Leon Has Improved - But Now I Have Another Issue

Some of you may know that Leon has fear agression. I can only imagine this stemmed from when he was attacked as a youngster and his tail was literally hanging off..he had to have it stapled back on, bless him.

When we lived with all the others he was fine with them unless he got cornered and then he would grumble and, when he was really scared, would bite if they didn't heed his warning. My lot knew to give him a wide berth when indoors although he was absolutely fine when out in the garden so long as no-one bounced at him or jumped on him...I had to have eyes in the back of my head sometimes He would be quite happy to snuggle up on the sofa with the others but they were never allowed to approach him if he was up there first...you could see the fear in his eyes as he was licking his lips and grumbling, then he would look at me for reassurance as to whether he was being bad or being a good boy.

When we moved here he started going out for walks as a lone dog and would steer well clear of any dogs when we were out..he would simply ignore them and if anyone approached us with a dog off lead I would warn them that I don't know how he would be if their dog came too close. We built up a rapport with certain people and they would control their dogs so that Leon could meet them under supervision.

Well he has come on in leaps and bounds and doesn't grumble at other dogs that approach him and he will often have a bounce about with them once he knows there is no threat...it is lovely to see the old boy having fun. My problem is that he will now run off when over the park if he sees one of his playmates and he totally ignores me calling him back (setter trait unfortunately), although he is very obedient at most other times. By the time I have run across the field to catch up he is usually having a bit of a frolic but it has unnerved me a bit...just incase the dog he approaches isn't one of his friends and has the same anxieties that he had..it isn't fair on the other dog or the owner.

Leon will be 9 this year but I do believe you can teach an old dog new tricks...has anyone any advice as to how I can work this out with him?..I really don't want to stop him having fun but am conscious that I don't want him to become a pest when out.

By the way, he is totally disinterested in treats etc when we are out, he will only ever eat anything when we are indoors.

Are there any toys he is interested in?
Becky

Hi Becky, he always takes Tiger or Mr Blobby on his walks, but he loses interest in them on the way round and never wants to take them back off me once he has dropped them. He doesn't take any notice if I squeak anything at him either.

I must say that he will usually sit and wait on command but just goes deaf once he gets excited. He doesn't chase cats or anything naughty like that, he will still wait if I tell him to when there's a cat about, and he doesn't approach other dogs that are just walking past on the lead even if he's offlead...it just seems to be over the park or, on occasion, through the woody footpath that we walk in if he spots them at a distance.

What's he like with a rabbit skin dummy? Would he be quite excited by that?
It does sound like he has discovered a new lease of life now he has 'friends' and that feeling could be very self rewarding which is why he is ignoring you as what you have to offer (I don't mean that in the way it sounds lol!) simply is not as good! That's why you need something that makes him really excited.
If you are happy to go with a rabbit skin dummy then you need to charge it up (tie the toggle to a long line or rope). Take him somewhere with no distractions and really wind him up with the dummy, throw it and pull it back with the line so he chases it. Once he is really focused on the rabbit use it only as his walkies treat (don't give him free access to it)
Also another point is if he is ignoring you don't shout or try a recall as you will be teaching him to ignore the command. Just keep quiet, walk up to him and put him on a lead with no words and walk away. The only time I'd use verbal commands is if you are running off in the opposite direction from him.
Hope that makes sense!
Becky

Ooh I don't know if I could do the rabbit skin thing ..I'm vegetarian and a bit squeamish about anything like that. The ignoring command could possibly do the trick...I'm definately prepared to give that a try.

I did wonder lol! Does he have a ball fixation? You could try to make chasing you an exciting game so that everytime he sees you run he'll chase after you? The only problem with that is he may redirect it to chasing everything!
Becky

How would he be with a toy on the end of a line so it could be waggled about but you keep control of it, bit like a falconer's lure?

It worked well with one of mine

He's not interested in balls..he's quite lazy and would just look at you if you threw one for him to collect. He will go and get his tiger if you throw it but only if he's about to go out for a walk..if he's already been then there's no chance and you have to go and get it yourself

Another good idea but he is very lazy as I was explaining to Becky...I simply can't think of anything that would grab his attention enough to get him to concentrate on me. I see other people with those toys and the dogs are transfixed on them...my boy would just totally blank me if I were swinging one of those around

I would say go back to basics, when you bump into one of his friends, let him have a play, then take the oppertunity to do a bit of recall training when his friend is still there,

You can use the other dog as an incentive for him to get back to you first, so long as hes happy for you to fuss the other dog, eg, first back gets the hugs.

Thanks Shona..I can definately try that...he is a mummy's boy but never shows any agression towards these other dogs when I make a fuss of them...probably because he's out in the open and can get away from them if he feels the need to.

He was quite happy about me making a fuss of the poodle pup yesterday and they are having problems with his recall so maybe we can get together and work on both of them