him feel like HE is doing YOU a favour?

Use the truth too, you are interested in dog training and especially in difficult dogs (make out here it isnt anything HE has done that has made his dog hard to work with.. again its not 'you are dumb' but 'this problem is HARD'), and you would like to get some experience (not 'try out' thats like using his dog as a guineapig!) and can you do some stuff with him/his dog in their yard?

If you go down this route, then what I would suggest you do is be a bit sneaky and really really get this dog interested in you first, BEFORE you ask if they can 'help you out' by letting you work wtih their dog.. so make a habit of having treats etc for this dog for a few visits first so that their dog LOVES you before you start attempting any training.

Then, well, see what you can achieve really. I wouldnt use food rewards too obviously to actually get him beside you, as that will likely prompt the 'oh well hes only doing it for food he wont do it without' response, and you want to set this up so there can be nothing to pick at, no arguments, ie, set your friends Dad up to succeed - where succeeding is seeing things the way you want him to!
West Midlands based 1-2-1 Training & Behaviour Canine Consultant
Buddy'smyboy
Posts: 179
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:17 pm

Re: Help for a friend...

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

Then, well, see what you can achieve really. I wouldnt use food rewards too obviously to actually get him beside you, as that will likely prompt the 'oh well hes only doing it for food he wont do it without' response, and you want to set this up so there can be nothing to pick at, no arguments, ie, set your friends Dad up to succeed - where succeeding is seeing things the way you want him to!
That's why I was thinking about using the loose leash method Maddie suggests using in the loose leash thread (about face method I think is what she calls it). No food of any kind; just turning and walking the other way saying 'close'. That way food can't be pointed out as being what's making him behave. And since I did this method with Buddy back when he pulled a lot and it worked fine then I might as well tell him about my success with it to make it sound like an even better idea to him. I think it would be a great idea to go to their house and play with Bear everyday a few days before I were to try anything as that will not only get him exercise before the learning process begins, it would also cause him to like me a lot.
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