Member William
MemberForum Replies Created
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Do you have the Garmin Delta Sport XC collar? If so there is the M-C-C setting that has a low level stim on the bottom button and a higher level stim on the middle button. I use the bottom button like a leash pop to get my dog’s attention. For a more serious situation the middle button does the trick without having to change anything on the transmitter. The top button gives a single high level shock that I don’t use.
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Our Cindy is very nervous when being walked on the street and is constantly trying to get back home. We’ve tried remedies from Robert and several other members but nothing seems to be helping so far. Today I’m going to try a new idea. I’m going to take her out to the street right in front of our house and just try to hand feed her some hot dog pieces and cheese chunks. If she does okay with this I’ll try to gradually move her farther away from the house while doing the same thing. I’m hoping that I can keep her from getting into the mode of fleeing to the house.
BTW – she doesn’t exhibit any of this skittish behavior when we’re working or playing in the backyard.
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OMG – it worked! I took Cindy out to the street with her e-collar on. She wouldn’t leave the house at first so I put her 4′ lead on to get her out. Once out I removed the lead. We practiced off leash healing back and forth in front of the house. We also did sit and stay with me moving to around 15′ away and then doing a recall. All of this went really well! And on top of it all there was a lot of thunder going on at the same time. Next time out we’ll move a little farther from the house. ( using hot dog chunks and string cheese chunks for reward)
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Our previous dog Flo died in March. My wife had taken over most of Flo’s care and I had become a total couch potato, rarely getting out of my recliner. On a whim we saw Cindy up for adoption at Atlanta Humane Society and decided to go for a meeting. We wound up taking her home – which is where things got interesting. Cindy had so many behavior issues that we decided to cancel a planned 3 week trip to the western states in June and July. This wasn’t a happy situation at first, but looking back we can see that it saved us from being in miserable heat, possible wildfires and possible exposure to Covid.
The next surprise benefit came when my wife was unable to control Cindy when Cindy had panic attacks on the street. Now I’m up and out of the house 5-6 times a day doing street walks (still a big problem) and play walks in the backyard plus obedience training in the house.
The next goal is to get Cindy’s anxiety down to a level where my wife can do the long walks she loved to do with Flo.
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Me too. My reply wasn’t a question. Just stating my preference which seems to be the same as yours.
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Here’s a quick update on Cindy’s problems with the street. We’ve made a little bit of progress but she still gets pretty freaked out when I take her on the street. She is totally okay when we’re in our backyard. I’ve used a 15′ leash and a 4′ leash on the street in combination with an e-collar. She never really relaxes with either one. She usually won’t even let me pet her when we’re on the street but last night with no leash she did get calm enough for some petting. I’ll take any progress I can get!
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Thanks! I can’t do the e-collar alone on the street during the day with all the distractions there could be but late at night it seems to be pretty safe. During the day I’ve been using the e-collar in my backyard and that has worked well. I think you are correct that working with a long line would be a good next step. I might try that today on a late afternoon walk when the street has cooled off some.
BTW – Robert gets most of the props for the progress. One of his suggestions was to feed her outside where she has problems and that gave me the idea of using the hot dog treats.
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(we live on a cul-de-sac) The 11pm walk went well. This time I let her wander around for awhile and occasionally called her in for a treat. When she seemed to be doing well with that I walked out to the center of the cul-de-sac and called her to me. We moved around that area for awhile and then I took her to the far side of the cul-de-sac where she sometimes does her poop. She stayed with me and did a little exploring on her own. Then I walked to the opposite side of the cul-de-sac and she followed and did her poop in a yard there. Then she heeled back to the house.
All this was done off leash but with the e-collar. I’m afraid the leash is going to make her fearful again but I’ll cross that bridge when (if) it comes.
I’ll end this by saying that today was the first time that I thought it was really going to be possible to someday have a dog that either of us can walk on the street and take anywhere we want to go.
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We will see. I usually take her out on the street around 11pm for what has been a very stressful walk. Tonight I’m just going to try to build a little on the earlier success.