Changing Their Walking Routine

[MadWoofter]

I'm looking for advise on how to give both of my hairies a walk without upsetting them.

I've always walked them together. Tess is much more a 'sniff & widdler' and Flemo is more of an 'are we there yet, is that a cat, oh what's up that tree'.... I'm sure you get the drift. Despite their different walking styles the major reason I walk them together is that when Flemo entered my life (as a rescue wreck) he would get utterly distressed at being left behind, and that hasn't really changed. It's not been an issue (even though my arms have been torn in different directions), until now.

The problem I'm facing now is that Tess is slowing down and I'm not sure that walking them together is the best option for either of them.

The obvious scenario is that I take them both around the block, and then drop Tess off at home and walk him a bit more, and I have no problem doing this. I am however looking even further down the track, when taking them both out together is going to drive them both nuts - he wants to go go go and she's slowing down even more - and I'm going to go nuts trying to satisfy them both !

I was thinking of treating the situation like a new dog at home being left alone, and taking Tess for a 1 minute walk and then going home to Fleming, and increasing the time apart until he is used to me taking her out and he realises he's not left alone.

The problem I have is I can not even take her out the front door, let along get past the front gate (which is a staggering distance of about 5 metres away) before he starts screaming and getting distressed.

Any suggestions on how I can desensitise him to Tess leaving - even for a short period of time?

[Burkes]

Or you could do it the opposite way? Take him out for a long walk then come back an pick Tess up to do the block when he is worn out and a bit slower.

[RiverStar-Aura]

I'd be really interested in a solution to this too because I've always taken my two out together and now to work on their loose-leash walking, they need to be separated.

When taking Kirah out to puppy school, Zeus made such a noise and carry on I felt bad leaving him behind. The next week I gave him a chicken wing and this seemed to work.

Maybe you could try something similar with Tess or Fleming.

[MadWoofter]

Or you could do it the opposite way? Take him out for a long walk then come back an pick Tess up to do the block when he is worn out and a bit slower.

I've tried that Burkes, and it doesn't make any difference at all unfortunately.

I should probably add that Fleming was in a pretty bad state when he came in to resuce. Certainly no where near the worst, but not great. He's been with me 5 years this August and he still flinches at the slightest noise.

[Kajtek]

What about the "wait" command?

They seem to understand that the reward (walk, treat) will come a bit later. It works for us. I take 2 for a walk together then come back and we go for a slow walk with the 3rd dog.

[Dame Aussie]

This sounds just like my two. We walk them together and Lili likes to sniff and piddle and Mo just wants to eat cats (Insert rolly eyed man here).

Luckily they are similar ages so it isn't an issue at the moment but Mosley does not like being left at home without Lili.

He was a rescue also and if we take her out without him he FREAKS. I know that it's not ideal and we are working on it by taking her out for a minute or two and then returning etc and he is imrpoving slowly.

So not much advice sorry as I have similar problems, but good luck with it. I'll be reading this with interest!

Edited May 8, 2012 by Aussie3

[wuffles]

If I need to take one out without the other, I give them a bribe. A bully stick works well. My girl is the worst so I put her in the backyard with a chewy, close the blinds so she can't see me, then leave quietly with my boy. I think blocking the view is a big key, and you could do this without leaving to practice.

Mine get walked separately every morning but my hubby takes one and I take the other. They know the routine so don't kick up a stink.

Edited May 8, 2012 by wuffles

[raineth]

same as Wuffles, I use a "bribe" - the dog being left at home doesn't miss out, they get a deer ear or something similar.

However I think Flemo may need something a bit different.

I was thinking of treating the situation like a new dog at home being left alone, and taking Tess for a 1 minute walk and then going home to Fleming, and increasing the time apart until he is used to me taking her out and he realises he's not left alone.

I would do something similar. I would try to find the threshold at which he is o.k. and work from there.

So maybe you could put him outside, and bring Tessa inside. Wait for 10 seconds (while he is being quiet) and then let him in. Just slowly, slowly increase it. You can also give him a treat which may distract him enough to not panic straight away, and then you can let him in after a few seconds.

With the idea being that you want him to learn a pattern, and understand that it's o.k. and nothing to worry about.

The pattern being, I go outside, get a treat, wait and get let back in.

I agree with wuffles, that it will be a lot easier if he can't actually see what's going on.

[Simply Grand]

Sorry to go OT but wuffles, do you tell Ava she's getting a chewy and she knows what you mean? I call Dentastix chewies and when I say to them 'do you want a chewy?' they all look very interested and run to the kitchen cupboard :D

[rastus_froggy]

I would start by just separating them at home, maybe in different rooms, or one in the backyard and one in the house. Vary the lengths of times that you do this for, then when they are comfortable I would take one out and just sit out the front for a bit, not actually leaving the yard. I would do this until they were both happy. It could be a long process but it's definately worth doing.

I have always made sure that I walk my dogs in differnt combinations so that no one becomes stressy.

[Whippetsmum]

This is the advice I was given in a similar situation, and it's improved thinbgs a lot. The dog left behind is always a bit upset but nothing like we used to experience:

Walk one dog outside your house, back and forth, 25-50m each way. When the other gets upset, settle them verbally, and keep "walking" the other. If you need to intervene more to settle the other dog, you are close by and can do so without wondering if they are tearing the door down. Combine this with a distraction like a treat block, but you'll probably find the one left behind is too upset to be placated with food. The walking out front of the house is really boring for you, but you can work on basic commands with the dog you have out, sit, wait, walking completley at heel, changing pace etc, even play a ball game. Stretch the distance outside your front door gradually. It's then easy to change between the dogs if you need to, e.g. 5 minutes on and off for each dog. Your own exercise will take a back seat for a while, while you are working on the dogs behaviour. Also work on having the dogs a bit seperate when you are home, e.g. one inside and one outside. Gradually increase the time they spend apart.

[RubyBlue]

I used to have this problem with my two. My younger one was the anxious one so I used to feed the old boy breakfast and take Milly for a run, an hour later we'd be back and I'd shut her in the laundry with her breakfast in a kong whilst Jackson and I plodded around the block for a few minutes.

The other thing I used to do was drive them to a dog park so he could plod around a sniff and Milly could chase the ball.

[shmoo]

I sometimes walk my two separately, and when I take one and not the other I tell the other to stay. They know what stay means, so they must just understand they are not coming for a walk this time. That said, both mine are fine being left alone (without each other and/or without human company).

Not that this helps you I suppose, but I thought I would let you know how I do it. Good luck!

Edited May 9, 2012 by shmoo

[wuffles]

Sorry to go OT but wuffles, do you tell Ava she's getting a chewy and she knows what you mean? I call Dentastix chewies and when I say to them 'do you want a chewy?' they all look very interested and run to the kitchen cupboard :D

Haha no, I just have to THINK about getting a treat from the laundry and she knows :p

I sometimes walk my two separately, and when I take one and not the other I tell the other to stay. They know what stay means, so they must just understand they are not coming for a walk this time. That said, both mine are fine being left alone (without each other and/or without human company).

If I did that my girl would sit there the whole time not moving a muscle, wondering when I'm coming back from the out of sight stay