Getting My Dogs Attention

[Nekhbet]

If you take him to parks etc get yourself a horse lunging lead from a horse store. Theyre around $20 and he can have some distance yet still be attached. Plus its stronger then those retractable things (ugh) call him and tug the lead so he knows he's being called then reel him in hehe

btw has he been tested for deafness? apart from the case of selective hearing he has of course :rolleyes:

[Erny]

CF - why don't you make Murray's dinner, his treats? And if he doesn't get to finish all his allocated "dinner", then finish up on a nice recall at home and give him the balance.

[Cheyenne_Fury]

Thanks Erny, yet again another great idea because the last thing that I need is Murray putting on more weight as you can probably see from the photo.

hey Kelpie, yep I know about scent hounds. I have had a beagle before and know that they are not the most responsive dogs because all they want to do is follow their noses, but Murray is especially aloof. I think it has a lot to do with his previous homes. I have no way of knowing of course as the RSPCA found his as a stray and no one claimed him, but when i first brought him home he didn't want to have a bar of anyone, not that he was frightened or anything, I just don't think that he had had any affection or anything before. It broke my heart because I am probably too affectionate with my dogs and give them heaps of attention and he didn't really know what to do with all the attention he was getting. I think that was part of my problem wanting him to feel like he is loved etc and giving him to much attention and now I have to reassert my leadership.

Nekhbet - Yep know all about lunge ropes, I have got horses and I use them with the dogs all the time Thanks for the suggestion though

Anne

[Kelpie-i]

CF, the only downside to getting a pound dog is that most of the time you don't know the history of the dog which can sometimes make it hard to figure out what exacty went on.

But the best thing to do is work with the type of dog he is. Erny's suggestion of feeding part of daily food taking as a "treat" for doing something for you is the best suggestion. Most sight hounds are food addicts.

You may even purposely feed him only half a ration and then use the other half for "training".

Some dogs are just not "cuddly" type dogs. They couldn't care less if they were being patted or not. Most of the dogs I have met like this are either very busy minded, others due to bad experiences and the rest, well, it's just in their nature.

[Cheyenne_Fury]

Kelpie - yep you are right about not knowing the history of the dog when getting them from the pound. But I don't regret getting my boy Murray. He is a great dog, apart from his problems, which I can deal with. All dogs have their own personality as you said and some are really "cuddly" type dogs and other aren't, just like people.

From the way that he reacts when I do give him affection, I truelly believe that the people in his life before treated him as "just a dog" and not part of the family, which is how some people treat their dogs. I am the exact opposite, my dogs are my babies, which I can imagine would be quite confusing to the poor old boy. He was a completely different dog when I got him to what he is now, and I think that with more hard work and a bit of love, I can turn him around even more. I know that he is a hound and as such any little distraction and I will have trouble getting his attention back and I accept this, but just wanted to do more than what I had been to make his life better and mine too, not to mention my sister who lives with me and doesn't really like him at all because he listens to her even less than he does me.

I do think it is a really good idea to only feed him half of his normal food as his "dinner" and leave the rest for "training" as you and Erny have both suggested.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions

Anne

Thanks again